American Society for Microbiology

Blogs, podcasts, and other new media outlets have changed the way people get their news. Immediate access to information presents new opportunities as well as challenges for science communication. Watch Carl Zimmer, science writer for the New York Times and host of MicrobeWorld's Meet the Scientist podcast, at the Marian Koshland Science Museum in Washington, D.C. discuss how scientists and journalists are using new media outlets while avoiding their pitfalls. Carl Zimmer is an...

Pandemic H1N1 virus may be or may soon become endemic in large modern swine confinement facilities. Despite this, there is a paucity of influenza surveillance that is currently being conducted among swine populations. Watch Dr. Jeff Fox, Features Editor for Microbe Magazine interview Dr. Gregory Gray, University of Florida, Gainesville, about the importance of conducting influenza surveillance among pigs and workers in these facilities in hopes that we might quickly detect the emergence...

Dr. Jeff Fox, Features Editor for Microbe Magazine, talks with Arturo Casadevall, MD, Ph.D., the editor-in-chief of mBio, the new online, open-access journal from the American Society for Microbiology, about an opinion/hypothesis article he co-authored suggesting that rising global temperatures will result in new fungal infections for mammals living in temperate climates.

On March 18, 2010, Roberto Kolter, Harvard Medical School and ASM President, gave a presentation to a group of graduate and postdoctoral students on why scientists need to be able to communicate effectively. This talk opened up the 2010 ASM Scientific Writing and Publishing Institute that was held at ASM Headquarters in Washington, DC on March 18 - 21, 2010. The Institute provides four days of hands-on intensive training in scientific writing and publishing under the mentorship of ASM...

What kinds of bacteria are growing in your sink or your refrigerator? How about on your keyboard at work? Does soap really reduce the amount of bacteria on your hands? Dr. Keith Lampel of the Food and Drug Administration helps citizen scientists discover the world of bacteria in and around us. Filmed at the Marian Koshland Science Museum in Washington, D.C., this two-part science lab kicked off with a hands-on activity in the museum to observe the invisible bacteria that are present...

The American Society for Microbiology is helping African nations foster a scientific community that is better able to address the current and future problems that threaten not only the local population, but the world at large. Like many African countries, Zambia and South Africa are deeply affected by HIV and tuberculosis, as well as a number of other infectious diseases. In March of 2008, ASM President Cliff Houston, Ph.D., traveled to Zambia and South Africa to gauge and assess the...

See the history of microbiology in nine scenes of gags, burlesque, drollery and song. Produced by Active Cultures, the vernacular theatre of Maryland, Petri Dish Circus is a play based off of the classic non-fiction novel Microbe Hunters by Paul Henry de Kruif. Much like the original book first published in 1926 that describes 12 historical milestones in science, Active Cultures reenacts "the daring-do of Louis Pasteur in his Parisian lab, the Scotch fortitude of Ronald Ross as he travels...

MicrobeWorld visits The Maloy Lab at San Diego State University to talk with Professor Stanley Maloy and three grad students, Dave Matthews, Gerardo Perez and Veronica Casas, about their research. The Maloy Lab focuses on the genetics and physiology of Salmonella and bacteriophage that infect Salmonella. Maloy and his students use a combination of genetic, molecular, biochemical, and genomic approaches to answer questions about the uptake of DNA from bacteriophage, transfer of genes...

MicrobeWorld and the Koshland Science Museum present a video podcast of comedian Brian Malow that includes excerpts from his science comedy act on infectious disease and an interview about the geek mystique of science.

Since the introduction of MSX and Dermo in the 1950’s, two infectious diseases that played a large role in the decline the Chesapeake Bay’s oyster population, several oyster hatcheries along the Eastern seaboard are working with scientists across many fields to develop innovative restoration programs. One idea is to introduce a non-native oyster from China called Crassostrea ariakensis. In this video podcast, MicrobeWorld talks about current research underway with C. ariakensis, the...