microbes

Earlier this year, researchers at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory in Heidelberg, Germany, published a study identifying genetic markers found in people's stomachs that appear related to obesity and other diseases.

After that, "I got between 50 and 100 e-mails from regular people having problems with the stomach or diarrhea and wondering if we can help them," Peer Bork, a biochemist at the lab, told Nature last week. "They were long e-mails. There must be a lot of frustrated people out there."

Given the interest level, Bork and his colleagues launched MyMicrobes, which could be … Read more

Humans may have naturally occurring nanotechnology to thank for partially cleaning up the oil spill from BP's Deepwater Horizon rig.

Researchers from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory have found that previously undiscovered ocean floor microbes have literally risen to the occasion and begun degrading the giant underwater oil plume in the Gulf of Mexico.

While there was belief that some ocean microbes might aid in the degradation of the oil spill, the process has happened more aggressively than anyone predicted it would, according to a report from environmental biotechnologists at the Berkeley Lab.

One of the giant oil plumes that formed … Read more

Editor's note: From now through the end of December, various Crave experts will be sharing their top five (mostly) tech-related wishes for the holiday season. See what we crave, and maybe you'll get some ideas!

1. Guitar Hero World Tour/Rock Band 2 (full band set). This is fairly self-explanatory. Sometimes sitting around playing a video game is just too sedentary. These games will have me rocking out with my stocking out not just on the fake guitar, but on fake drums, too.

The pretty extensive track list will keep me going for a while, and then there's all the downloadable content after I've finished. While I doubt they'll ever offer certain songs in my personal music collection ("The Ballad of Bilbo Baggins" as performed by Leonard Nimoy), there are enough songs I like to make it worthwhile. Plus, everyone looks cool playing it, right?

2. Plush gonorrhea. Enough people get The Clapper for Christmas; why not get The Clap instead? The plush version. There are actually a menagerie of plush microbes you can get, but how often can you tell people you were happy to get gonorrhea for Christmas? Sober, anyway.

3. Digital Diamond game by Tomy. My uncle had this handheld electronic game back in the day, and I played it as often as I could sneak it away from him. It's primitive, loud, and kinda cheesy, but I've already written about my weakness for old-school electronic toys.

It's only electric in that it lights up; the main gameplay is mechanical, hence the noise. I was, believe it or not, not a great sportsman as a kid, but I had a lot of fun playing baseball with this toy. … Read more

For a start-up, Mascoma certainly has a lot of refineries in the works.

The cellulosic ethanol specialist already has plans for a demonstration plant in upstate New York capable of churning out 500,000 gallons a year, plus a plant in Michigan capable of 5 million gallons annually.

Just last week, it announced a deal with the University of Tennessee to open another 5-million-gallon plant in that state. Construction will begin in 2007 and become operational in 2009. (The New York and Michigan plants are supposed to go live in late 2007/early 2008 and 2008, respectively.)

That's three … Read more

Hubbard, Ohio-based NanoLogix, which specializes in industrial microbes, said today that it has coaxed microorganisms to create hydrogen, which in turn was used to generate electricity.

The hydrogen powered a 5.5-kilowatt generator. The generator powered multiple strings of 100-watt bulbs. Hydrogen doesn't power generators directly. Hydrogen is fed into a fuel cell, which strips away electrons that get ultimately fed into an electrical appliance.

The hydrogen is harvested from sugars in wastewater, according to the company. The company gets it from a Welch's jelly plant nearby in Erie, Pa. The process was devised in part by Harry … Read more

Start-up LS9 has stated in the past that they plan to produce a synthetic version of petroleum with the help of microorganisms. This week, it will provide some information on how the process works.

Stephen del Cardayre, who heads up LS9's research, will deliver a paper this week on the process at the annual meeting of the Society of Industrial Microbiology taking place this week at Denver.

Industrial microbiology, one of our favorite topics here, essentially revolves around exploiting the properties of naturally occurring or genetically enhanced organisms. Microorganisms, after all, are little chemical factories. Feed sugar to certain … Read more