life on us
01 february 2008 publication
the lead articles of the february 2008 issue of microbiology today are on skin microbes; s. aureus: 'superbug'; life in your mouth; bacteria in the bowel; and human endogenous retroviruses.
microshorts (p. 08)
lucy goodchild takes a look at some stories that have hit the headlines recently.
life on us (p. 12)
robin weiss discusses how humans are mobile ecosystems that harbour a wide range of micro-organisms.
skin microbes (p. 14)
despite the harsh environment in which they live, mark farrar and richard bojar explain that microbes on the skin are amazingly diverse.
s. aureus: a 'superbug' (p. 18)
although s. aureus can be a killer, simon foster explains how it is not always harmful and it has a tough fight to survive on our bodies.
microbial life in the mouth (p. 22)
dave spratt explores how the surfaces of the oral cavity offer a home to a variety of microbial communities.
a lifelong commitment to bowel bacteria (p. 26)
gerald tannock discusses how commensal bacteria in the bowel of young humans play a vital role in determining their future health.
human endogenous retroviruses: from ancestral pathogens to bona fide genes (p. 30)
david griffiths and cécile voisset explain how human retroviruses have invaded our germ-line for centuries and now make up ~8% of our genomes.
schoolzone (p. 36)
hitting puberty is often a stressful and confusing time in a teenager's life, so gemma sims offers her insight and advice in 'microbes and puberty: a teenager's guide', a taster from the larger resource 'what your mum might not know and probably hasn't told you'. meanwhile sue crosthwaite describes her experience at a three-week summer school at the university of manchester, an event designed to encourage a-level students in their interest and study of microbiology.
gradline (p. 40)
there are a whole range of activities to support early career scientists, of which jane westwell gives a few examples particularly relevant to microbiologists. the society also speaks to gemma walton, a postdoc at university of reading, in a q&a format.
going public (p. 48)
lucy goodchild reports on the society's successes in 2007 in promoting microbiology to the public, the media, opinion-formers and policy-makers.
comment: microbes as climate engineers (p. 52)
dave reay writes about how policy-makers around the world can no longer ignore the role played by micro-organisms in climate change.
