Whole-animal, light-based imaging of infected small mammals

Several labs have reported the formation of bacterial nanotubes under different, often contrasting conditions. What are these structures and why are they so hard to reproduce?

Biofilms are home to millions of microbes, but disrupting their interactions could produce more effective antibiotics.

Date: March 30, 1998 Author: Jim Kling Tables of Vendors What's really going on here? That question used to puzzle bleary-eyed microscopists as they stared at slides of immobilized cells--dead cells, of course. Then along came the inverted microscope. Its unique design placed the light source above the sample and the magnifying objective below it, allowing these new microscopes to peer into live cells bathed in media. Suddenly, scientists had a new view of the neighborhoods and boroughs occupied

Our list of the best and brightest products that 2011 had to offer the life scientist

Viruses abound in the world’s oceans, yet researchers are only beginning to understand how they affect life and chemistry from the water’s surface to the sea floor.

Years ago, researchers had only one data-imaging option: autoradiography. These scientists tagged samples—whether nucleic acid, protein, cell, or tissue—with radioactive labels, and captured images on film. Safety concerns, convenience, and sensitivity, spurred the development of alternative techniques, and today, researchers can choose from a range of options, including fluorescence, chemifluorescence, and chemiluminescence, in addition to autoradiography. Fluorescence occurs when

Commensal microbes combat C. diff; seeing inside cells; freeze-dried gene networks; how rice fights arsenic; rapid evolution among anoles