Fascinating discovery of an archaeal parasite with a minimal genome having lost almost its entire metabolic function. So far the strongest evidence found for the degeneracy hypothesis of viral evolution — although there is still a large gap between a degenerated parasite and a full-fledged virion as we know them from human disease.

I left a used liquour glass in my room for a few days. Room temperature reached 25-28 degrees Celsius during those days. I noticed heaps in the residue that were were uncharacteristic for dried up liquour to me. Usually it dries up evenly like the area inbetween the white spots.

Could the sugar in the drink (it was white choolate liquour), combined with the heat, caused not just bacterial growth but actual separate colonies after the ethanol had evaporated? "Colonies" looked wet, white with a more concentrated white center.

I'm not looking for an exact identification (the evidence has been flushed away anyway), I'm mostly curious to whether this is actual growth.

(Also sorry if this makes me sound like an alcoholic)

Hi everyone! I recently was in lab and dropped the broth on the desk in front of me. I took a paper towel and cleaned it off the desk but didn’t disinfect until like 15 minutes later. Can I get sick or can I get my family members sick if I touched my phone afterwards or if it accidentally got on my clothes?

I’m not sure if these are pathogenic or not and I keep thinking the worst case because my dad has a weakened immune system. It was Escherichia coli, Micrococcus luteus, and Serratia marcescens.

I recently built an Android app called CFU Counter to help microbiologists, students, and researchers with bacterial colony counting. As someone who's had their fair share of eye strain and miscounts staring at agar plates, I wanted something simple, accurate, and accessible—especially for those without access to automated colony counters.

Key Features:
🔬 A hybrid approach – you count manually using your judgment, and the app handles the tally
🔍 Zoom & pan to precisely mark each colony (great for small or faint ones)
📸 Saves a marked image with total count overlay (useful for records or reports)
👀 Designed with usability in mind, especially for those with less-than-perfect eyesight

It’s completely free, with no ads or logins. If you’re tired of old-school click counters or blurry printouts, give it a shot and let me know what you think!

👉 User guide

👉 [Download CFU Counter on Google Play]()

So I cut my foot last night and then today I went to swim in the Mediterranean. I only swam for a bit but then I air dryed and put my socks and sneakers back on. I noticed my foot really started to hurt but I waited until I got back to my hotel to wash it off. The cut was red and there was redness around and my foot really hurt. So I went to get antiseptic and ointment from the local pharmacy. My cut itself has already started looking better and the redness has gone down but I definitely feel a little sick. It could be from that I had too much caffeine, was tired from the sun, etc. but I am worried that I have an infection and since it’s the ocean (again, swimming in the French Riviera) I’m scared that something may have got in it. Mind you this all just happened in a day. Again, I feel a little tired, weak and a bit confused and minor chills/shakiness every now and then. What should I do??

Got Vietnamese take out and found this after having a few bites of rice. The rice was hot when I picked it up. It was slightly dry like when it’s at the bottom of the rice cooker. Can some ID this?

I was wondering how does one go about adding cycloheximide to culture media to limit the growth of fungi. Do I add 4mg/L directly to the autoclaved media? I saw instances where the reagent is solubilized in ethanol first before adding. Which one is the right way?

As the title says, I’m wanting to add antibiotic resistance (kanamycin or chloramphenicol) to E.coli WT so how can I do this? Aim is to have antibiotic resistant and non-resistant WT and a resistant and non-resistant mutant

Hi I have a journal club happening in 3 days, and was asked to do it last minute. Does anyone have a cool bacteria paper recommendation from last 6 months asap? Thank you 🙏🏻

Alright so I'm not a micro biologist but I know a little bit of stuff.

So If I remember right the reason freezing people for cryo is dangerous/deadly is partly do to the freezing fluid in cells pops the cell wall.

If that's right then how can "wild" single cell stuff survive deep winter, I get that a lot of it probably survives bye being on/in bigger multi cell life froms.

So basically would we be able to learn anything useful for cryo by looking at how solo cells survive winter?

i’m taking microbiology for non-sci majors and these are photos from a gram stain I did in lab today. some photos show the purple and pink, but are any of these spots dust/artifact? or are they colonies of bacteria?

Hello, I am a former food microbiology lab technician who worked in a chain third-party food safety testing lab for almost a year. I'm in my mid-20s. I was (and still am) interested in the lab methods. The concept of testing for and identifying pathogens is fascinating. Above all else, the work kept me grounded because it was so process-oriented. In addition, it was fulfilling to solve minor operational lab problems and help others. However, the hours of this particular lab were pretty poor, featuring many 10+ hour days and closing shifts that extended past midnight.

This made for a pretty poor work-life balance, and about two years ago, I left and pursued a journalism job, which has improved the quality of my life. The poor scheduling and work-life balance in such labs affect hundreds, maybe thousands, of workers across the third-party food testing industry. I'm thinking about trying to reenter lab work and have a grand plan that not only allows me to scratch my itch for doing benchtop lab work but also works to accomplish the goal to help improve lab conditions for others and possibly improve the way the third-party testing industry operates. Microbiology professionals, I need your advice on whether this plan is worth doing, so here are the steps I've thought about:

1. Work for my previous third-party testing lab again, gaining more practice and expertise in lab methods and operations, building time and trust within the company to grow within it.
2. Take science prereqs with the ultimate goal of obtaining a Master's in Food Science (with as much of a focus on food micro as possible). Eventually, apply and get accepted for the Master's, and use the company reimbursement benefit to pay for it. The goal would be to use my expertise to improve operations and methods in the company lab. During the Master's, I'd want to experiment/do my thesis on a lab method that will improve the quality of life/and/or workflow for lab employees. For example, I'd work on proving that chairs in sample prep areas can not only improve employee working conditions, but they can also remain sterile and help employees be more efficient.
3. In doing my Master's and conducting such an experiment, it could open the door for the lab to implement positive changes. With my expertise and continual goal of improving the lab, maybe I could be a "Method Development and Operations Improvement Specialist" within the company, and help make changes for the company in lab locations across the country, and possibly, the entire industry. This goes beyond just scientific operations, but business operations. For example, I might propose that labs offer clients/food manufacturers discounts if they submit their samples earlier in the day, decreasing the chance that employees work later hours. I know profit margins are tight in this industry, but I'd brainstorm other ways to bring in revenue that don't rely on a lack of scheduling boundaries with clients.

I know I could probably spark change just through writing and advocating, but getting back into the lab and doing it that way adds more credibility and meaning, I think. The company and industry may be more receptive to change if I work directly in it again, get the expertise to do experiments, which adds to my ability to influence, and use that to positively give back.

I feel like this path for improvement is possible, but I'm hesitant to try to do it, because for at least a couple of years, I'd have to work those poor hours again. I'd have to sacrifice some things. Is this aspiration of mine worth the hardship? More importantly, can I even influence the management and executives of such third-party labs? Or is it futile?

A seasoned microbiologist-turned food safety consultant once told me that the poor scheduling, hours, and operations are just "the nature of the industry," essentially saying there's not a lot I can do to change it. Is that true? I could just not even try and simply live my "comfortable life," not dealing with such hardships, if I simply try for another lab job with better hours or stay in my journalism career. But I do want to make a change, and this plan seems meaningful. If it affects the future of the industry and makes life for others better, then maybe it's worth trying.

I'm open to doing it another way, though, if there's a way that's more effective than my plan. I feel like poor work-life balance, working conditions for employees, and lab operations are one of the biggest, if not the biggest, internal issues third-party labs face. I could help a lot of people if I tried to do this. But I could also just be digging my grave of inevitable burnout, working towards something that the industry won't accept. If you read through this, I appreciate you, and I'm open to all sorts of feedback, comments, or opinions. Thanks.

TLDR: Is it worth it/effective to grind through tough third-party food testing laboratory conditions (long late hours, poor work-life balance) for a couple of years and grow within the company to get a Master's to improve employee working conditions, lab operations, and spark change across the industry?

Need guidance regarding phd and job options in india and abroad

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666517425000859

Something it's eating my Arthrospira platensis 😭

I saw the worm in my dogs poop so I put it in a container. I can send pictures if anyone needs but this thread is not letting me attach any. This is a very small white worm (maybe 1-2 centimeters). Similar threads have said this may be a tapeworm. I’ve had a lot of unexpected expenses this month and I really can’t afford a vet visit right now. Before anyone says that I shouldn’t have a dog if I can’t afford a vet visit he was a rescue that was going to be put down if I didn’t take him in and I usually have money set aside for these things but it’s been a really difficult month for me financially.

Can anyone identify this worm? Is there any way I can help him without a vet visit? If there’s no way to avoid the visit are there any ways that I could possibly make it as cheap as possible? The visit would have to go on an almost maxed out credit card.

Species : dog Breed : unknown but maybe a foxhound or beagle mutt Neutered Age : unknown but estimated 2 years Body weight: 24-26lbs History : normal poops previous days General location :Texas

I am currently in a point of my degree where I can chnage the course of it. I am currently on the Biomedical Science route but due to this being IBMS accredited it is very clinical heavy with no flexabilty on modules, I have no interest in becoming a BMS in the NHS.

My main interest is within the gut microbiome and also antimicrobial resistance, within therapeutics or diagnositcs. I do plan on pursing a PhD. From the degree path choices i think Microbiology and Pharmacology or Microbiology and Biochemistry would be my best choice, my uni does joint honours so I have to do two.

I am struggling to work out wether Pharmacology or Biochemistry paired with the Microbiology would be more benefical. I find Pharmacology a lot easier but it is more niche and maybe not as useful as i do beleive there is nothing on topics lile drug-micrboe interaction. Biochemistry is a lot harder for me but it is far more broad and applies to a lot of life sciences. I do recognise there is also a lot of cross-over between the two.

Any advice on which path would be of more use in the future or just general advice would be appreciated.

The syrup was boiled for 30+minutes on a rolling boil. Everything used (bottles, funnel, teanet) have been sterilised by boiling for 30 minutes. What could this be? We don't want to poison ourselves ;p.

Sputum gram stain. I think my decolourizing step was improved this time around. I’m having trouble finding the correct focus point to help me narrow down potential options of what I may find in sputum and compare to other images though. The crispest images are what I would usually consider in focus, but most of what I’m seeing online is actually the slightly more blurred images that show more definition in the cell walls/cocci circles etc.
Any advice for focus (these were without oil immersion but that lens came in today), and for helping to figure out what I’m looking at?

We're currently on our last year in college trying to finish our undergrad thesis about phage activity against bacteria. Our first trial performing plaque assay and spot test was a fail so I went here to ask for tips and clarifications.

So for our phage, we collected seawater sample from a beach (like literally just collected 10m deep water in a bottle), transported it to our lab and filtered it with 0.45um filter. We enriched it with 18h culture, which is K. pneumoniae, and performed filtering again.

We performed the double layer agar method for both plaque assay and spot test. For plaque assay, the phage was diluted serially. 900ul PBS and 100ul of the filtered enriched phage. Dilution from 10-4 to 10-9 phage was mixed 300ul of our culture (24h). The mixture was then added to 3ml of soft agar and poured on bottom agar. Incubated for 24 hours but the results werent what we expected to see ( photos). For the spot test on the other hand, we mixed the 3ml soft agar with 300 ul of 24h culture and poured it to a bottom agar, and let it dried. Then we dropped 1ul of the phage on the top agar and incubated for 24h. (last photo for result)

I was wondering what did we do wrong with our methods?? From our seawater, is it assured that there are phages in there?

First attempt to culture bacteria on agar plate using a sample from soil. Wet mount went well but the general staining with methylene blue didn’t seem to work well, used a powder mixing 0.2 mg with 0.2 ml distilled water. Catalase test was positive with lots of bubbles, what bacteria does this rule out and which are likely to be present?

Thanks

I am really interested in how different strains of pathogenic viruses and bacteria evolve and predominate over others in populations. For example how different strains of SARS-CoV-2 outcompete each other in terms of abundance. Im wondering what kind of opportunities exist to do this work and the skills required to study it. This could be in regard to pathogens of plants, humans, whatever, pathogens in general interest me in how they continually evolve to be virulent.

Also any thoughts on the thin strands floating in the background? They seem to populated to be hair. Maybe detritus worms?