Category Archives: Plasmids

‘Hopeful Monsters’: Nothing in Evolution Makes Sense Except in the Light of E. coli (and Shigella)

Posted on January 28, 2008 by mikethemadbiologist

Bacterial evolution muddies up the water.
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Posted in E. coli, Ecology, Evolution, Genetics, Genomics, Microbiology, Plasmids | 6 Comments

The Fitness Cost of Resistance Could Be…

Posted on August 9, 2007 by mikethemadbiologist

the signal peptide? Interesting.
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Posted in Antibiotics, E. coli, Evolution, Microbiology, Plasmids | Comments Off on The Fitness Cost of Resistance Could Be…

Things I Learned at the ASM 2007 Meeting

Posted on May 27, 2007 by mikethemadbiologist

From Monday to Friday, I attended the American Society for Microbiology meeting held in Toronto. Before I get to some of the interesting science, my apologies to all of the people who suggested we meet up. Unfortunately, I never look at the blog (or almost never) while I’m on the road, so I missed your messages (it’s best to email me directly). Anyway, here’s the list of random things.
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Posted in Agriculture, Antibiotics, Bloggity Blog, E. coli, Ecology, Evolution, Microbiology, Museums etc., Plasmids, Taxes | 4 Comments

KPC: An Emerging Threat

Posted on May 4, 2007 by mikethemadbiologist

No, KPC isn’t a new fast food restaurant. It’s short for Klebsiella pneumoniae carbapenemase. The bad news: it’s very hard to treat. The good news: it’s very rare…for now.
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Posted in Antibiotics, E. coli, Evolution, Healthcare, KPC, Microbiology, MRSA, Plasmids, Public Health | 4 Comments

Some Interesting Staphylococcus aureus Factoids

Posted on March 7, 2007 by mikethemadbiologist

Or maybe terrifying is a better word. I just returned from the Network on Antimicrobial Resistance in Staphylococcus aureus meeting, where I learned some very interesting things about S. aureus (since I’m going to refer to MRSA, methicillin resistant S. aureus repeatedly, go check this link if you want to know more about MRSA):
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Posted in Antibiotics, Ecology, Evolution, Microbiology, MRSA, Plasmids, Public Health | 13 Comments

The IDSA Also Thinks Approving Cefquinome Is a Bad Idea

Posted on January 4, 2007 by mikethemadbiologist

A while back I posted about how awful it would be for the FDA to approve the use of cefquinome, an antibiotic similar to the medically important drug cefepime. I even coauthored a letter about it. Well, it turns out the IDSA wrote a letter about cefquinome too.
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Posted in Antibiotics, Microbiology, Plasmids, Public Health | 4 Comments

It’s My Birthday

Posted on December 24, 2006 by mikethemadbiologist

…so no blogging. Instead, I’ll leave you with a “make sexy time” photo (to steal Borat’s phrase):
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Posted in Let's Talk About Sex, Baby, Microbiology, Plasmids | 11 Comments