Microbes in the Hot Springs

The article I chose to write about is amount extremophiles living in places like hot springs and extreme temperature conditions. I really wanted to write about this article because of spring break, we went to Pagosa Hot Springs, in Colorado, when you are inside it you immediately notice the conditions of the water. It’s oily, extremely hot and around the edges of all the ponds there is a layer of biofilm. These types of conditions are critical for microbes, water is the essence of all life, with these huge amounts of water the ecosystems thrive, even with conditions reaching in the hundreds of degrees still consist of a vast ecosystem of creatures thriving.

The article I chose to write about introduces you to ecosystem of Yellowstone national park, it consists of trillions of thriving organisms, world renounce for its extreme conditions this is what puzzles the science community, if we understand the ways organisms can thrive in extreme conditions it could open the door for us to thrive in those same conditions. The article specifically focuses on a type of organisms called Chloracidobacterium thermophilum, this unique creature has developed the way to convert light into energy, like us it has many types of energy production we go through cellular respirations and fermentation, what if we could go through their type of energy creation, and we could create energy by light. This organisms is truly fascinating, currently there is only 5 other microbes that could go through this type of energy production, now being the 6^th, this brings a question forward to the table what else is out there, what other organisms in the deep dark caverns or oceans could also bring answers to the most sought after questions in science.

Article : http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/tech/science/discoveries/2007-07-26-yellowstone-new-bacterium_N.htm

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Microbial Justice

Microbes in criminal justice have been used for hundreds of years, to catch the killer or even be the cause of death for the victim.  Little is known however that microbes could in fact be a new concept to discovering key factors for victims. Right now we have a less effective method, the way we identify the Time of death for victims is fly larvae. This is incredibly flaw because we don’t know when the bug could have landed on the victim, the article I viewed instead discovered new methods of research, identifying when the victim had died is crucial, it can create a window of opportunity and answer some questions detectives have for suspects. Could microorganisms help us uncover secrets that could bring the killers down?

The article was extremely interesting and understandable, when the article introduced new ideas it was immediate backed with research and quotations from prestigious professors and experts in the field. The article also introduced an interesting historical point explaining how we identified Point of Death for people. The idea for microbes being the key organisms for this new idea was also tested, rats were tested after they died and samples of their microbial ecosystems were identified. It was found that Achaea, bacteria and Rhizobiales all are key organisms for identifying point of death. The article in the end introduced an interesting solution to a problem, the sooner we can test this method on humans could help answer questions for grieving families and put people behind bars a lot quicker.

Article: http://www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view/articleNo/37652/title/Microbes-May-Help-Solve-Mysteries/

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Snakecrobes

Snake, the minute someone thinks of a snake the same reaction comes up for most, “gross slivering beings only wanting one thing to kill.” And for snake owners this could be a truly aggravating thing, many of us know that snakes can be so gentle, never hurting us trying to do the same thing that we do and that is live. This idea brought me to the article I chose to write about it was introducing ideas for diverse microbial ecosystems (some good, and some bad) being transported in trade.  Millions of people even now are buying and selling snakes, little do they know they carry such things as Aeromonas hydrophila, Citrobacter freundii and , Corynebacterium jeikeium, some is not all of these are potentially harmful to humans, all in the mouths of snakes.

The article which I agree with introducing ideas backed with studies done to increase security also awareness for people transporting snakes. The true question which intrigues me is the bacteria present in snakes not showing symptoms. The article explained a trade between a US zoo and a Korean one, the snakes tested positive with potentially harmful pathogens, but no symptoms were displayed in the snakes. If we could harness their abilities to be carriers and not victims we could change the lives of many human victims. Even now we harness their micro bio-me, using their bile and liquids to medicate us. Anti-venoms are taken from snakes to save people who have been bitten and would otherwise die. The possibilities are endless, these creatures who have lasted millions of years could answer some of our greatest questions in medicine.

Article: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3188728/#!po=10.0000

Picture 1: Taken by me

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