Resources and further reading
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Microbiology Today: Microbiology – the twilight zones
Learn about the smallest living fossils, astrobiology and transposable elements in this issue of Microbiology Today.
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Microbiology Today:The Mobile Microbe
In this issue of Microbiology Today, we explore global surveillance and responses to the threat posed by infectious diseases, Bluetongue virus and the Great Pox.
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Why should we study astrobiology?
Astrobiology is the study of life throughout our universe, but why is it worth studying? In the second instalment of the two-part Space and Microbiology video series, Dr André Antunes takes us through the importance of studying astrobiology.
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What are extremophiles?
In this blog, we explore some of Earth’s extremes, the microbes that make them their home and the advancements in science that have happened thanks to these incredible micro-organisms.
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Bacterial hitchhikers on the International Space Station
Bacteria have been found in the International Space Station’s drinking water. A research article published in the journal Microbiology discussed the bacteria found coating drinking water pipes and tanks on the International Space Station (ISS).
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What is the Nagoya Protocol? How does it relate to microbiology?
In this blog, Katie Beckett from the UK Government’s Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) tells us about the Nagoya Protocol, which aims to ensure that research benefits are shared in an equitable way.
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NASA, the Spacecraft Assembly Facility, and the extremotolerant bacteria
Is there life on Mars? No one knows for certain, but NASA is doing its very best to find out. Multiple probes, landers and rovers have already visited the Red Planet to see if it has ever had the correct environmental conditions to support life.
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Investigation of space flight effects on Escherichia coli
This paper, published in
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Microbes from the Mariana Trench and the International Space Station
In this ‘New to Science’ blog, we explore how researchers from Japan and the USA discovered a new proteobacterium from the material gathered during the Deepsea Challenge expedition, and how a bacterium named Solibacillus kalamii was found on board the International Space Station by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
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Studying microbes in space
Following the discovery of a new microbe in space, we discuss Solibacillus kalamii, including how it was isolated from an air filter on board the International Space Station.
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From space to stomach ulcers
Learn more about the study of stable isotopes, which are different forms of an atom that have varying numbers of neutrons and protons in their nuclei.
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Life as a researcher at the UK Space Agency
What is it like to work for the UK Space Agency? Find out in this interview we did with Dr Lewis Dartnell, in which he talks about his research in astrobiology and the search for life beyond Earth.
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Microbes: Martian miners of the future?
In the world of ‘Emerging Tech’, asteroid mining is an idea that won’t go away. As we whittle away our resources here on Earth, many companies are looking to the orbiting lumps of rock in our solar system as the next source of valuable metals and minerals.
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Microbe Talk: Does a pipette work in space?
Dr Kate Rubins discusses preparations ahead of her space mission, experiments she’ll be undertaking in space, what it’s like to train to be an astronaut, and whether a pipette works in microgravity.
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Microbe Talk: Microbes on Mars and Antarctic soil fungi
In this podcast we interviewed Dr Lewis Dartnell, an astrobiologist from the University of Leicester, about how microbes might be able to survive in an extremely salty Martian environment.
Image credits:
SPL/Carlin Iverson
SPL/James Cavallini
iStock/Kapook2981
iStock/dottedhippo
NASA- iss049e000760
iStock/buradaki
iStock/urfinguss
European Space Agency on Flickr under CC BY-SA 2.0
iStock/3DSculptor
Kevin Gill on Flickr under CC BY-SA 2.0
Harvepino/Thinkstock
NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Centre on Flickr under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
iStock/dottedhippo
