e coli
kbonham | November 17, 2010This is just awesome:
A strain of Escherichia coli bacteria can now solve [sudoku] puzzles
[...]
"Because sudoku has simple rules, we felt that maybe bacteria could solve it for us, as long as we designed a circuit for them to follow," says team leader Ryo Taniuchi.
The mechanism is ingenious and yet straightforward at the same time.
Basically, they have 16 different strains of bacteria, with each initial strain representing a spatial coordinate on a 4x4 grid. Each bacterium has a "4C3 leak" system, which is a chunk of DNA that the team designed that has 4 possible outputs. Depending on…
grrlscientist | July 18, 2008tags: Microcosm, microbiology, bacteria, E coli, evolution, Carl Zimmer, book review
I lived through Seattle's outbreak of the "killer E. coli strain O157:H7" that charged into the world's consciousness after it mercilessly destroyed the kidneys and other vital organs of hundreds of children and adults who consumed contaminated fast food. During this time, I worked as a lab microbiologist in several human and veterinary hospitals in the Seattle area while I earned my bachelor's degree in microbiology, so I have a strong background in both the practical realities and the scientific lore of…
grrlscientist | June 13, 2008tags: researchblogging.org, evolution, experimental evolution, adaptation, mutation, natural selection, Richard E. Lenski
The common gut bacteria, Escherichia coli, typically known as E. coli.
Image: Dennis Kunkel.
Evolution is a random process -- or is it? I ask this because we all can name examples of convergent evolution where very different organisms arrived at similar solutions to the challenges they are faced with. One such example is the striking morphological similarities between sharks (marine fishes) and dolphins (marine mammals). Thus, based on observations of convergent…