Microbes Mop up Gas Leaks?

Microbes are incredible little beings, they can do just about anything you can name. They help aid your body's functions, help make food we need to survive, and even help us when we are sick. Just recently, we've found that not only do they help us with all of that, but they help us clean things up. Oil spills and gas leaks happen in today's world, it's a sad but true fact. However, there is a strain of bacteria called Methylocella silvestris that can help us do just that. This bacteria is found in the wild soils of Northern Europe, it thrives in peat, tundra and forest type soils. This particular little bacteria can grow on methane and propane found in these gasses, from them on the microbe can consume it and turn it into energy. This bacteria can possibly help stop global warming and the release of greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere. Natural gas is good for the environment, but to an extent. "Molecule-for-molecule, the effect of methane on global warming is more than 20 times greater than carbon dioxide over a 100 year timeframe. It is therefore very important that we understand how it can be removed biologically in the environment before it is released into the atmosphere." Says Dr. Colin Murrell. Only time will tell what this little guy can do for us and the environment, hopefully good can come from eating away these gasses. 

The article has a lot of information that was useful for this topic, it really covered everything that I needed to know to write this blog post. It gave unbiased information throughout and was really helpful and interesting to read. 

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Microbes on your Money?

I know you have all heard of the stories of traces of cocaine on 99% of money being circulated in the US everyday. I know you have also heard the stories of germs on money and how you should always wash your hands after touching it. However, new findings show that all these tales can be more than true, and there is a lot more about whats hiding on our money than we thought we previously knew. Each dollar, five dollar, ten dollar etc bill we touch has over 3,000 different microbes living on it. Most of these little guys are harmless in nature though, they just simply stick to the bill when touched. Your money could even contain traces of anthrax or diphtheria. There are also predictions that this is how antibiotic resistant microbes get transferred from person to person. It's all on the cash we have to touch to get food, clothes and other necessary items for our daily life. Scientists tested 80 dollar bills floating around Manhattan and found that the most commonly circulated microbe is the one that causes acne. Runners up are microbes that live in the mouth and vagina. Their advice is to simply wash your hands after touching your money to help stop the spread of disease and possibly end some major outbreaks that have been happening in the US.

This article was very informational and really helped shed light on what exactly lives on the money we touch, it was enlightening but kinda scary at the same same time.

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Chinese Herbal Medication used Against Hepatitis-C?

There are anomalies everywhere that are unexplained, sometimes even something being made to treat one thing being more effectively used against something else. These kinds of anomalies really help to further scientific researches and bring about good news to those who are in need of hearing it. This particular news will benefit anyone who suffers from Hepatitis-C. There a new finding in old Chinese herbal medicines used to commonly treat sore throats and other various inflammations. However, people are now finding that one of the herbs taken from certain parts of Taiwan and Southern parts of China is helping to cure the people affected by Hepatitis-C who originally took the medication hoping to get rid of throat pains and inflammation.  This medication can even help to cure the disease that can destroy the liver and cause certain cancers to start developing in the people effected by Hep-c. Its a breakthrough in the scientific community to help further this research in helping to stop this disease from further spreading to more individuals. It was a blessing in disguise of a common remedy for the sore throat, an helpful anomaly. The author really helped to bring out all the details with scientific facts (some of which I couldn't understand - but seems legit!) 

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Battling Infections With Microbes?

There are many kinds of bacteria in the human body; some make us sick and others do the best they can in assisting our overall health. Scientists are doing more studies on the beneficial gut microbes that can "team up" with blood blood cell development to become a disease fighting super machine. Some diseases that the gut microbes are said to help keep away were tested in mice and are thought to be inflammatory bowel disease, autism and multiple scoliosis. These bacteria are also thought to prep our bloodstream and blood cells to fight off nasty sickness and diseases mentioned above. These benevolent bacteria are also supposed to help increase white blood cell count. Those test mice without these gut microbes had way less of a defense force than mice with the microbes inside of them. These gut microbes helped to mature other cells as well as those within our blood. These little gut microbes are tiny but mighty in what they do. I would definitely like to know what other adverse effects could happen if you're born without the necessary gut microbes to help keep you healthy. Scientists are helping to bring out some of the best bacteria within us to show how helpful they can be to human's health.

This author really gave a ton of information and brought up the multiple mice researches that helped to further this experiment and bring out more positive information about these bacteria that live in our gut.

picture: http://www.scilogs.com/mmmbitesizescience/files/intestinal-bacteria-670.jpg

Microbes Caused Mass Extinction?

252 million years ago the world suddenly became desolate of lifeforms that had been there thousands of years ago. Wiped out after all this time and we have only thought that methane from large volcanoes was to blame, however, new research shows that maybe it wasn't just the gas but also a microbe that helped the gas become so prevalent in the air that it caused mass extinction. All those years ago about 90% of the earth's population was wiped clean due to toxic amounts of methane in the air. Scientists always thought the cause for such a catastrophic event was volcanoes emitting the gas. However, these new studies show that a bacteria named Methanosarcina is partially to blame. This bacteria munches away at carbon and in turn produces large amounts of methane. Which can be converted into CO2 by other microbes, this is the cause of the lack of oxygen in the air what caused these species of creatures to just start dropping like prehistoric flies. This microbe obtained the ability to convert CO2 into methane at around 250 million years ago, about the time the species were dropping dead. It's amazing how microbes can react and change the world around us by acquiring one simple new trait, it's scary at the same time.

The author was very good about sticking to the facts; and giving quite a lot of them. This article was fantastic to write a lot about because of all the information found within it.

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Microbes and Dark Chocolate, Can it Effect Your Health?

We've always been told that chocolate doesn't benefit ones health at all and that its actually very detrimental to it. New research being done on dark chocolate is showing that hungry microbes feast on dark chocolate and it helps your heart stay healthy. However, there are two kinds of microbes that eat up dark chocolate; some good and some not so good. Bifidobacterium is an example of a good one, it eats up the chocolate and it produces anti-inflammatory compounds which help the cardiovascular tissue are reduce the risk of having a stroke. The bad ones that eat chocolate like E. coli and Clostridia can cause non desirable effects like bloating, diarrhea, and gas. They tested three different cocoa powders and they found that this powder has antioxidants stored inside of it. Also, if you digest cocoa with prebiotics in it (prebiotics are good arbs found in things like raw garlic that we can't digest alone, but are good for us to eat) it significantly improves one's overall health by adding a greater number of beneficial microbes into your gut. If you consume cocoa with fiber in it, more anti-inflammatory agents will be produced as well.  You can further your overall health by eating fruits like acai and pomegranates with the chocolate. It just goes to show that your favorite sweet treat can also benefit your health, which is good to know because who would ever stop eating chocolate? This just gives us a better reason to!

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Cosmetic Treatments and Bacteria?

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They say that sometimes beauty comes with a price. What of this price consisted of getting an expensive treatment and obtaining a bacterial infection from it? This is what is happening to patients of cosmetic treatments around the world. When a person is trying to get perfectly plump lips or something to smooth out their wrinkles, they are getting a jelly like substance pumped under their skin. (That in itself does not sound all too healthy for you) people obtain infections from these procedures that leave them with tender bumps or even skin lesions on the face. This was supposedly caused by an allergic reaction to the jelly that is injected into the skin. However, new research proves that this filler is a perfect incubator for biofilm to form which is "impossible to treat with antibiotics" says Aldehe with the department of international health. Which is true, the more research that goes into biofilm proves that they are tough to fight off when in you. What's even worse about this problem is the fact that most surgeons claim "allergic reaction" and completely ignore the fact that bacteria is causing these problems for their patience. 1:1000 of these procedures will develop some form of bump/skin lesion. The worst case scenario is that these lesions may not be removed, but instead my leave a person with a disfigured face. Would you want to pay this price hoping to become the beauty but instead become the prey of bacteria? 

The author was extremely straightforward with this article, it was very informational and really stuck out to me as fascinating; They did great work. 

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/03/140311104925.htm