Daily Archives: June 13, 2006

Bacteria Chit Chat

This entry was posted in Biology Health Care on by

This may be common knowledge to you biologists but I, and I suspect many others, had no idea that those nifty and sometimes nasty little prokaryots could communicate amongst themselves and sometimes between species:

…the ability bacteria have to communicate across species using a small molecule called autoinducer-2 (AI-2). This simple sugar, produced by scores of microbes including Escherichia coli, Salmonella, Vibrio cholera, and several species of bioluminescent marine bacteria, allows bugs to assess the density of the local prokaryotic population and to adjust their behavior accordingly: throwing off light, spewing out toxins, or forming slimy biofilms.

Bonnie Bassler who is the expert on this stuff is working toward developing a broad-spectrum antibiotic based on these systems.

Cool!

Child Abuse: Training US Martyrs

This entry was posted in Religion on by

Well, that is certainly the way this reads:

The star of the film is Pastor Becky Fischer, who explains the startling mission of her “Kids on Fire” camp: “I want young people to be as committed to laying down their lives for the Gospel as they are in Pakistan.” At the camp, the children are asked: “How many of you want to be those who will give up your life for Jesus?” Little hands shoot up from every direction. They are told: “We have to break the power of the enemy over the government.” At one point, Becky yells: “This means war! Are you a part of it or not?” More little hands.

If you are not one of Fischer’s Pentecostal believers you might want to be a bit worried that these kids will be coming after you when they strap on the dynamite.

Via Truthdig