Science

The flesh eating disease (necrotizing fasciitis) is caused by the bacteria Streptococcus pyogenes. The disease causes serious damage to tissue, and it can lead to amputation and death if not...

Removing oil from seawater can be a daunting task. Oil has a lower specific gravity (0.79 to 0.84) than seawater (1.023 to 1.028) and floats on top of seawater for that reason, which makes...

Baytril and amoxicillin are members of two different classes of antibiotics. They are only similar in that they are both used to fight bacterial infection.

Oxygen is a natural element essential to all human life on Earth, as well as the lives of other air-breathing mammals. But there are some living things on Earth, including some organisms, that...

Staphylococci bacteria are quite common, and are among the many bacteria that dwell on human skin. This family of bacteria has a few troublesome members, including the bacteria that cause staph...

Putting bacteria into a Petri dish is another way to describe what is termed inoculation of the bacteria. The dish contains a specific growth medium with agar to make it solid. You'll use a...

An autoclave is a pressurized vessel that uses steam to sterilize equipment or conduct laboratory experiments. Health Department regulations require all autoclaves to be tested on either a monthly...

Ever since Anton van Leeuwenhoek's observation of the "little animals" in lake water, the study of bacteria has progressed and expanded in its theory and practical application. Microbiology...

Bacteria are prokaryotic organisms composed of only one cell surrounded by a cell wall. This cell wall both protects the cell and gives it its shape. Studying the cell is one way to distinguish...

Salmonella is genus that includes 2,300 different species of bacteria. The most common types of salmonella are Salmonella enteritidis and Salmonella typhimurium, which account for half of all...

Everyone has heard "Don't eat yellow snow," but is any snow safe to eat? Freshly falling snow is a temptation to children and adults alike. Parents have been telling children for years not to eat...

The importance of cleanliness and the ease which bacteria can multiply can be demonstrated in a very visual manner using a classic experiment that involves growing bacteria in a Petri dish. Some...

Your body is full of bacteria, but then so is everything on earth. Bacteria live in soil, air and water, as well as on the inside and outside of your body. But before you go crazy trying to get...

Disinfectants are substances that play a big role in maintaining safe environments, foods, chemicals and waters. The antisepsis strength of disinfectants varies and is determined by health and...

Almost every day, a new invention or technological breakthrough is happening right under our very noses. Technology has been known to open many doors for us. Innovations play an important role in...

Both ethanol (ethyl alcohol) and isopropanol (isopropyl alcohol) are alcohols that kill bacteria. Alcohols kill bacteria by first making the lipids that are part of the outer protective cell...

Occurring naturally in groundwater, high levels of sulfate can lead to temporary dehydration and laxative effects. If you are not used to drinking water that is high in sulfates, there are no...

Recombinant means "recombined," a term most often used to describe DNA that is created from genetic parts of different organisms and combined to create new DNA. It is also known as synthetic DNA...

The scientific kingdom Monera is made up of one-celled organisms that most of us refer to as bacteria. Bacteria are the most plentiful and widespread organism on Earth, and the oldest. They are...

Hydrothermal vents are geysers found in the deepest parts of the sea. They are home to unusual forms of life, including bacteria, giant tubeworms, eyeless shrimp and giant clams. More than 300...

There are 10 times more bacteria living in you than your body has cells; hundreds of species on surface tissues such as your skin, mouth and intestinal tract. This normal flora is introduced at...

Though animals require oxygen to survive, there are bacteria that can live without it. In fact, many bacteria are harmed by the presence of oxygen. Bacteria that do not need oxygen are called...

Staphylococcus epidermidis is a perfectly round bacterium of the genus Staphylococcus and the family Staphylococcaceae that grows in clusters and usually lives on human skin. It was described by...

Cyanobacteria get their name from their bluish-green (cyan) color. Scientists trace the history of these bacteria back to the beginning of life on Earth.

Bacteria are adaptive, single-celled organisms that are everywhere on Earth. Bacteria are in the air, the oceans and even on human skin. Bacteria are grown in laboratories to study disease and...

Bacteria are some of the tiniest forms of life. Inhabiting every part of earth, including the hottest, most obscure areas, bacteria has survived longer than any complex life form on earth. Though...

Water used in households generally falls under two categories: graywater and blackwater. Graywater is the water used to wash hands, do laundry, and take showers, and is not usually recycled,...

DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) is the blueprint that guides the development of living things. Recombinant DNA is a technique that is used to insert genetic material taken from one organism into...

Streptococcus, or streptococci in its plural form, is the genus for a group of bacteria that grows in round chain structures. They are facultative anaerobes, which means they grow in the presence...

There is only so much water on earth --- and it keeps recycling. Water drains from runoff or wastewater treatment plants into rivers and oceans where it evaporates and saturates the atmosphere. It...

If you thought bacteria was only grown in labs, you're wrong. You can grow bacteria in your very own home.

Bacteria is used abundantly in genetic engineering to study life, disease and medicine. Understand how scientists use bacteria on a regular basis with information from a biochemistry professor in...

Considering the ramifications of improper treatment of water, both wastewater treatment and drinking water treatment are vital processes. The Merriam Webster online dictionary defines wastewater...

Counting bacteria may seem like a task without purpose, but it is valuable in that it allows scientists and doctors to determine how fast a bacteria is replicating and how potentially dangerous...

A Petri dish is a common sight in many science laboratories, particularly those that deal with bacteria and microbes. Petri dishes were developed in the late 1870s by a German scientist who found...

Enterococcus faecalis is a type of lactic acid bacteria, which means that it produces lactic acid as a byproduct of metabolism. It is a gram positive bacteria, which means that it has a rigid...

Bacteria have an unlimited life span, because they reproduce asexually and don't go through a normal life cycle. Discover what can kill bacteria, such as a lack of nutrients, too much UV light or...

Bacteria have unlimited life spans, as they reproduce asexually and make clones of themselves, but they can be killed by exposure to antibiotics. Find out how bacteria die when they dry out to a...

Bacteria are extremely common and abundant in every habitat, and it's estimated that their are 5 nonillion bacteria on Earth. Learn about the role of bacteria in nutrient cycles and as decomposers...

Nanotechnology is the manipulation of matter on the molecular and atomic levels. Current development is limited to the creation of nano-scale objects for use as materials in other technology....

Bacteria are the most common and numerous organisms on the planet. Because they are so widely distributed and microscopic, counting all the bacteria on the face of the earth is an impossible task....

Bacteria are unicellular organisms whose life span varies by type. Some types of bacteria, such as those that cause strep throat, can live on any inanimate surface for hours or even weeks. Others...

Pathogens are agents that cause disease. Pathogens come in many shapes and sizes, and are often difficult to tell whether they are potentially disease-causing.

Molecular cloning is the process of making copies of a piece of genetic information for further analysis. This process is done by transferring a piece of DNA from an organism into a molecule that...

Bacteria is the plural form of the word "bacterium." Bacteria are a form of single-cell organisms that are ubiquitous in all of the environments on Earth. Bacteria live in the air, the soil,...

Gene transfer refers to the process of genetic material such as DNA being sent and received among two organisms. There are two types--horizontal and vertical gene transfer. One is a natural...

Most bacteria are harmless to humans, and some are even beneficial. Bacteria in the human digestive tract, collectively called "gut flora," help people digest complex carbohydrates and vitamins....

Bacteria are composed primarily carbon, along with oxygen, nitrogen, hydrogen and phosphorus, along with smaller amounts of other elements. In order to grow and obtain energy, bacteria must have a...

Bacteria reproduce asexually, through some form of cell division. One bacteria cell can theoretically turn into billions given the right environment.

Dirt. Grime. Spoilage. Sickness. Disease. These are things that tend to come to mind when we think of bacteria, and rightfully so; bacteria is found in dirt, grime and spoiled food, and it may...