In my book Microcosm: E. coli and the New Science of Life, I describe how this humble germ helped make modern biology possible–and, in the process, has been engineered to do all sorts of remarkable things. In 2008, I blogged a fresh example, courtesy of Jeff Hasty and his colleagues. They retooled the bacteria to flash in clock-like rhythms. Now Hasty has taken another step forward, rejiggering E. coli so that millions of bacteria can flash in waves. The new paper’s in Nature, and the journal put together a lovely video of the bacteria in hive-mind performance. Check it out below.
About The Loom
Carl Zimmer writes about science regularly for the New York Times and magazines such as Discover, where he is a contributing editor and columnist.
He is the author of seven books, the most recent of which is The Tangled Bank: An Introduction To Evolution. His website is carlzimmer.com and his address is blog at carlzimmer dot com .
Recent PostsScience Tattoo Emporium
I once wondered aloud if scientists had tattoos of their science. The answer was yes, and this ever-growing collection is the evidence. Here are instructions if you want to submit one of your own to the blog.
I'll also be publishing a book of science tattoos in 2011, and I welcome submissions for that as well. Click here for details.
Books by Carl Zimmer
The Tangled Bank is the best written and best illustrated introduction to evolution of the Darwin centennial decade, and also the most conversant with ongoing research.--E. O. Wilson, Harvard University
Order a copy
"Superb...quietly revolutionary"--Boston Globe
Order a copy
"Fascinating...thrilling... Zimmer has produced a top-notch work of popular science."--Los Angeles Times
Order a copy
"As thorough as it is graceful...This is as fine a book as one will find on the subject."--Scientific American
Order a copy
"A book capable of changing how we see the world."--The Los Angeles Times
Order a copy
"A fascinating story, which Zimmer unfolds as a tale of high-stakes scientific sleuthing."--Booklist
Order a copy
- DISCOVERmagazine: Living World
- When Male Stickleback Fish Refuse to Ask for Directions | Discoblog
- Very Serious Scientific Study Asks: Which Dance Moves Drive Girls Wild? | Discoblog
- Meet Concavenator, the Humpbacked Dinosaur | 80beats
- The shark-toothed dinosaur with a ‘fin’ on its back (Pocket Science) | Not Exactly Rocket Science
- Sexual selection: lowered expectations edition | Gene Expression
- DISCOVER Blogs: Bad Astronomy
January 21st, 2010 at 9:28 pm
I need to share this with our iGEM team…see if they can come up with something fab like this!
January 22nd, 2010 at 4:57 am
Bioluminescence!
Fab’!
January 22nd, 2010 at 5:52 am
I was a microbioligist (hospital lab) in a prior life and they fasinated me then. These new findings are beyond my wildest imaginings.
January 22nd, 2010 at 8:29 am
[...] Clock That Breeds & Is There Nothing E. coli Cannot Do? The Borg Edition (via Carl [...]
January 22nd, 2010 at 10:49 am
Wayne,
the word is spelled ‘fascinated’!
January 25th, 2010 at 10:17 am
This is extremely cool stuff. For anyone interested in a longer feature on this work, I invite you to check out http://ascr-discovery.science.doe.gov/universities/danino1.shtml
June 29th, 2010 at 7:10 pm
[...] on the humble bacterium. This week in his blog, The Loom, he asks a rhetorical question: “Is there;nothing E. coli cannot do?” () This entry was posted in Bio Fuels and tagged Clean Energy, Clean Oil. Bookmark the [...]