Comments on: When bacteria fight bacteria, we lose

By: Chris

Chris — Sun, 18 Jul 2010 14:37:39 +0000

Great story Ed. I am a colleague of Elena Lysenko and she was pleased to see her research has not gone unnoticed.

By: JustanEducator

JustanEducator — Sat, 26 Jun 2010 18:58:40 +0000

This would be great to use when teaching about resource allocation, evolution, and competition. It really shows the complexity of the natural world around us. I wonder if this shows us a path or reason for why some pathogens are so virulent and others are not. It’s always been perplexing, to me, that organisms have evolved to destroy their host and in essence themselves. THANKS for sharing! – Justan Educator

By: Jenny

Jenny — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 22:39:40 +0000

So does that mean that with Haemophilus influenzae B vaccinations, there is less strep pneumo turning into serious pneumonia? What part does non-typeable H. influenzae play in all this?

By: Cufflinks

Cufflinks — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 18:57:21 +0000

I wonder how hayfever affects the battle going on in my nose. All that mucus must swing things in one bacterias favour.

By: George Anderson

George Anderson — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 22:23:20 +0000

Geeze next time I get the sniffles, I’m going to have to call the UN.

By: Geoff

Geoff — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 12:38:33 +0000

Thanks, Ed…I might have to use this article in my Microbiology class next year!

By: Szwagier

Szwagier — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 12:15:17 +0000

I propose a two-nose solution.

By: sittingoverhere

sittingoverhere — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 00:12:16 +0000

The problem of the ‘armoured’ or encapsulated strains being less efficient colonisers is somewhat overcome by their ability to undergo a shift in ‘armour quantity’. This process, called ‘phase variation’, results in lower quantities of sugary capsule being expressed at the sites of colonisation but once inside the blood or other tissues capsule production goes up to protect the pneumococcus in those environments. It’s thought that less capsule is better when trying to attach to and colonise a surface as bacterial adhesions can interact better with host cells when there isn’t so much capsule in the way.

Great article Ed, I couldn’t help myself though

By: Jumblepudding

Jumblepudding — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 19:55:58 +0000

So my nose is basically the Gaza strip?