News & Insights
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March 07, 2024Posted: March 07, 2024Read MoreThroughout history, women have played a crucial and indispensable role in advancing the field of microbiology. Their unwavering dedication and pioneering discoveries have paved the way for countless scientific breakthroughs that continue to shape and impact our lives in profound ways. Join us as we celebrate five of these exceptional women: Fanny Hesse, Ruth Ella Moore, Jessie Isabelle Price, Rebecca Lancefield, and Abigail Salyers.
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December 13, 2023Posted: December 13, 2023Read More...As 2023 draws to a close, many people begin to think about new goals and intentions for the New Year ahead. The most common New Year’s resolution is to improve health, which often involves better food alternatives and eating healthier. One of the most popular plant-based sweetener alternatives used in the food and beverage industry is Stevia. Stevia is a no-calorie sugar substitute made from highly r
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October 09, 2023Posted: October 09, 2023 -
May 05, 2023Posted: May 05, 2023Read More...Case history of a brain destroying amoeba...
A 56-year old man presented with transient coma, nausea, and vomiting when he visited the local hospital. There were no visible abnormalities observed in the MRI and his CSF pressure on the second day of illness
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April 19, 2023Posted: April 19, 2023Read More...Rising Legionella Infections and Its Prevention in Industrial Cooling Towers
Although Legionella is found naturally in freshwater environments, it becomes a health concern to the population w
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December 06, 2022Posted: December 06, 2022Read More...With more than 1,000 potential microbes known to cause human disease, the differential diagnosis of pathogens can be complex and challenging.
Traditional microbial culture-based methods are the most common and readily available tests for identification, but the turnaround time can be long when organisms are difficult to culture or arduous
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February 24, 2022Posted: February 24, 2022Categories: Food Safety, Health & Wellness, Industry Insights, Outbreak Alerts, Microbiology, News & InsightsRead MoreSalmonella Infantis
Globally, Salmonella causes illness in 93.8 million people and causes approximately 155,000 deaths each year.(1) Within the United States alone, Salmonella is responsible for 1.35 million infections, 26,000 of which...
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January 11, 2022Posted: January 11, 2022Read MoreHow can you be sure the bacteria and parasites are dead?
In the United States, 62% of the population has tried sushi at least once. (1) However, recent studies from Norway and Brazil indicate that consumers should be checking that their sushi and sashimi were recently prepared and stored properly. To define our terms, many...
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November 08, 2021Posted: November 08, 2021Read MorePlastic is invaluable to the scientific community from Petri plates to syringes and almost everything in between. Scientific research alone accounts for approximately 1.8% of global plastic production.(1) With the COVID-19 pandemic the need of the scientific community is increasing due to the increased need for plastic used for PPE, plastic tubes, pipets, etc.(2) While plastic use is vital for many...
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September 13, 2021Posted: September 13, 2021Read MoreHans Christian Gram, credited as the inventor of the Gram staining technique, was a pioneering biologist who devised the system of classification which led to as many as 30,000 formally named species of bacteria being investigated. Gram, working with German pathologist and microbiologist Karl Friedländer, devised the technique in Berlin in the early 1880s.
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June 16, 2021Posted: June 16, 2021Read MoreMedieval doctors didn’t always prescribe what was best for an ailing patient (leeches were a popular therapy). However, a medical manuscript from the 10th Century called Bald’s Leechbook recently found in the British Library details a concoction of wine, oxbile, and two species of Allium (garlic, onion, or leek) used to treat styes, now known as an infection caused by Staphylococcus aur...
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January 16, 2020Posted: January 16, 2020Read MoreAntibiotic resistance has been an emerging critical threat that, according to the CDC, results in more than 2.8 million antibiotic-resistant infections in the U.S each year, of which 35,000 are fatal (1).
To date, most every antibiotic at our disposal has been discovered in the dirt; these compounds exist as natural products that...
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November 08, 2019Posted: November 08, 2019Read MoreMany people are concerned about what kinds of microorganisms
might be lurking in their cannabis products. Growers and cultivators are trying
their best to understand how these contaminants, or “bugs,” may be getting into
their products. Testing labs are working hard to properly screen and identify
the worst offenders, even when they are not required to by the local
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March 30, 2018Posted: March 30, 2018Read MoreWhat doesn’t need water, can freeze solid and come back to life, survives intense radiation, and stays alive in the vacuum of space?
Although the answer isn’t a cinematic horror, it certainly looks the part. The humble tardigrade (also known as a moss piglet or water bear) is a small-scale animal that rarely grows larger than half a millimeter in length. It is quite poss... -
February 02, 2018Posted: February 02, 2018Read MoreBananas are the world’s most exported fruit and have become a dietary staple for many people and cultures. Of the 114 million tons produced annually, 85% are produced for consumption in the United States [1]. Unfortunately, the most popular fruit in the world may be under threat by a lethal fungal disease. Fusarium wilt of banana, or Panama disease, affects the seedless Cavendish banana, which is b...
