Microbe Masterpiece By Mehmet Berkmen And Maria Penil

i got to work with some HeLa cells today!

as cool of an experience as this was and as interesting as these things are, it’s always important to acknowledge the bad along with the good. Henrietta Lacks’ cells revolutionized so many areas of research, but she deserved so much better.

working with these cells today just really reminded me of the duality of many scientific developments. many things have come with great cost and harm and i think that’s something important to keep in mind.

if you aren’t familiar with the story of Henrietta Lacks, i highly recommend looking her up. there’s a book about her live (the immortal life of henrietta lacks) that’s very illuminating.

FOTD #065 : parrot waxcap! (gliophorus psittacinus)

the parrot waxcap / parrot toadstool is a mycorrhizal fungus in the family hygrophoraceae. it is widely distributed in the grasslands of western europe, the UK, iceland, greenland, the americas, south africa & japan.

the big question: can i bite it?? it is edible & has a mild taste !!

g. psittacinus description :

"the parrot toadstool is a small mushroom, with a convex to umbonate cap up to 4 centimetres (1.6 in) in diameter, which is green when young & later yellowish or even pinkish tinged. the stipe, measuring 2–8 cm (0.8–3.1 in) in length and 3–5 mm in width, is green to greenish yellow. the broad adnate gills are greenish with yellow edges and spore print white. the green colouring persists at the stem apex even in old specimens."

[images : source & source] [fungus description : source]

Have you ever seen a venus flytrap anemone? Members of the genus Actinoscyphia, these critters resemble their namesake plant but are actually marine invertebrates related to jellyfish. They can be found on the seafloor at depths of up to about 7,000 ft (2,133 m), where they lie in wait for passing food. These anemones use their tentacles to catch and consume detritus (decomposing organic waste) that's carried by the current. Growing as much as 1 ft (0.3 m) in length, their tentacles are lined with stinging nematocysts. 

Photo: NOAA Photo Library, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons

Photos from my friend who is a vet tech

by TheMicrobiology09 on yt

As you're a proper phd scientist who made it through the gauntlet of higher education, I then assume that you have done some classes that have landed you in a fly lab or two. Do you happen to have a favorite Drosophila melanogaster mutation? Mine is apterous because they're flies who cant do the one thing they're named for (they can't fly).

I managed to avoid the fly labs, but I had amazing lectures by the inimitable Dr Vernon French during my bachelors at the University of Edinburgh about evo-devo and Drosophila. No better way to develop a deep fascination with HOX genes and other transcription factors. Off the top of my head, I think Bithorax is pretty nifty.

[src]

the Guardian

Flora, fauna and … funga: campaigners call for new term for conservation talks

Fungi should be recognised and protected on equal footing with plants and animals, says Fungi Foundation

Mycologists, mostly from Latin America, established the term “funga” five years ago. It refers to the levels of diversity of fungi in any given place, and is analogous to “flora and fauna”, which refer to plants and animals. Unlike flora and fauna, it is not a Latin term but was chosen because it is morphologically similar. “Just like mycelium, mycologically inclusive language will spread unseen but profound [sic], permeating public consciousness (and policy) to acknowledge fungi’s vital role in the grand web of life on and in Earth,” it said. Government agencies in Australia, Brazil, Iceland and elsewhere have picked up on the word. Its creation and use reflects an increasing appreciation of the fungal kingdom and how it connects the plant world through an underground mycelial network.

[...]

Giuliana Furci and the biologist and author Merlin Sheldrake wrote: “Accounts of the living world that do not include fungi are accounts of a world that doesn’t exist. “Fungi have long sustained and enriched life on Earth. We are unthinkable without them, and yet we are only just beginning to understand the intricacies of fungal lives. It’s time we give them the attention they deserve."

Physarum pulcherrimum + beetle

by Kim Fleming

HORROR WEEK- FOTD #144 : apple bolete! (exsudoporus frostii)

the apple bolete (also frost's bolete) is a mycorrhizal fungus in the family boletaceae >:-) it typically grows near the hardwood trees of the eastern US, southern mexico & costa rica. it was chosen for horror week due to its appearance being reminiscent of muscle tissue !!

the big question : will it kill me?? nope !! however, although they are edible, they are not recommended for consumption as it is quite easy to confuse them with other red boletes. ^^

e. frostii description :

"the shape of the cap of the young fruit body ranges from a half sphere to convex, later becoming broadly convex to flat or shallowly depressed, with a diameter of 5–15 cm (2.0–5.9 in). the edge of the cap is curved inward, although as it ages it can uncurl and turn upward. in moist conditions, the cap surface is sticky as a result of its cuticle, which is made of gelatinized hyphae. if the fruit body has dried out after a rain, the cap is especially shiny, sometimes appearing finely areolate (having a pattern of block-like areas similar to cracked, dried mud). young mushrooms have a whitish bloom on the cap surface.

the colour is bright red initially, but fades with age. the flesh is up to 2.5 cm (1.0 in) thick, & ranges in colour from pallid to pale yellow to lemon yellow. the flesh has a variable staining reaction in response to bruising, so some specimens may turn deep blue almost immediately, while others turn blue weakly & slowly.

the tubes comprising the pore surface (the hymenium) are 9–15 mm deep, yellow to olivaceous yellow (mustard yellow), turning dingy blue when bruised. the pores are small (2 to 3 per mm), circular, & until old age a deep red colour that eventually becomes paler. the pore surface is often beaded with yellowish droplets when young (a distinguishing characteristic), & readily stains blue when bruised. the stipe is 4 to 12 cm (1.6 to 4.7 in) long, & 1 to 2.5 cm (0.4 to 1.0 in) thick at its apex. it is roughly equal in thickness throughout its length, though it may taper somewhat toward the top ; some specimens may appear ventricose (swollen in the middle). the stipe surface is mostly red, or yellowish near the base ; it is reticulate — characterized by ridges arranged in the form of a net-like pattern."

[images : source & source] [fungus description : source]