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HOW MUCH BIOLOGY CAN YOU AFFORD TO LEARN OVER THANKSGIVING BREAK... |
 Turkeys wandering the streets of Urbana in the winter of 2005/6. Makes your mouth water! |
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amazing that we get to eat anything, with so many diseases lurking
everywhere. In order for you to get your chance at Thanksgiving
dinner, for example, your turkey had to survive to maturity, avoiding
(for example) aflotoxins in their food, the potatoes had at least
three good shots at oblivion, and the sweet potatoes and cranberries,
pumpkins, corn, milk, wheat, apples and oranges, even the coffee,
pineapple, and mushrooms needed not to get moldy or otherwise
fungoid. Are you vegetarian? Your Tofurkey soybeans could have gotten
Sclerotinia stem rot. Want all the details? Tom Volk has politely put the summary together for
you. As an up and coming biologist, you now have the opportunity to
gross out your friends during dinner.
But, as you contemplate this, sitting back at you Thanksgiving table with family and friends, how will you know if you just ate way too much, or if something is bugging you? The final page for your edification and enjoyment is the Food Poisoning primer. Oh, and don't forget the songs. Come to think of it, this edition of The Integrator™ might not be the best to share with whoever has gone to all the trouble of cooking your dinner! |
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Quote of the day -The destiny of countries depends on the way they feed themselves. Anthelmee
Brillat-Savarin |
Would you actually put that in your mouth if you knew?A couple of fungoid tidbits for your tastebuds, from Wisconsin mycologist Tom Volk. Next time you pick up a can of soft drink, look at the ingredients. See the citric acid? the Krebs cycle intermediate? From citrus fruits? Nope, way too expensive. Instead, "almost all of the citric acid in cola drinks is produced by large-scale vat fermentation of Aspergillus niger." (Aspergillus flavus puts the aflotoxins in peanuts). Soy sauce, these days, is another Aspergillus big vat product. In this case its Aspergillus oryzae which gives it its flavor (doesn't "big vat" make you want to eat it?). |
Look for in-store specials on fungally digested jeans!Hitting the mall over Thanksgiving break? Tom Volk just keeps it coming. Stone washed? Sure thing. "They dump the regular jeans into a large vat of water and add Trichoderma reesii cultures to the mix. The cellulases of the fungus partially (but irregularly) digest the cotton of the jeans." T. reesii, it seems was "isolated from a decaying tent on the south Pacific island of Samoa." |
Yams or Sweet Potatoes?Not even as closely related as apples and pineapples, knowing the difference will save you embarassment among biologists and make the rest of the world wonder about you even more than they already do. NCSU Ag. Extension has a good chart comparing them. |
Jobs, Internships & Scholarships - Improving your c.v.Plant the seed - start thinking about next summer in those rare free moments you have. This month's additions - NSF REUs and Danforth Center Internships. |
AnnouncementsThe gel camera also works through the dissecting scope. See Prof. Cheeseman or Neil for help. Please don't try to change things around by yourself... |
Don't forget the Songs"One problem with being a microbiologist is that nearly everything you eat can be a potential source of an infection."For the full story, click here. And for the most appropriate song ever, here. |