In September, a privately held and highly secretive U.S. biotech company received a patent for a genetically adapted E. coli bacterium that feeds solely on carbon dioxide and excretes liquid hydrocarbons. Joule Unlimited, co-founded by George Church, appears ready to forever alter the way we produce fuel. [more inside]
posted by Baby_Balrog on Jan 18, 2011 - 140 comments

The human body is made up of more bacteria cells than human cells. Now, researchers at Harvard have isolated the genes responsible for producing amino acids that can block ultraviolet light and managed get E. coli bacteria to produce them too. Can I interest you in some sunblocking bacteria living on your skin?
posted by T.D. Strange on Sep 3, 2010 - 40 comments

Ammonia-injected centerfuged fatty trimmings = pink slime + E. Coli. Eight years ago, federal officials were struggling to remove potentially deadly E. coli from hamburgers when an entrepreneurial company from South Dakota came up with a novel idea: injecting beef with ammonia.
posted by cytherea on Jan 1, 2010 - 90 comments

In the 1980s, Richard Lenski hypothesized that his research team should be able to watch random mutations and natural selection taking place in a lab by observing a bacteria population over many generations. In 1988, beginning with a single bacterium, he started several replicate colonies. Recently, after 33,127 generations, his team has observed natural selection.
posted by Tehanu on Jun 10, 2008 - 55 comments

Taco Bell E. Coli Out break from... green onions? This is the second major outbreak of E. Coli from vegetables this year. Where does E. Coli come from? "One of the root words of the family's scientific name, "enteric", refers to the intestine, and is often used synonymously with 'fecal'."
posted by SansPoint on Dec 7, 2006 - 33 comments

Multilingual bacteria are being used in synthetic biology techniques to display computer functionality.
posted by peacay on Apr 29, 2005 - 9 comments

Dr. Carl Winter is an Extension Food Toxicologist and director of the FoodSafe Program at UC Davis. He's also the Elvis of E. coli.
posted by ewagoner on May 4, 2001 - 2 comments