Kind of a weird experience today. This morning I read about the Aussies who won the Nobel Prize for their work in determining that ulcers are caused by bacteria and not by stress or lifestlye. Later in the day, while looking for something else, I came across the Eye of Science web site, that had picture of the very virus in question, magnified 9,000 times.
Bakteria: Helicobacter pylori
Colored scanning electron micrograph (SEM). This pathogen of chronically active gastritis and intestinal ulcers was discovered in 1983. The bacteria are wound in a spiral shape and possess up to 7 flagella. H. pylori populates the mucosa of the human stomach exclusively. It is diagnosed by a stomach biopsy or a Urea Breath Test. Treatment of the infection involves the administration of anti-microbial substances combined with bismuth salt over the course of 14 days. Transmission of the infection seems to take place by mouth to mouth contact. Magnification 9.000 X
Beauty, eh? This is a super-cool site, subtitled “life in a microcosmic world”, that features images of tiny to microscopic bacteria, flora and fauna. Browse their galleries or visit their online store for posters and books of these images which include butterfly wings, a tick, a fruit fly, E coli bacteria and several others – 10,000 times larger than life and in brilliant color. As I said, cool!
(HT: Z + Partners Blog,.)
