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Many bacteria are capable of movement in their environment either by flagella or gliding motility. In the case of flagella, bacteria have a long, flexible, spiral shaped structure, the flagellum, that helps to push the microbe through solution. Flagella also help in the detection of favorable or unfavorable conditions and move the bacterium in an appropriate direction. Some prokaryotes are capable of growing under unimaginably harsh conditions and define the extreme limits of where life can exist. Some species have been found growing at near100 °C in hot springs and well above that temperature near deep-sea ocean vents. Others make their living at near 0 °C in freshwater lakes that are buried under the ice of Antarctica. The ability of microbes to live under such extreme conditions is forcing scientists to rethink the requirements necessary to support life. Many now believe it is entirely possible that Jupiter's moon Europa may harbor living communities in waters deep below its icy crust. What may the rest of the universe hold? Click on following items to see more information: Bacillus anthracis, Antibiotics, Antibiotic treatment, Antimicrobial, Bacillus, Bacillus, Microorganism, Bacteria, Phage, Bifidobacterium, Campylobacter, Cell cultures, Cholera, Corynebacter, Escherichia coli, Escherichia coli, Escherichia coli, Escherichia coli, Escherichia coli, O157, Erwinia, Fermentations, Yeasts, Growth media, Klebsiella, Listeriosis, Microbiological, Micrococci, Multidrug resistant, Pasteurella, Prokaryotes, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Rhodococci, S. cerevisiae, Salmonella, Salmonella typhimurium, Shigella, Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococci, Streptococcal, Vibriosis, Yeasts The fruits of this basic research have been used by scientists to understand microbial activity and therefore to shape our modern world. Human proteins, especially hormones like insulin and human growth factor, are now produced in bacteria using genetic engineering. Our understanding of the immune system was developed using microbes as tools. Microorganisms also play a role in treating disease and keeping people healthy. Many of the drugs available to treat infectious disease originate from bacteria and fungi. In 1943 Beadle and Tatum reported experiments with the fungus Neuropsora crassa that eventually established the idea that each gene in the DNA typically codes one protein (the one gene-one enzyme hypothesis). About 10 years later, James Watson and Francis Crick wrote their landmark letter to the journal Nature describing the structure of DNA and making predictions about how it was replicated. It was now clear that DNA stored the information for proteins and that proteins performed the many functions of the cell. The important question now became, how does one convert the information in DNA into protein.
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