We are now a part of Science Borealis!

January 17, 2021 Paul Naphtali Biology and Life Sciences

In the first few months of starting up my blog, I’ve searched for science blog groups to join so that I could share my posts to the broader community. Now, I am delighted to announce that Microbe Musings is a part of the Science Borealis blog syndication network. Science Borealis is a non-for-profit corporation that aims to help raise awareness to the role of science in society through well-told science stories. Per Science Borealis, the…

The UK strain that’s come to Canada – a primer

January 12, 2021 Paul Naphtali Uncategorized

Two weeks before Christmas, BBC reported of a new SARS-Cov-2 variant spreading in Southeastern England1. Termed lineage B117 or VUI-202012/01, this SARS-Cov-2 variant was first identified in Kent County, England on September 20th and reached 1108 cases as of December 13th, 20202. In response to the strain’s emergence, Canada became one of several countries to halt all flights to the UK for 72 hours to minimize the risk of international spread3. Despite these measures to…

PEG and the vaccine: Ensuring safety in SARS-Cov-2 vaccination by monitoring allergic responses

December 19, 2020 Paul Naphtali Biology and Life Sciences

The structure of polyethylene glycol (PEG), an ingredient in the SARS-Cov-2 vaccine. The n means that the molecule can be repeated a number of times to form a polymer. Taken from Wikimedia Commons and uploaded by 22Kartika. Last evening, an article from Reuters shared by Global News stated that five people who were administered the COVID-19 vaccine from Pfizer and BioNTech SE experienced an adverse allergic reaction after administration1. Given that Pfizer has already sent…

“Beware the Ides of March”: Tapping into the potential of tracking SARS-Cov-2 outbreaks using sewage

November 27, 2020 Paul Naphtali Biology and Life Sciences

Here is the link to the promising diagnostics paper I talk about in this blog post. “Beware the Ides of March”. The famous five words from William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar foreshadowing the assassination of the Roman Emperor. I was reminded of the quote while watching a Youtube Video detailing the history of the assassination in mid-March, earlier this year. The COVID-19 pandemic locked down much of Europe at the time, but quarantine protocols had not…

Pseudo-electricity? No, it’s EET! The real thing!

November 6, 2020 Paul Naphtali Biology and Life Sciences

Electricity conducted inside a Faraday Cage. Fitting for the paper I’m sharing in this blog post given all the electrochemical measurements conducted in the study. Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com The link to the awesome paper I discuss in this blog can be found here. It’s behind a paywall, but there’s a wonderful graphical abstract that summarizes the findings of their study. I started out my science career getting my undergraduate degree through a Biology…

Hello from Microbe Musings!

October 24, 2020 Paul Naphtali Biology and Life Sciences

A fluorescence microscopy image of Pseudomonas aeruginosa cells surrounding an epithelial cell. A dye is introduced into the cells which emits a green colour when bound to DNA (Image Credit: Paul Naphtali). Hello, and welcome to my blog! A year ago, I conceived the idea of starting a blog where I would talk about the latest research in microbiology. In that time, I had volunteered for CF Canada, an organization that strives to improve the…

Author: Paul Naphtali