The Five-second Rule

Five-second food rule has some merit

Jenn Harris 

We have all heard about the five-second rule. I myself have always wondered how true this was. Well good thing that Anthony Hilton led a research group then. Hilton had a group of biology students help conduct this experiment. The students studied the amount of E. Coli and Staphylococcus aureus bacteria on different substances after they had been dropped on the floor for three to 30 seconds. The group decided not to only test different types of foods but also different surfaces. Hilton's group used toast, pasta, biscuits and sticky, sweet foods to be tested on carpet, laminate and tiled surfaces. The results shocked me but first I will answer all of you are begging to know. “Bacteria was most likely transferred from laminate or tiled surfaces to moist foods that were dropped for more than five seconds.” It was also found that when food is dropped on carpet it was less likely to have a lot of bacteria. 

The result really boggles my mind because it seems like carpet would be able to hold more bacteria then a flat surface like tile. I will probably still use the 5 second rule no matter what. I would like to know if this is similar to letting kids eat dirt and boogers to help build their immune system. I think that more people should read this article because it was very interesting and I am glad I know more about the subject. 

 

http://www.latimes.com/food/dailydish/la-dd-five-second-rule-new-study-20140314-story.html#axzz2xZd7Bph7

Water

Bottled water contains more bacteria than tap water

Just reading the caption of this article was a shock to me. This article is informing it's reader that 70% of bottled water has more bacteria than tap water. I know that it is not possible for bottled water to be completely rid of bacteria but isn't the whole point of us buying bottled water so that we have cleaner and healthier water for our bodies. A microbiologist from Ccrest Laboratories said that the levels of bacteria in the bottled water were “surprisingly high.” For a microbiologist to say this is not a good thing at all. Dr. Azam, from Ccrest, said that, “bacteria in bottled water is unlikely to cause disease… but high levels of bacteria in bottled water could pose a risk for vulnerable population such as pregnant women, infants, immunocompromised patients and the elderly.” This is a very scary thing because these are the people that would be affected most and could become the sickest and they have no idea no one does. More people need to know about this topic because they could be in danger. 

I really enjoyed this article because it really is something to think about. Why buy water that is $4 just because it have a famous label on it when we could have almost free water from our homes. People always get grossed out with tap water because they think it's "dirty" but if they knew about this article I bet they would think completely different. I would like to know what bottled waters they tested. I would like to know which bottled waters make up the safe 30%. I am also curious to know what kind of bacteria is in a refrigerator water dispenser. Next time someone ask if I would like water I will ask for it to be from the tap. 

 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/7763038/Bottled-water-contains-more-bacteria-than-tap-water.html

Oral Bacteria

Oral Bacteria: What Lives In Your Mouth?

Wendy J. Woudstra 

This article is kind of scary in a way. The author Woudstra informs us that we can't feel, see or taste the hundreds of bacteria in our mouth. There are 700 hundred types of microorganisms that have been found in the human mouth. Within these 700 hundred types there are 34 to 72 different varieties that live within the mouth. "Most of these bacterial species appear to be harmless when it comes to our health. Others, known as probiotics, are beneficial bacteria that aid in the digestion of foods. Other bacteria actually protect our teeth and gums. There are some bacteria, however, that we'd rather do without, since they cause tooth decay and gum disease." Like with most microbes some don't do anything, some are good and some are bad. I feel that in this case it is worse to have the bad ones at all because they cause tooth decay and gum disease which people can see just talking to you. Streptococcus mutans and Porphyromonas gingivalis are the two most common found bacteria in mouth. The ways to avoid getting an oral bacteria with good oral care. Flossing and brushing are big ones but also watching the foods that you eat will help. 

This article was very well organized and was very easy to follow. I do feel that the author may be a little biased to the subject because I did find it on Colgate. The author was not creating a horrific picture like some biased authors might but she did let us know how it could affect us in bad ways. 

The questions I would have would be how easy is it to get a oral bacteria? I would also like to know how big a colony of bacteria would have to be to create an oral bacteria?

http://www.colgate.com/app/CP/US/EN/OC/Information/Articles/ColgateNewandNow/Personal/2013/May/article/SW-281474979087677.cvsp 

Chocolate

The secret to dark chocolate's health benefits?

AFP RELAXNEWS

Everyone's heard at least one time in their life that dark chocolate is good for you and now I know the reason why. This article talks about how microbes in our guts help make dark chocolate good for us and also for heart health. 

"Researchers have discovered a specific stomach bacteria that breaks down chocolate and ferments it into anti-inflammatory compounds, making the dark stuff highly useful in terms of heart health." The article informs me that there has been a lot of research done on this subject. Researchers have found that there are two microbes (bifidobacterium and lactic acid bacteria). These are to two microbes that are essential to the process inside of the gut. These microbes grow and ferment the chocolate causing the production of compounds that are anti-inflammatory.

The author of this article made it a little hard to follow the article because they used a lot of quotes from scientists that contained terms that I am not familiar. This made if difficult to keep up with how exactly certain things in chocolate are digested. I was able to get the main points but I wish that I could have understood more. The author was not biased in the article. 

The question I would have would be how much dark chocolate shows these health benefits?

http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/health/dark-chocolate-good-thanks-gut-bacteria-article-1.1727196 

Wine

Microbes May Add Special Something to Wines

Nicholas Wade

In this article Wade tells the audience how microbes help make wine even better. He lets us know that microbes grow on the gapes and affect the health of the grapes. Wade talks about a research team that was put together that discovered why the same types of wine will taste different in different regions. They found out that different microbial communities grow in different regions causing the wines to taste different. He also explains that microbes can be put on grapes by many things such as "wind, insects and people, and may fail or flourish because of specific local conditions." Some places don't have some of the microbes that other microbes have make the wines either or worse in comparison. 

Wade was not biased about the subject but he did not give us any information on how some microbes make may makes wines not good. It makes me wonder if maybe there is no way for microbes to make wine taste bad or if he just did not include that information. The author did a very good job at getting the information across with details and facts. I was able to follow this article very easily which helped me understand it quickly.

The only question I would have would be if certain microbes can make wine taste bad. The article matches with what I learned in Microbiology about the wine making process.  

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/26/science/microbes-may-explain-some-of-the-mysteries-of-terroir-and-wine.html?_r=0 

Microbes on floating ocean plastics: Uncovering the secret world of the 'Plastisphere'

unknown 

This article is about how microbes that are living on floating pieces of plastic debris are affecting the ocean ecosystem. The invertebrates, humans and other animals are being treated by the microbes. The microbes that are living on the plastisphere are found to cause diseases in animals and humans. Researchers are now trying to find out "why these potentially dangerous bacteria live on the Plastisphere, how they got there and how they are affecting the surrounding ocean." The researchers also found that if fish or any other ocean life digest the plastic that they are helping the microbes become more deadly. This is possible because the bacteria gain more nutrients while passing through the animal guts. 

This is not a biased article. The author used a lot of examples in back up his/her points. This helped me as the reader have a better visual about what is happening with the ocean. I cannot compare this information to what I learned in class because we did not learn about it in class. I was not confused about any of the information and did not have any further questions. I think that the author did a great job at getting across what needed to be. I do have a new perspective on microbes in the ocean. I never knew that they were doing so much damage. It is scary to think that they still need to know so much more to figure out a solution. 

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/02/140224171658.htm

The toughest microbe in the world.

Deinococcus radiodurans

 

 

Deinococcus radiodurans is a gram positive bacterium that is .001 millimeters big . This bacterium is very tough in many ways. One of the ways is that it can handle a lot of radiation. The microbe can withstand 5,000 greys of gamma radiation where as a human can only with stand 2,000 greys. D. radiodurans is not able to completely get rid of the radiation but it helps with the clean up time and money. D. radiodurans structure is what helps the microbe be so resistant to radiation. There are six layers to the cells structure. The middle layers are where the heart of the cells is. This is where the plasma membrane is located. Next are two protective layers. These layers have not been proven to do anything important for the cell by scientists. The last two layers are the electrolucent zone and the protein subunits. When the microbe is exposed to the radiation it is broken up into hundreds of pieces. After this, the most amazing thing happens. D. radiodurans is able to fix its own DNA. The microbe repair its two stranded DNA by using RecA which is a protein essential to DNA repair. RecA plays a huge part in the repair process because it is the main player in both of the phases to fix the DNA. The process can take anywhere from an hour up to 24 hours. This is a very short time to stitch back together a radiation-shattered genome. The microbe can then go back and repeat the process over and over again. With this bacterium being able to repeat the process and also having help from a hundred more of its kind, the clean up time would be cut in half. These little guys don’t have a specific habitat so the can be found anywhere, which means they will always be here to help.