Talented Bacteria Make Food Poisoning Unpredictable

Article Chosen: Talented Bacteria Make Food Poisoning Unpredictable
Location: The Science Daily (September 5th, 2010)

Blog:

I chose to read and discuss “Talented Bacteria Make Food Poisoning Unpredictable” which I found in The Science Daily because it pertains to the lesson in which we have been covering in class. Within the past two classes we have covered the basic fundamentals within Biology. For example the make up of the different domains of life and the common features in which organisms have been categorized within the scientific field. This article talks about a new finding made by Professor Colin Hill a scientist who is now presenting his work at the Society for General Microbiology's autumn meeting in Nottingham. He has found that the bacteria Listeria although it can be harmful to the human body, it does not always present itself in that manner. The article goes on to discuss the different factors in which Listeria and other bacterial use the human body as an aid to infect the stomach and therefore cause different levels of food poisoning. For example, “One of the biggest challenges faced by food-borne bacteria is acid. Acidic conditions, particularly in the stomach and in the gut will kill most microbes found in contaminated food..” This statement talks about the areas of the body which have enough of a harsh environment which the stomach acid can kill the bacteria. Although with Hill’s new finding he has shown that some bacterial dwell so far into some foods that the effects can still be found. Therefore explaining why food poisoning can never be predicted. I believe that this article coordinates with what we have been learning in class because of the different domains of life. Listeria would be considered a prokaryote and would be found in the “bacteria” domain.
I found this article to be interesting because of a past experience, which I had over the summer. I found that after having ate “peel and ready to eat” shrimp I because severely ill within the following 24 hours. Although that time I was in fact very ill, later at another date I once again tried the same type of shrimp and it did not affect me at all. I found it very interesting to read over the article and find some meaning behind why each time may or may not infect the body.


Blake DiMeglio