-
Molecular Oral Microbiology Jun 2016
Topics: Biofilms; Biomedical Research; History, 20th Century; History, 21st Century; Humans; Microbiology; Mouth; Switzerland
PubMed: 27060561
DOI: 10.1111/omi.12156 -
Clinical Microbiology and Infection :... Nov 2021Becoming and staying competent is a challenge in clinical microbiology and infectious diseases because of dramatic increases in medical knowledge, discovery of new... (Review)
Review
BACKGROUND
Becoming and staying competent is a challenge in clinical microbiology and infectious diseases because of dramatic increases in medical knowledge, discovery of new pathogens, emerging infections, new resistance mechanisms and laboratory techniques. E-learning is an effective way of meeting educational needs by providing more efficient and flexible training. E-learning resources have become more important to acquire new knowledge and skills, especially at a time of physical distancing.
OBJECTIVES
This review aims to summarize the implementation of e-learning in clinical microbiology and infectious diseases with references to existing examples and resources.
SOURCES
Literature and online resources for e-learning, online teaching/education in medical education, clinical microbiology and infectious diseases.
CONTENT
The principles and common methods of e-learning and frequently used digital tools are described. For all aspects of e-learning/distance learning, available resources and examples of applications in clinical microbiology and infectious diseases are presented.
IMPLICATIONS
The techniques, tools and resources described in this article should be considered for the development and implementation of e-learning programmes in clinical microbiology and infectious disease training.
Topics: Computer-Assisted Instruction; Curriculum; Education, Distance; Humans; Infectious Disease Medicine; Learning; Microbiology
PubMed: 34058378
DOI: 10.1016/j.cmi.2021.05.010 -
Comptes Rendus Biologies Nov 2022Louis Pasteur was born in Dole on December 27, 1822. The Pasteur family left the town of Dole in August 1825. After five years in Marnoz, Jean-Joseph Pasteur rented a...
Louis Pasteur was born in Dole on December 27, 1822. The Pasteur family left the town of Dole in August 1825. After five years in Marnoz, Jean-Joseph Pasteur rented a tannery in Arbois in 1830.In the 1831 register of house visits, he is mentioned at 83 rue de Courcelles: "Pasteur Jean-Joseph, tanner, age 39, from Besançon. Jeanne Etiennette Roqui his wife, 37 years old, from Marnoz 4 children: Jeanne-Antoine 11 years old. Louis 9 years old. Joséphine 5 years old. Emilie 3 years old. A worker, Eloy Dole, 25 years old, from Poligny". At that time, Arbois and its suburbs had nearly 7000 inhabitants. The young Pasteur first attended the mutual education school and then the municipal college. After failing in Paris in 1838 to prepare for the baccalaureate, Pasteur studied rhetoric in Arbois and then, in 1839, at the royal college in Besançon. In 1842, Pasteur entered the École normale supérieure. In 1849 he became a professor at the faculty of Strasbourg, 1854 professor and dean of the new faculty of sciences of Lille, 1857 Pasteur was at the Ecole normale supérieure as administrator and director of scientific studies.In spite of his high functions, Pasteur and his family always came back to Arbois, it was a return to their roots."If there is no Arbois, there is no Pasteur," said the writer and academician Erik Orsenna.
Topics: Humans; Famous Persons; Microbiology
PubMed: 36852601
DOI: 10.5802/crbiol.84 -
Applied and Environmental Microbiology Jan 2020More than 10 years ago, we published the paper describing the mothur software package in Our goal was to create a comprehensive package that allowed users to analyze... (Review)
Review
More than 10 years ago, we published the paper describing the mothur software package in Our goal was to create a comprehensive package that allowed users to analyze amplicon sequence data using the most robust methods available. mothur has helped lead the community through the ongoing sequencing revolution and continues to provide this service to the microbial ecology community. Beyond its success and impact on the field, mothur's development exposed a series of observations that are generally translatable across science. Perhaps the observation that stands out the most is that all science is done in the context of prevailing ideas and available technologies. Although it is easy to criticize choices that were made 10 years ago through a modern lens, if we were to wait for all of the possible limitations to be solved before proceeding, science would stall. Even preceding the development of mothur, it was necessary to address the most important problems and work backwards to other problems that limited access to robust sequence analysis tools. At the same time, we strive to expand mothur's capabilities in a data-driven manner to incorporate new ideas and accommodate changes in data and desires of the research community. It has been edifying to see the benefit that a simple set of tools can bring to so many other researchers.
Topics: Environmental Microbiology; Sequence Analysis; Software
PubMed: 31704678
DOI: 10.1128/AEM.02343-19 -
Microbiology (Reading, England) Mar 2023
Topics: Soil Microbiology; Seasons
PubMed: 37171861
DOI: 10.1099/mic.0.001331 -
Microbial Biotechnology May 2024Microbes are all pervasive in their distribution and influence on the functioning and well-being of humans, life in general and the planet. Microbially-based...
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Microbes are all pervasive in their distribution and influence on the functioning and well-being of humans, life in general and the planet. Microbially-based technologies contribute hugely to the supply of important goods and services we depend upon, such as the provision of food, medicines and clean water. They also offer mechanisms and strategies to mitigate and solve a wide range of problems and crises facing humanity at all levels, including those encapsulated in the sustainable development goals (SDGs) formulated by the United Nations. For example, microbial technologies can contribute in multiple ways to decarbonisation and hence confronting global warming, provide sanitation and clean water to the billions of people lacking them, improve soil fertility and hence food production and develop vaccines and other medicines to reduce and in some cases eliminate deadly infections. They are the foundation of biotechnology, an increasingly important and growing business sector and source of employment, and the centre of the bioeconomy, Green Deal, etc. But, because microbes are largely invisible, they are not familiar to most people, so opportunities they offer to effectively prevent and solve problems are often missed by decision-makers, with the negative consequences this entrains. To correct this lack of vital knowledge, the International Microbiology Literacy Initiative-the IMiLI-is recruiting from the global microbiology community and making freely available, teaching resources for a curriculum in societally relevant microbiology that can be used at all levels of learning. Its goal is the development of a society that is literate in relevant microbiology and, as a consequence, able to take full advantage of the potential of microbes and minimise the consequences of their negative activities. In addition to teaching about microbes, almost every lesson discusses the influence they have on sustainability and the SDGs and their ability to solve pressing problems of societal inequalities. The curriculum thus teaches about sustainability, societal needs and global citizenship. The lessons also reveal the impacts microbes and their activities have on our daily lives at the personal, family, community, national and global levels and their relevance for decisions at all levels. And, because effective, evidence-based decisions require not only relevant information but also critical and systems thinking, the resources also teach about these key generic aspects of deliberation. The IMiLI teaching resources are learner-centric, not academic microbiology-centric and deal with the microbiology of everyday issues. These span topics as diverse as owning and caring for a companion animal, the vast range of everyday foods that are produced via microbial processes, impressive geological formations created by microbes, childhood illnesses and how they are managed and how to reduce waste and pollution. They also leverage the exceptional excitement of exploration and discovery that typifies much progress in microbiology to capture the interest, inspire and motivate educators and learners alike. The IMiLI is establishing Regional Centres to translate the teaching resources into regional languages and adapt them to regional cultures, and to promote their use and assist educators employing them. Two of these are now operational. The Regional Centres constitute the interface between resource creators and educators-learners. As such, they will collect and analyse feedback from the end-users and transmit this to the resource creators so that teaching materials can be improved and refined, and new resources added in response to demand: educators and learners will thereby be directly involved in evolution of the teaching resources. The interactions between educators-learners and resource creators mediated by the Regional Centres will establish dynamic and synergistic relationships-a global societally relevant microbiology education ecosystem-in which creators also become learners, teaching resources are optimised and all players/stakeholders are empowered and their motivation increased. The IMiLI concept thus embraces the principle of teaching societally relevant microbiology embedded in the wider context of societal, biosphere and planetary needs, inequalities, the range of crises that confront us and the need for improved decisioning, which should ultimately lead to better citizenship and a humanity that is more sustainable and resilient.
ABSTRACT
The biosphere of planet Earth is a microbial world: a vast reactor of countless microbially driven chemical transformations and energy transfers that push and pull many planetary geochemical processes, including the cycling of the elements of life, mitigate or amplify climate change (e.g., Nature Reviews Microbiology, 2019, 17, 569) and impact the well-being and activities of all organisms, including humans. Microbes are both our ancestors and creators of the planetary chemistry that allowed us to evolve (e.g., Life's engines: How microbes made earth habitable, 2023). To understand how the biosphere functions, how humans can influence its development and live more sustainably with the other organisms sharing it, we need to understand the microbes. In a recent editorial (Environmental Microbiology, 2019, 21, 1513), we advocated for improved microbiology literacy in society. Our concept of microbiology literacy is not based on knowledge of the academic subject of microbiology, with its multitude of component topics, plus the growing number of additional topics from other disciplines that become vitally important elements of current microbiology. Rather it is focused on microbial activities that impact us-individuals/communities/nations/the human world-and the biosphere and that are key to reaching informed decisions on a multitude of issues that regularly confront us, ranging from personal issues to crises of global importance. In other words, it is knowledge and understanding essential for adulthood and the transition to it, knowledge and understanding that must be acquired early in life in school. The 2019 Editorial marked the launch of the International Microbiology Literacy Initiative, the IMiLI. HERE, WE PRESENT: our concept of how microbiology literacy may be achieved and the rationale underpinning it; the type of teaching resources being created to realise the concept and the framing of microbial activities treated in these resources in the context of sustainability, societal needs and responsibilities and decision-making; and the key role of Regional Centres that will translate the teaching resources into local languages, adapt them according to local cultural needs, interface with regional educators and develop and serve as hubs of microbiology literacy education networks. The topics featuring in teaching resources are learner-centric and have been selected for their inherent relevance, interest and ability to excite and engage. Importantly, the resources coherently integrate and emphasise the overarching issues of sustainability, stewardship and critical thinking and the pervasive interdependencies of processes. More broadly, the concept emphasises how the multifarious applications of microbial activities can be leveraged to promote human/animal, plant, environmental and planetary health, improve social equity, alleviate humanitarian deficits and causes of conflicts among peoples and increase understanding between peoples (Microbial Biotechnology, 2023, 16(6), 1091-1111). Importantly, although the primary target of the freely available (CC BY-NC 4.0) IMiLI teaching resources is schoolchildren and their educators, they and the teaching philosophy are intended for all ages, abilities and cultural spectra of learners worldwide: in university education, lifelong learning, curiosity-driven, web-based knowledge acquisition and public outreach. The IMiLI teaching resources aim to promote development of a global microbiology education ecosystem that democratises microbiology knowledge.
Topics: Microbiology; Humans; Biotechnology
PubMed: 38801001
DOI: 10.1111/1751-7915.14456 -
International Microbiology : the... Nov 2021The COVID-19 pandemic has imposed several challenges and strains at all levels of the educational system, especially as a consequence of lockdown and social distance... (Review)
Review
The COVID-19 pandemic has imposed several challenges and strains at all levels of the educational system, especially as a consequence of lockdown and social distance measures. After a period of exclusive use of the online educational environment, educators have adapted to the new circumstances and, by a combination of different strategies, have fought to overcome the limitations and deficiencies of virtual learning. Student motivation, productivity, and creativity continue to be the main pedagogical issues that have to be reached with the new didactic tools developed during the pandemic. At the same time, this pandemic has shown the importance of the inclusion of microbiology as a core element of the educational curriculum and the opportunity to raise public awareness of the importance of microbes to everyday life.
Topics: COVID-19; Curriculum; Education, Distance; Humans; Learning; Microbiology; Teaching
PubMed: 33942184
DOI: 10.1007/s10123-021-00179-9 -
Journal of Clinical Microbiology May 2016The ubiquity of devices that connect to the Internet has exploded, allowing for easy dissemination of information. Many teachers from kindergarten to universities use... (Review)
Review
The ubiquity of devices that connect to the Internet has exploded, allowing for easy dissemination of information. Many teachers from kindergarten to universities use the information obtained online or post material they want their students to access. Online media readily places articles, books, videos, and games at our fingertips. The public in general also gathers health information from the Internet. The following review will explore what has been published regarding microbiology education and learning online and the use of electronic media by microbiologists for scientific purposes.
Topics: Education, Medical; Health Education; Humans; Internet; Microbiology
PubMed: 26935727
DOI: 10.1128/JCM.03176-15 -
Journal of Bacteriology Apr 2024
Topics: Soil Microbiology; Models, Biological
PubMed: 38529952
DOI: 10.1128/jb.00073-24 -
Microbiology Spectrum Sep 2021
Topics: Microbiology; Public Health; Publications
PubMed: 34106580
DOI: 10.1128/Spectrum.00396-21