Unlike traditional antibiotics, which must get through the cell walls or membranes of the germs, these compounds poke holes in the outside of the bacteria, killing them.
The meat may be cooked, killing any bacteria on it, but if the germs were first spread to another food that isn't cooked, people can get sick.
WSJ: Vegetables Are the Main Cause of Food-Borne Illness, CDC Study Finds
It proved so effective, in fact, that fewer pneumococcal infections occur in people over 65 who have never gotten the vaccine, because the germs are no longer circulating.
FORBES: A Vaccine Eliminated A Deadly Killer Of Infants. So Why Do Some People Fear It?
The germs that cause viral and bacterial infections are contagious.
You should wash your hands for at least 15 seconds every time you are near - every time you come in contact with something that might possible have the germs on it.
The more people who touch and visit a spot, the more germs there are in the mix, they say.
CNN: Kissing, chewing -- the 'germiest ' tourist attractions
After scientists discovered the existence of germs in the 1860s, it took 60 years to invent antibiotics.
In the early days, for example, soap salespeople helped educate the public about germs and the importance of hygiene.
He would have had a better perspective on the importance of germs, as the seeds of illness, but also the seeds of life.
Even if they do kill pathogens in the nose, germs can still enter through the eyes and mouth, Dr. Tierno says.
The link between germs and disease was first shown by Louis Pasteur in the 1860s.
Another possible explanation from some experts for the increase in allergies: As westernized countries have become more hygienic, children don't have the same exposure to germs, which affects the development of the immune system.
WSJ: Food Allergy Advice for Parents: Start Peanuts, Eggs and More Sooner
In the process, germs would be souped up to make ethanol, biobutanol or other fuels from plants like corn.
Man has accomplished something extraordinary, by being able to explore the gargantuan potential of germs.
For all of these germs, the authors see very few new drugs being developed and rising rates of illness.
That includes fingernails, because that's where you'll find the highest concentration of germs.
Though difficult to find, Germs was the book cited most often in the Times Literary Supplement's 2004 International Books of the Year.
To make his rings into effective bactericides, Dr Ghadiri has had to get them to form only in the membranes of dangerous germs.
But there are no such germs in the Lisbon deal and the participants are exhausted by the eight-year effort to push it through.
Lots of researchers are already crafting synthetic organisms by modifying the genes of existing germs, but Venter is going for an entirely man-made organism.
Earlier this year, Jandira Barone, owner of denim company Tristar, made headlines when she suggested a water-free denim cleanse throwing jeans into the freezer to kill germs.
Today, the Infectious Diseases Society of America, an association of 8, 000 infectious-disease specialists, is announcing a hit list of the six most worrisome germs doctors now face in clinical practice.
Like natural selection and germs, the discovery of cancer stem cells illustrates how the most fruitful scientific findings are often not those of individual experiments, however intriguing, but those that organise knowledge into theory.
They can range from being compelled to wash the baby repeatedly in order to stave off germs and infection to refusing to handle the baby for fear of dropping her.
FORBES: Postpartum Psychology: Depression, Anxiety, OCD, and Psychosis
Which is good news if you're paranoid about swapping germs with all the other nose-pickers passing through security.
Another possibility is that children are being exposed to fewer germs, affecting the development of their immune systems.
One of the more popular theories is "the hygiene hypothesis, " which says that exposure to germs and parasites in early childhood somehow prevents the body from developing certain allergies.
Like the makers of baby products, governments deal with uniquely sensitive problems, from ensuring that terrorists never get past airport security to keeping deadly germs out of the food supply.
Unless we soak our tables for many minutes and scrub our hands like surgeons, we can't kill all the bacteria on our skin, and what is left behind to survive and multiply are the stronger and more resistant germs.
CNN: Free-riding microbes: stronger, more powerful, and our fault
应用推荐