The Margins

Specimen of the Month July 2026 - Anaerobic Gut Fungi: The (Forgotten) Fungi I Never Thought I'd Write About

I'll admit it … I’ve spent most of my academic career completely ignoring all things fungi. As an anaerobic microbiologist and microbial systematist, I was perfectly content cultivating bacteria that perish upon exposure to oxygen and describing new members of the bacterial tree of life ... fungi simply weren&

The Margins

Specimen of the Month

June 2026 - Magnetotactic Bacteria - The microbes with internal compasses Some organisms are impressive because they run fast, fly high, or survive terrible conditions. Magnetotactic bacteria are impressive because they build compasses inside their own cells. These bacteria produce tiny magnetic structures called magnetosomes: membrane-bound crystals of magnetic iron minerals,