Discussion: Beneficial activities of the microorganisms

In Modules 1 to 4, we discuss the beneficial activities of the microorganisms, microbial metabolism, microbial growth, the control of microbial growth, antimicrobial drugs, microbial genetics, and the interaction between microbes and host. In this forum we will discuss the recent discoveries and the new research findings that are related to the topics in Modules 1 to 4.ContentIn this forum, you should write a coherent report (450-650 words) of a recently published article from the list of selected resources listed in the ‘Introduction’ above that is pertinent to the topics. Please include your own point of view or comments on the new published findings. Try to relate that to real life experiences whenever applicable; be sure to refer to the textbook.

Resources

1. Reference to the specific content in the textbook of this course is essential.

2. You should use articles that are published within 12 months from the following sources:

• New York Times http://www.nytimes.com/

• Nature News http://www.nature.com/news/

• Science News http://www.sciencenews.org/

• NPR http://www.npr.org/sections/health/

• US National Library of Medicine at National Institutes of Health http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed

3. Reference citation should include (1) The title, the name of author(s), the date/year of publication, the name of journal/publisher; (2) The specific hyperlink(s) to the article(s) you refer to when citing references.

Note: It is the unique link to that particular article you are citing instead of the link to the homepage of the journal or the publisher.

You must proofread your paper. But do not strictly rely on your computer’s spell-checker and grammar-checker; failure to do so indicates a lack of effort on your part and you can expect your grade to suffer accordingly. Papers with numerous misspelled words and grammatical mistakes will be penalized. Read over your paper – in silence and then aloud – before handing it in and make corrections as necessary. Often it is advantageous to have a friend proofread your paper for obvious errors. Handwritten corrections are preferable to uncorrected mistakes.

Use a standard 10 to 12 point (10 to 12 characters per inch) typeface. Smaller or compressed type and papers with small margins or single-spacing are hard to read. It is better to let your essay run over the recommended number of pages than to try to compress it into fewer pages.

Likewise, large type, large margins, large indentations, triple-spacing, increased leading (space between lines), increased kerning (space between letters), and any other such attempts at “padding” to increase the length of a paper are unacceptable, wasteful of trees, and will not fool your professor.

The paper must be neatly formatted, double-spaced with a one-inch margin on the top, bottom, and sides of each page. When submitting hard copy, be sure to use white paper and print out using dark ink. If it is hard to read your essay, it will also be hard to follow your argument.