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Tag: caffeine

03.29.2013

getting a caffeine fix

Coffee

People aren’t the only organisms that can’t get going without a daily cuppa. Scientists have engineered a strain of E. coli to thrive on caffeine. To engineer this characteristic in the bacteria, the scientists cloned in genetic material from Psuedomonas putida bacteria. This Psuedomonas species was already known to be able to metabolize caffeine. They also needed to clone in another gene from Janthinobacterium in order for the E. coli to completely metabolize the caffeine. After cloning the genetic material into E. coli, they saw that the bacteria’s growth rate was severely limited by the amount of caffeine in their environment and they could tell how much caffeine was present in a drink by how much of the bacteria grew. The scientists are hoping that the bacteria can be used in decaffeinating waterways near major cities, as the water around population centers usually contains lots of caffeine pollution. If you can get access, check out the paper at ACS Synthetic Biology.

03.08.2013

links

Two links for you today:

grapes

1. Have you ever wondered how they get grapes to grow so big these days? NPR explains how farmers use a technique called girdling to force the plant to grow larger fruit. This technique along with the use of gibberellic acid, which acts as a kind of growth hormone for the plant, is the reason why the size of grapes in the supermarket is ever increasing. Check it out.

Bee on flower

2. And now more on the topic of bees and flowers. Flowering plants use caffeine to lure bees. The New York Times reports on a study showing that flower nectar contains caffeine. Caffeine is a stimulant, and the flower uses it as a kind of reward in an operant conditioning mechanism. The bee gets rewarded with this stimulant drug after pollinating the flower. Having linked the reward to the smell and taste of the flower nectar, the bee searches out more of the flower. The study shows that caffeine helps increase the bee’s memory of the flower’s odor. Have a look!

02.27.2013

drunk on alcohol and caffeine

diet soda

How does mixing a caffeinated drinks like coffee or cola with alcohol change your level of drunkeness?

This month’s Scicurious column on Scientific American examines the interaction between caffeine and alcohol when we’re drinking. As you know alcohol is a depressant and caffeine is a stimulant. Does the combination of the two cancel each other out? Or is there a more complex interaction. An excerpt:

Consuming alcohol results in one set of effects, and consuming caffeine results in a completely different set of effects. When used in moderation, both alcohol and caffeine consumed alone can have positive outcomes. Despite this, most of us have experienced very negative consequences from consuming too much of either beverage. What about alcohol and caffeine together? When alcohol and caffeine are combined, the effects and ultimate results become much more complicated.

Alcohol drinkers who also consume caffeine feel awake, talkative, and stimulated for a much longer period of time compared to when they drink alcohol alone. However, the added caffeine does not make you less drunk or less likely to go home with a grenade. Furthermore, the sedation that always accompanies drinking alcohol is often muted, or experienced much later when caffeine is in the picture.

Click the link for much, much more.

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