The Bacteria in the Stone

Extra-tiny microorganisms may lead to kidney stones and other diseases

Unusually small bacteria that precipitate calcium and other minerals to create shells are found inside kidney stones.

References:

Carson, D.A. 1998. An infectious origin of extraskeletal calcification. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 95(July 7):7846.

Kajander, E.O., and N. Çiftçioglu. 1998. Nanobacteria: An alternative mechanism for pathogenic intra- and extracellular calcification and stone formation. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 95(July 7):8274.

 

Cowen, R. 1998. Scooping up a chunk of Mars. Science News 153(April 25):265.

______. 1996. Searching for life in a martian meteorite. Science News 150(Dec. 14):380.

Folk, R.L. 1997. Nannobacteria: Surely not figments but what under heaven are they? Natural Science 1(March 4). Available at http://www.naturalscience.com/ns/articles/01-03/ns_folk.html.

Nealson, K.H. 1997. The limits of life on Earth and searching for life on Mars. Journal of Geophysical Research 102(Oct. 25):23,675.

Sources:

Dennis A. Carson
University of California, San Diego
Department of Medicine
The Sam and Rose Stein Institute for Research on Aging
9500 Gilman Drive
La Jolla, CA 92093-0663

James W. Coulton
McGill University
Duff Medical Sciences Building
3775 University Street, Room 403
Montreal, QC H3A 2B4
Canada

Robert L. Folk
University of Texas
Department of Geological Sciences
Austin, TX 78712

E. Olavi Kajander
University of Kuopio
Department of Biochemistry and Biotechnology
P.O. Box 1627
Fin-70211, Kuopio
Finland

Kenneth H. Nealson
California Institute of Technology
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Division of Microbial Physiology and Metabolism
Pasadena, CA 91109

Leroy M. Nyberg
DKUHD/NIDDK/NIH
Natcher Building, Room 6AS-13J
45 Center Drive, MSC 6600
Bethesda, MD 20892-6600