MiddleEarth
Slime mold has a foot in two worlds, macroscopic and microscopic. When conditions are favorable, they roam around under our feet as single-celled amoebae, hunting and eating bacteria. When food gets scarce, they become social, forming "flash mobs" that morph into multicellular organisms like those shown here. Both the amoebic form and the spore form of these benign creatures may one day prove useful in our ongoing quest to overcome bacterial pathogens.

Sheryl A. Rakowski, staff, Bacteriology Department