Escherichia coli
From Conservapedia
Escherichia coli (E. coli) is a bacterium.
E. coli is the head of the large bacterial family, Enterobacteriaceae, the enteric bacteria, which are faculatively anaerobic Gram-negative rods that live in the intestinal tracts of animals in health and disease. The Enterobacteriaceae are among the most important bacteria medically. A number of genera within the family are human intestinal pathogens (e.g. Salmonella, Shigella, Yersinia). Several others are normal colonists of the human gastrointestinal tract (e.g. Escherichia, Enterobacter, Klebsiella), but these bacteria, as well, may occasionally be associated with diseases of humans.
E. coli has been described as the workhorse of molecular biology. It is routinely used in laboratories as a tool for the manipulation of DNA and for producing proteins, as well as being a model organism for the study of cellular processes.
