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Scientists discover potential solution to antibiotic resistance

A newly developed technique for screening microbes has led to the discovery of a powerful new antibiotic that can easily kill severe infections in mice, without causing side effects.

8 Jan 2015

Johns Hopkins-led study offers strategy to eradicate HIV

Luring dormant HIV out of hiding and destroying its last cure-defying holdouts has become the holy grail of HIV eradication, but several recent attempts to do so have failed. Now the findings of a Johns Hopkins-led study reveal why that is and offer a strategy that could form a blueprint for a therapeutic vaccine to eradicate lingering virus from the body.

8 Jan 2015

Findings could accelerate development of prebiotic medicines for bowel problems, autoimmune diseases

Bacteria that have evolved to eat their way through yeast in the human gut could inform the development of new treatments for people suffering from bowel diseases.

8 Jan 2015

Fast-track diagnostics releases CE-labelled Real-time PCR kit to detect Zaire Ebolavirus

Fast-track diagnostics, a global leader in the design, development and manufacture of infectious disease detection kits, has released a CE labelled Real-time PCR kit for the detection of the Zaire Ebolavirus – the strain responsible for the current outbreak in West Africa.

8 Jan 2015

Everyday actions could help prevent spread of flu among college students

As local college students return to Philadelphia from their long winter breaks over the next several days, it is likely that they'll be bringing who-knows-what germs with them from home, said Stacey A. Gorski, PhD, a biology professor who specializes in immunology at University of the Sciences in Philadelphia.

7 Jan 2015

Fat cells below skin help protect from bacteria, say researchers

When it comes to skin infections, a healthy and robust immune response may depend greatly upon what lies beneath. In a new paper published in the January 2, 2015 issue of Science, researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine report the surprising discovery that fat cells below the skin help protect us from bacteria.

2 Jan 2015

Combination of bedaquiline and verapamil reduces side effects, improves outcomes for TB patients

While an effective treatment is available for combating multidrug-resistant tuberculosis, it carries serious side effects for patients.

31 Dec 2014

Synthetic Biologics doses first patient in SYN-004 Phase 1b trial to prevent C. difficile infection

Synthetic Biologics, Inc., a developer of pathogen-specific therapies for serious infections and diseases, with a focus on protecting the microbiome, today announced that enrollment has initiated and the first patient was dosed in a Phase 1b clinical trial of SYN-004, an investigational oral beta-lactamase enzyme for the prevention of Clostridium difficile (C. difficile) infection, antibiotic-associated diarrhea and secondary antibiotic-resistant infections in patients receiving intravenous (IV) beta-lactam antibiotic therapy.

31 Dec 2014

Periods of extreme heat associated with increased hospitalization risk for older adults

Between 1999 and 2010, periods of extreme heat in the U.S. were associated with an increased risk of hospitalization for older adults for fluid and electrolyte disorders, kidney failure, urinary tract infections, septicemia and heat stroke, according to a study in the December 24/31 issue of JAMA.

24 Dec 2014

Patent recognizes peptide that reduces tissue damage

A Kansas State University research team has received a patent for its use of a peptide that has been shown to prevent or reduce damage to intestinal tissue.

24 Dec 2014

First successful vaccination of deer against chronic wasting disease

Researchers at NYU Langone Medical Center and elsewhere say that a vaccination they have developed to fight a brain-based, wasting syndrome among deer and other animals may hold promise on two additional fronts: Protecting U.S. livestock from contracting the disease, and preventing similar brain infections in humans.

23 Dec 2014

Endogenous retroviruses play critical role in body's immune defense against bacterial, viral pathogens

Retroviruses are best known for causing contagious scourges such as AIDS, or more sporadically, cancer.

23 Dec 2014

Higher doses of vancomycin linked to increased risk of kidney damage in children, shows study

Results of a small Johns Hopkins Children’s Center study show that hospitalized children given high-dose IV infusions of the antibiotic vancomycin to treat drug-resistant bacterial infections face an increased risk for kidney damage — an often reversible but sometimes serious complication.

23 Dec 2014

Study: Inactivating polymorphism may influence progression of ovarian and luminal breast cancer

A common polymorphism - a variation in a person's DNA sequence that is found with regularity in the general population - can lead to a chain of events that dictates how a tumor will progress in certain types of cancer, including a form of breast cancer as well as ovarian cancer, according to new research from The Wistar Institute that was published online by the journal Cancer Cell.

19 Dec 2014

Bloodstream infections differ based on distance from the equator, health care spending

Where you live affects the type of bacteria that cause bloodstream infections, according to researchers at Rhode Island Hospital and an international team of investigators. The closer you live to the equator, the greater the likelihood of a bloodstream infection caused by a group of bacteria called Gram-negative bacteria, which thrive in warm and moist environments, compared to another group of bacteria referred to as Gram-positive bacteria.

19 Dec 2014

Endogenous retroviruses also play critical role in the body's immune defense against pathogens

Retroviruses are best known for causing contagious scourges such as AIDS, or more sporadically, cancer.

19 Dec 2014

Penn, UGA scientists awarded new contract to develop genome database for microbial pathogens

At the turn of the millennium, the cost to sequence a single human genome exceeded $50 million, and the process took a decade to complete. Microbes have genomes, too, and the first reference genome for a malaria parasite was completed in 2002 at a cost of roughly $15 million. But today researchers can sequence a genome in a single afternoon for just a few thousand dollars. Related technologies make it possible to capture information about all genes in the genome, in all tissues, from multiple individuals.

18 Dec 2014

Trophoblasts respond to inflammatory danger signals, find NTNU researchers

Trophoblasts, cells that form an outer layer around a fertilized egg and develop into the major part of the placenta, have now been shown to respond to inflammatory danger signals, researchers from Norwegian University of Science and Technology found in a recent study published in Journal of Reproductive Immunology December 2014.

18 Dec 2014

Researchers reveal common features responsible for antibiotic resistance

Treating bacterial infections with antibiotics is becoming increasingly difficult as bacteria develop resistance not only to the antibiotics being used against them, but also to ones they have never encountered before. By analyzing genetic and phenotypic changes in antibiotic-resistant strains of E. coli, researchers at the RIKEN Quantitative Biology Center in Japan have revealed a common set of features that appear to be responsible for the development of resistance to several types of antibiotics.

18 Dec 2014

Eight researchers to receive 2015 Leibniz Prize

The new recipients of Germany's most prestigious research funding prize have been announced. In Bonn today, the Joint Committee of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) decided to award the 2015 Leibniz Prize to eight researchers.

18 Dec 2014

Bacteria News and Research

Scientists discover potential solution to antibiotic resistance

Johns Hopkins-led study offers strategy to eradicate HIV

Findings could accelerate development of prebiotic medicines for bowel problems, autoimmune diseases

Fast-track diagnostics releases CE-labelled Real-time PCR kit to detect Zaire Ebolavirus

Everyday actions could help prevent spread of flu among college students

Fat cells below skin help protect from bacteria, say researchers

Combination of bedaquiline and verapamil reduces side effects, improves outcomes for TB patients

Synthetic Biologics doses first patient in SYN-004 Phase 1b trial to prevent C. difficile infection

Periods of extreme heat associated with increased hospitalization risk for older adults

Patent recognizes peptide that reduces tissue damage

First successful vaccination of deer against chronic wasting disease

Endogenous retroviruses play critical role in body's immune defense against bacterial, viral pathogens

Higher doses of vancomycin linked to increased risk of kidney damage in children, shows study

Study: Inactivating polymorphism may influence progression of ovarian and luminal breast cancer

Bloodstream infections differ based on distance from the equator, health care spending

Endogenous retroviruses also play critical role in the body's immune defense against pathogens

Penn, UGA scientists awarded new contract to develop genome database for microbial pathogens

Trophoblasts respond to inflammatory danger signals, find NTNU researchers

Researchers reveal common features responsible for antibiotic resistance

Eight researchers to receive 2015 Leibniz Prize

Microbiology eBook

Expanding research and clinical options for children with cancer

Examining how pain could play a direct protective role in the gut

From Puberty to Menopause: Clue’s CEO, Audrey Tsang on the Power of Femtech

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