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Study finds that K13 gene mutations cause malaria drug resistance in Southeast Asia

Growing resistance to malaria drugs in Southeast Asia is caused by a single mutated gene inside the disease-causing Plasmodium falciparum parasite, according to a study led by David Fidock, PhD, professor of microbiology & immunology and of medical sciences (in medicine) at Columbia University Medical Center.

12 Dec 2014

UT Southwestern microbiologists identify key gut bacteria that promotes foodborne infections

UT Southwestern Medical Center microbiologists have identified key bacteria in the gut whose resources are hijacked to spread harmful foodborne E. coli infections and other intestinal illnesses.

11 Dec 2014

Treatment guidelines lacking for Ebola patients, say infectious diseases experts

As the Ebola Virus Diseases (EVD) epidemic continues to rage in West Africa, infectious diseases experts call attention to the striking lack of treatment guidelines. With over 16,000 total cases and more than 500 new infections reported per week, and probable underreporting of both cases and fatalities, the medical community still does not have specific approved treatment in place for Ebola, according to an editorial published in the International Journal of Infectious Diseases.

10 Dec 2014

Study shows seasonal flu vaccines may protect individuals against many different viruses

Seasonal flu vaccines may protect individuals not only against the strains of flu they contain but also against many additional types, according to a study published this week in mBio, the online open-access journal of the American Society for Microbiology.

9 Dec 2014

Research findings may lead to new ways to thwart drug resistance

Penicillin, the wonder drug discovered in 1928, works in ways that are still mysterious almost a century later. One of the oldest and most widely used antibiotics, it attacks enzymes that build the bacterial cell wall, a mesh that surrounds the bacterial membrane and gives the cells their integrity and shape. Once that wall is breached, bacteria die -- allowing us to recover from infection.

6 Dec 2014

Study sheds new light on well-known mechanism required for immune response

A new study published in the scientific journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America sheds new light on a well-known mechanism required for the immune response. Researchers at the IRCM, led by Tarik Möröy, PhD, identified a protein that controls the activity of the p53 tumour suppressor protein known as the "guardian of the genome".

6 Dec 2014

Researchers suggest new strategy to control cellular identity and fate

A team of scientists that included researchers from UCLA has discovered a novel mechanism of RNA regulation in embryonic stem cells. The findings are strong evidence that a specific chemical modification, or "tag," on RNA plays a key role in determining the ability of embryonic stem cells to adopt different cellular identities.

6 Dec 2014

Scientists seek to improve stem cell transplant outcomes using DNA sequencing, mathematical modeling

Is the human immune system similar to the weather, a seemingly random yet dynamical system that can be modeled based on past conditions to predict future states? Scientists at VCU Massey Cancer Center's award-winning Bone Marrow Transplant (BMT) Program believe it is, and they recently published several studies that support the possibility of using next-generation DNA sequencing and mathematical modeling to not only understand the variability observed in clinical outcomes of stem cell transplantation, but also to provide a theoretical framework to make transplantation a possibility for more patients who do not have a related donor.

5 Dec 2014

Study: PET scanning strategy could help predict effectiveness of TB drugs

Sophisticated lung imaging can show whether or not a treatment drug is able to clear tuberculosis (TB) lung infection in human and macaque studies, according to researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and their international collaborators.

5 Dec 2014

Elsevier announces recipients for Innovative Libraries in Developing Countries and New Scholars Programs

The Elsevier Foundation today announced its 2015 grant recipients for the Innovative Libraries in Developing Countries and New Scholars Programs. In total $600.000 has been committed for 2015 that will support various multiyear projects in over 20 countries in the developing world.

4 Dec 2014

Study reports effective treatment approach to inhibit herpes virus infection

A multi-institutional study reports an effective treatment approach to inhibit and keep latent viruses like herpes simplex from reactivating and causing disease. The work, whose lead author is the late James Hill, PhD, LSU Health New Orleans Professor and Director of Pharmacology and Infectious Disease at the LSU Eye Center, is published in the December 3, 2014, issue of Science Translational Medicine.

4 Dec 2014

Rhine-Waal students bag first place in research poster competition at European Detergents Conference

Rhine-Waal students Aleksandar Hizman, Sabine Vollmer, Chantal Baumann, Kim Krieger and Lars Frohn, undergraduates in the Quality, Environment, Safety and Hygiene programme of the Faculty of Life Sciences, won first place in a research poster competition at the 10th annual European Detergents Conference, held in conjunction with the SEPAWA Congress in Fulda, Germany.

3 Dec 2014

UNM Cancer Center program to help new scientists learn nuances of conducting science

create a set of systems to track people, projects and money. But scientists' formal training doesn't always include business classes. To bridge this gap, Michelle Ozbun, PhD, at the University of New Mexico Cancer Center, is improving a program that helps new scientists learn nuances of conducting science.

3 Dec 2014

New IDF guidelines can serve as valuable resource for studying heat resistance of bacteria

Using a common methodology to measure heat resistance of bacteria is crucial, so that the results of different studies can be compared.

2 Dec 2014

Restrooms are no more healthy, unhealthy than your home

Microbial succession in a sterilized restroom begins with bacteria from the gut and the vagina, and is followed shortly by microbes from the skin. Restrooms are dominated by a stable community structure of skin and outdoor associated bacteria, with few pathogenic bacteria making them similar to other built environments such as your home.

2 Dec 2014

New microbial analysis has implications for protecting environment, energy recovery and human health

An international team of scientists from the Translational Genomics Research Institute and The Luxembourg Centre for Systems Biomedicine have completed a first-of-its-kind microbial analysis of a biological wastewater treatment plant that has broad implications for protecting the environment, energy recovery and human health.

27 Nov 2014

UTSA's Bernard Arulanandam named fellow of AAAS

Bernard Arulanandam, UTSA Jane and Roland Blumberg Professor in Biology and Assistant Vice President for Research Support, has been named a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Arulanandam was elected by his peers for the honor, recognizing his scientific and socially distinguished efforts to advance science and its applications.

26 Nov 2014

New NIH funding to help researchers develop drug delivery system to prevent HIV infection in women

The University of Texas Medical Branch is part of a collaboration led by the Oak Crest Institute of Science that received a $20 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to develop a novel intravaginal ring capable of delivering powerful antiretroviral drugs to prevent the spread of sexually transmitted HIV in women. The total award to UTMB is approximately $2.5 million.

26 Nov 2014

Automated biospecimen thawing: an interview with Dr Rolf Ehrhardt, CEO of BioCision

Surprisingly, even with decades of cryopreservation research, little progress has been made in the way frozen biospecimens are thawed. It’s still very common for researchers and clinicians to thaw cells and other frozen biological samples in a variety of manual ways ...

25 Nov 2014

Six Albert Einstein College of Medicine faculty members selected as AAAS Fellows

Six faculty members at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have been named Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Election as an AAAS Fellow is an honor bestowed upon AAAS members by their peers. This year, 401 members have been awarded this honor by AAAS because of their scientifically or socially distinguished efforts to advance science or its applications.

25 Nov 2014

Microbiology News and Research

Study finds that K13 gene mutations cause malaria drug resistance in Southeast Asia

UT Southwestern microbiologists identify key gut bacteria that promotes foodborne infections

Treatment guidelines lacking for Ebola patients, say infectious diseases experts

Study shows seasonal flu vaccines may protect individuals against many different viruses

Research findings may lead to new ways to thwart drug resistance

Study sheds new light on well-known mechanism required for immune response

Researchers suggest new strategy to control cellular identity and fate

Scientists seek to improve stem cell transplant outcomes using DNA sequencing, mathematical modeling

Study: PET scanning strategy could help predict effectiveness of TB drugs

Elsevier announces recipients for Innovative Libraries in Developing Countries and New Scholars Programs

Study reports effective treatment approach to inhibit herpes virus infection

Rhine-Waal students bag first place in research poster competition at European Detergents Conference

UNM Cancer Center program to help new scientists learn nuances of conducting science

New IDF guidelines can serve as valuable resource for studying heat resistance of bacteria

Restrooms are no more healthy, unhealthy than your home

New microbial analysis has implications for protecting environment, energy recovery and human health

UTSA's Bernard Arulanandam named fellow of AAAS

New NIH funding to help researchers develop drug delivery system to prevent HIV infection in women

Automated biospecimen thawing: an interview with Dr Rolf Ehrhardt, CEO of BioCision

Six Albert Einstein College of Medicine faculty members selected as AAAS Fellows

Microbiology eBook

Achieving and maintaining ISO/IEC 27001 and BS 10012 certifications

Expanding research and clinical options for children with cancer

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

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