Microbiology News and Research

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Stopping cold viruses dead by blocking replication

The common cold virus (and its more deadly cousins, the viruses that cause polio and acute flaccid myelitis) may just have met its nemesis. In a recent study published in the journal Nature Microbiology on September 16, 2019, scientists reported a potentially successful new approach to stop cold viruses from replicating inside human cells – by blocking the formation of a protein that is vital to this process.

17 Sep 2019

Dengue fever is endemic in places where iron deficiency is more common

Mosquitoes are more likely to acquire the dengue virus when they feed on blood with low levels of iron, researchers report in the 16 September issue of Nature Microbiology.

16 Sep 2019

Stanford-UCSF researchers report new cure for common cold in human cells and mice

Temporarily disabling a single protein inside our cells might be able to protect us from the common cold and other viral diseases, according to a study led by researchers at Stanford University and University of California-San Francisco.

16 Sep 2019

What you eat may change the way that antibiotics affect your gut

Scientists have examined how antibiotics change the gut bacteria in mice and looked at how diet may exacerbate or mitigate these changes.

16 Sep 2019

Scientists to study how cellular circuits recycle proteins

Human cells break down excess or unusable proteins into amino acids they can use, but scientists do not understand the process.

16 Sep 2019

Study shows how the interplay of two cytokines affects development of Tfh cells

The body's immune response fights against infectious disease, and it safeguards against future infections through vaccination.

15 Sep 2019

New model for vaginal microbiome transplantation

Bacterial vaginosis is a condition affecting thousands of women worldwide, and is associated not only with vaginal symptoms but with pregnancy-related complications including preterm labor and stillbirth. Now researchers have come up with an effective way to replace the unhealthy vaginal microflora with a ready-to-use microbiome – called a vaginal microbiome transplantation (VMT).

11 Sep 2019

Long-term antibiotic use in preemies promotes drug-resistant gut bacteria

Very preterm infants are often sick and require antibiotic treatment to save their lives. However, when this form of therapy lasts for 20 months or more, it may affect the gut microbiome over the long-term in addition to its acute effects.

10 Sep 2019

Gut microbiome could be used to predict individual's risk of bowel cancer

The makeup of the bacterial community that lives in the gut has been identified as a risk factor for bowel cancer.

10 Sep 2019

NIAID experts call for innovative research on STIs

Sexually transmitted infections, or STIs, pose a significant public health challenge. Globally, more than one million new STI cases are diagnosed each day.

10 Sep 2019

Early antibiotic exposure causes long-lasting collateral damage in premature babies

Nearly all premature babies receive antibiotics in their first weeks of life to ward off or treat potentially deadly bacterial infections.

9 Sep 2019

Oral antibiotics that kill gut microorganisms can alter immune response to flu vaccines

The normal human gut microbiome is a flourishing community of microorganisms, some of which can affect the human immune system. In a new paper published this week in Cell, researchers found that oral antibiotics, which can kill gut microorganisms, can alter the human immune response to seasonal influenza vaccination.

8 Sep 2019

UAB researchers identify biomarker for early beta cell death in Type 1 diabetes

Beta cells in the pancreas produce insulin. Their death is a key feature of Type 1 diabetes, and that loss starts long before diagnosis. However, there has been no straightforward way to measure that early loss.

8 Sep 2019

Serotonin and anti-depressants can have a major effect on the gut's microbiota

A new study in mice led by UCLA biologists strongly suggests that serotonin and drugs that target serotonin, such as anti-depressants, can have a major effect on the gut's microbiota -- the 100 trillion or so bacteria and other microbes that live in the human body's intestines.

6 Sep 2019

Disease-causing bacteria compete with human hosts for key micronutrient, study shows

New research from a University of Florida microbiologist shows that disease-causing bacteria compete with their human hosts for a key micronutrient.

6 Sep 2019

VUMC partners with Batavia to move promising Zika antibody therapy closer to the clinic

Researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center are partnering with the Dutch biopharmaceutical firm Batavia Biosciences and Nashville-based IDBiologics to bring to the clinic a highly potent Zika virus neutralizing antibody they isolated three years ago.

6 Sep 2019

Newly discovered resistance-spreading mechanism is independent of the use of antibiotics

Bacteria are becoming increasingly resistant to common antibiotics. Often, resistance is mediated by resistance genes, which can simply jump from one bacterial population to the next.

5 Sep 2019

Novel approach could help prevent sepsis in burn patients

Immediately following severe burns, bacteria reach the wound from different sources, including the patient's skin, gastrointestinal tract, respiratory tracts and health care-related human contact.

4 Sep 2019

Perfectus Biomed to exhibit at IPS conference in Liverpool

The Perfectus Biomed team will be exhibiting at the Infection Prevention Society conference in Liverpool this month.

From Perfectus Biomed 3 Sep 2019

New discovery may help identify type 1 diabetes earlier than is currently possible

Type 1 diabetes, an autoimmune disease that typically emerges before the age of 20, wipes out the body's ability to produce insulin--a hormone that's essential to life. Diagnosis often comes after symptoms arise, at which point the disease has taken hold.

30 Aug 2019