Pathogen News and Research

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Study offers way to predict onset of lung disease in children with cystic fibrosis

Cystic fibrosis (CF) shortens life by making the lungs prone to repeated bacterial infections and associated inflammation.

19 Jan 2018

Next generation genomic sequencing can help detect pathogens after joint replacement

Joint replacement surgery carries the risk of developing an infection in the replaced joint, which can lead to a so-called revision or re-do of the joint replacement.

19 Jan 2018

Researchers test new anti-malaria medication

An international research team has conducted successful phase II clinical tests of a new anti-malaria medication. The treatment led to a cure in 83 cases.

19 Jan 2018

New vaccine approach offers effective protection against tuberculosis

A unique platform that resulted in a promising HIV vaccine has also led to a new, highly effective vaccine against tuberculosis that is moving toward testing in humans.

18 Jan 2018

Scientists discover possible cause of colonial-era epidemic in Mexico

An international team of scientists has identified the possible cause of a colonial-era epidemic in Mexico. Using new techniques in ancient DNA research, experts from the Max Plank Institute, Harvard University and the Mexican National Institute of Anthropology and History, identified Salmonella enterica Paratyphi C in skeletons left behind from the 1545-1550 cocoliztli epidemic.

17 Jan 2018

Scientists develop unique technique to map elasticity of cell components

Scientists at Université de Montréal have developed a unique technique to map, on a scale of milliseconds, the elasticity of the components inside a cell.

17 Jan 2018

Scientists describe groundbreaking training effect on the innate immune system

"Training" of precursors of white blood cells leads to a sustained positive response of the hematopoietic system. This effect could help accelerate the formation of new white blood cells, which are vitally needed during chemotherapy, a process that can slow down hematopoiesis.

15 Jan 2018

Past exposures influence immune response in children with acute respiratory tract infections

Acute respiratory tract infections (ARTI) are the leading global cause of death in early childhood, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

12 Jan 2018

Researchers discover new type of botulinum neurotoxin from unexpected source

Researchers from the Quadram Institute have identified genes encoding a previously undiscovered version of the botulinum neurotoxin in bacteria from a cow's gut.

12 Jan 2018

Researchers discover new weapon to combat tuberculosis

Tuberculosis (TB), an infectious disease which attacks the lungs, claims someone's life every 20 seconds and 1.5 million lives worldwide every year.

11 Jan 2018

New TSRI study uncovers workings of first potential treatment for Marburg virus

With a mortality rate of up to 88 percent, Marburg virus can rip through a community in days. In 2005, an outbreak of Marburg virus struck a pediatric ward in the country of Angola. With no treatment available, doctors struggled to help as the virus killed 329 of 374 infected patients.

11 Jan 2018

Researchers discover cluster of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis pathogens

Between February and November 2016, the Institute of Medical Microbiology at the University of Zurich discovered a multidrug-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis in eight refugees arriving in Europe from the Horn of Africa.

9 Jan 2018

Research could lead to new ways of optimizing treatments for chronic infections

Antibiotic-resistant Pseudomonas infections in cystic fibrosis patients show predictable sensitivities to other classes of antibiotics.

5 Jan 2018

Precision editing of gut bacteria reduces inflammation in mouse model of colitis

UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers have used precision editing of the bacterial populations in the gut to prevent or reduce the severity of inflammation in a mouse model of colitis.

5 Jan 2018

Researcher shows how rank order can be used to identify complex gene interactions

Genome sequencing has revolutionized genetics. It also requires new mathematical tools to help life scientists make sense of enormous amounts of data.

3 Jan 2018

TUM scientists discover new substance to fight against tuberculosis

In search of new strategies against life-threatening tuberculosis infections, a team from the Technical University of Munich, as well as Harvard University and Texas A&M University in the USA have found a new ally.

28 Dec 2017

New genetic analysis of candidiasis reveals surprising fungal sex secrets

Working together with researchers in the Université Paris-Sud in France and University Medical Centre Göttingen in Germany, ICREA Research Professor Toni Gabaldón and his team at the Centre for Genomic Regulation in Barcelona read the genetic code of 33 separate strains of the yeast Candida glabrata, the second most common cause of candidiasis.

15 Dec 2017

Scientists unravel mystery of how immune cells remember infections decades later

A perplexing question in immunology has been, how do immune cells remember an infection or a vaccination so that they can spring into action decades later? Research led by scientists at the University of California, Berkeley, in collaboration with investigators at Emory University, has found an answer: A small pool of the same immune cells that responded to the original invasion remain alive for years, developing unique features that keep them primed and waiting for the same microbe to re-invade the body.

14 Dec 2017

FDA announces new approach for sharing updates on antibiotics, antifungal drugs to physicians

Today the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is announcing a new approach to get critical updates regarding antibiotics and antifungal drugs to health care professionals as part of an overall effort to combat antimicrobial resistance.

14 Dec 2017

Tailor-made protein combats several kinds of pathogenic bacteria

As resistance to existing antibiotics increases, new approaches to serious bacterial infections are needed. Now researchers at Lund University in Sweden, together with colleagues at the University of Massachusetts Medical School in the US, have investigated one such alternative.

13 Dec 2017