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Drug used to treat intestinal worms could protect people from periodontitis, says study

A drug currently used to treat intestinal worms could protect people from periodontitis, an advanced gum disease, which untreated can erode the structures-including bone-that hold the teeth in the jaw. The research was published ahead of print in Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy.

11 Nov 2013

Probiotics may help keep bad germs at bay

Microbes are everywhere - thousands of species are in your mouth, and thousands are in a glass of tap water. The ones in your mouth are mostly harmless - as long as you brush and floss so they don't form a biofilm that allows gum disease a path into the blood stream.

4 Nov 2013

Researchers develop new microfluidic device that could speed monitoring of bacterial infections

There are good bacteria and there are bad bacteria -- and sometimes both coexist within the same species. Take, for instance, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a microbe common in soil and water.

17 Oct 2013

Researchers develop new type of E. coli that kills bacteria responsible for hard-to-treat infections

The notorious bacteria E. coli is best known for making people sick, but scientists have reprogrammed the microbe - which also comes in harmless varieties - to make it seek out and fight other disease-causing pathogens.

3 Oct 2013

Understanding tribological damage in biomaterials and medical implants

During their service life, most biomaterials and medical implants are vulnerable to tribological damage. In addition, the environments in which they are placed are often corrosive. The combination of triobology, corrosion and the biological environment has been named ‘bio-tribocorrosion’. Understanding this complex phenomenon is critical to improving the design and service life of medical implants. This important book reviews recent key research in this area.

20 Sep 2013

Microbiologist finds breakthrough herbal medicine treatment for common human fungal pathogen

A Kansas State University microbiologist has found a breakthrough herbal medicine treatment for a common human fungal pathogen that lives in almost 80 percent of people.

13 Sep 2013

Surgeons must balance research and medical training with outstanding patient care

Like a juggler keeping multiple plates in the air, a surgeon in academic medicine must balance research and medical training with outstanding patient care. Charles Bellows, MD, FACS, relishes the challenge. Dr. Bellows, a University of New Mexico Professor of General Surgery, recently assumed the role of Chief of the Division of General Surgery in the Department of Surgery at the UNM School of Medicine.

12 Sep 2013

New antibody could prevent Candida infections in patients who receive central lines

A team of researchers at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center has developed an antibody that could prevent Candida infections that often afflict hospitalized patients who receive central lines.

12 Sep 2013

Researchers receive $1M grant to research in biological components with solid-state electronics

An interdisciplinary team of researchers from Columbia University, led by Ken Shepard, professor of electrical engineering and biomedical engineering at Columbia Engineering and including Virginia W. Cornish, Helena Rubinstein Professor of Chemistry, and Lars Dietrich, assistant professor of biological sciences, has won a prestigious $1 million three-year grant from the W. M. Keck Foundation to advance their research in combining biological components with solid-state electronics, creating new systems that exploit the advantages of both.

23 Aug 2013

Research: 2 forms of iron to treat cystic fibrosis lung infection

The bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa needs iron to establish and maintain a biofilm in the lungs of cystic fibrosis patients, and therapies have been proposed to deprive the bacteria of this necessary element.

20 Aug 2013

Research shows how mammalian and bacterial kingdoms interact

The bacteria Streptococcus pneumoniae harmlessly colonizes the mucous linings of throats and noses in most people, only becoming virulent when they leave those comfortable surroundings and enter the middle ears, lungs or bloodstream. Now, in research published in July in mBio, University at Buffalo researchers reveal how that happens.

8 Aug 2013

AmpliPhi releases data on phage therapy for treatment of lung infections in Cystic Fibrosis patients

AmpliPhi BioSciences Corp. (OTC: APHB) ("AmpliPhi"), the leader in the development of bacteriophage-based antibacterial therapies to treat drug resistant bacterial infections, yesterday presented data relating to the use of bacteriophages in the treatment of Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P. aeruginosa) at the 20th Biennial Evergreen International Phage Meeting held in Olympia, Washington, USA. P. aeruginosa is the major cause of lung infections in cystic fibrosis (CF) patients.

8 Aug 2013

New bioinspired coating makes ordinary glass tough, self-cleaning and incredibly slippery

A new transparent, bioinspired coating makes ordinary glass tough, self-cleaning and incredibly slippery, a team from the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University and Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) reported online in the July 31 edition of Nature Communications.

3 Aug 2013

Researchers visualize live cell-to-cell communication pathways in bacteria

Most bacteria are able to communicate with each other by secreting signaling molecules. Once the concentration of signals has reached a critical density (-the Quorum), the bacteria are able to coordinate their behavior

20 Jul 2013

Research develop new methods, technologies for reducing deliberate drinking water contamination

An international project has developed a response programme for rapidly restoring the use of drinking water networks following a deliberate contamination event.

6 Jul 2013

Newly developed palm-sized microarray platform could enable faster, more efficient drug discovery

A new palm-sized microarray that holds 1,200 individual cultures of fungi or bacteria could enable faster, more efficient drug discovery, according to a study published in mBio-, the online open-access journal of the American Society for Microbiology.

25 Jun 2013

Treating bacteria with silver compounds boosts efficacy of old antibiotics

Slipping bacteria some silver could give old antibiotics new life, scientists at the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University reported June 19 in Science Translational Medicine.

20 Jun 2013

UT candidate wins AHA fellowship to support research in cardiovascular, stroke discoveries

University of Texas at San Antonio biomedical engineering Ph.D. candidate Anand Srinivasan has been awarded a $25,000, one-year doctoral fellowship from the American Heart Association (AHA).

20 Jun 2013

Scientists discover new anti-tuberculosis compound that kills drug-resistant TB bacteria

An international team led by scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI), the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University has identified a highly promising new anti-tuberculosis compound that attacks the tuberculosis (TB) bacterium in two different ways.

18 Jun 2013

TSRI scientists identify highly promising new anti-tuberculosis compound

An international team led by scientists at The Scripps Research Institute, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University has identified a highly promising new anti-tuberculosis compound that attacks the tuberculosis bacterium in two different ways.