Microbiology News and Research

RSS

Researchers reveal specific process by which HIV virus infects healthy T cells

A George Mason University researcher team has revealed the specific process by which the HIV virus infects healthy T cells-a process previously unknown. The principal investigator, HIV researcher Yuntao Wu, says he hopes this breakthrough will start a new line on inquiry into how researchers can use this knowledge to create drugs that could limit or halt HIV infection.

25 Aug 2011

Scientists identify critical protein responsible for Ebola virus infection

In separate papers published online in Nature, two research teams report identifying a critical protein that Ebola virus exploits to cause deadly infections. The protein target is an essential element through which the virus enters living cells to cause disease.

25 Aug 2011

Researchers trace source of latest cholera pandemic

Researchers have used next generation sequencing to trace the source and explain the spread of the latest (seventh) cholera pandemic. They have also highlighted the impact of the acquisition of resistance to antibiotics on shaping outbreaks and show resistance was first acquired around 1982.

25 Aug 2011

Researchers discover NPC1 protein as crucial for Ebola virus to enter host cells

Although outbreaks are rare, Ebola virus, the cause of Ebola hemorrhagic fever (EHF), is one of the deadliest known viruses affecting humans. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), approximately 1,850 EHF cases with more than 1,200 deaths have been documented since the virus was identified in 1976.

25 Aug 2011

IMMY, University of Nevada receive FDA clearance for CrAg Lateral Flow Assay

The Food and Drug Administration has cleared a new diagnostic test that will help save the lives of hundreds of thousands of AIDS patients stricken with cryptococcosis, a fungal meningitis.

25 Aug 2011

DTU, TGen researchers pinpoint source of cholera outbreak in Haiti

Employing technology that reads the entire DNA code, researchers led by the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) and the Technical University of Denmark (DTU) have pinpointed the source of a cholera outbreak in Haiti that killed more than 6,000 people and sickened 300,000.

24 Aug 2011

Dog fecal material may constitute the dominant source of airborne bacteria

Bacteria from fecal material -- in particular, dog fecal material -- may constitute the dominant source of airborne bacteria in Cleveland's and Detroit's wintertime air, says a new University of Colorado Boulder study.

19 Aug 2011

Temple University, URMC partner to translate novel medical research into new drugs

The University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC) and Temple University School of Pharmacy have announced a partnership that will help translate novel medical research into new drugs for treating diseases.

19 Aug 2011

Inexpensive microcalorimeters can quickly detect TB

Researchers have discovered a faster, cheaper method for the diagnosis of tuberculosis (TB). A major barrier in TB prevention, especially in developing countries, is that diagnosis is slow and costly.

17 Aug 2011

Scientists identify potential target that could combat allergies of early childhood

A pandemic of ailments called the "allergic march" -- the gradual acquisition of overlapping allergic diseases that commonly begins in early childhood -- has frustrated both parents and physicians. For the last three decades, an explosion of eczema, food allergies, hay fever, and asthma have afflicted children in the United States, the European Union, and many other countries.

16 Aug 2011

Researchers identify oncoprotein that allows MCV virus to trigger Merkel Cell Carcinoma

Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute (UPCI) have identified the oncoprotein that allows a common and usually harmless virus to transform healthy cells into a rare but deadly skin cancer called Merkel Cell Carcinoma.

16 Aug 2011

New ‘cure-all’ antiviral method discovered

In a new development that could transform how viral infections are treated, a team of researchers at MIT’s Lincoln Laboratory has designed a drug that can identify cells that have been infected by any type of virus, then kill those cells to terminate the infection.

15 Aug 2011

Pyrazinamide inhibits trans-translation in Mycobacterium tuberculosis

For nearly 60 years, Pyrazinamide (PZA) has been used in conjunction with other medications to treat tuberculosis (TB), but scientists did not fully understand how the drug killed TB bacteria. PZA plays a unique role in shortening the duration of current TB therapy to six months and is used frequently to treat multi-drug resistant TB.

12 Aug 2011

Researchers identify novel sensory pathway that modulates pro-inflammatory cells

New research led by Derya Unutmaz, MD associate professor, the Departments of Pathology, Medicine, and Microbiology at NYU School of Medicine and Mark Sundrud, PhD, of Tempero Pharmaceuticals, Inc., has identified a novel sensory pathway that modulates the potency of Th17 cell responses.

11 Aug 2011

Researchers helps explain how the adult brain cleans out dead brain cells and produces new ones

Adult brains generate thousands of new brain cells called neurons each day; however only a small fraction of them survive. The rest die and are consumed by scavenger cells called phagocytes. Until now, scientists have not fully understood how this process works, which phagocytes are unique in the brain, and how the removal of dead neurons influences the production of new neurons.

10 Aug 2011

NIH awards Jefferson $4.8M grant to study vaccine to clear rabies virus from central nervous system

Thomas Jefferson University received a National Institutes of Health (NIH) $4.8 million grant to test a new rabies vaccine with the potential to cure the virus infection, even after it has made its way into a person's central nervous system (CNS). Today, if an unvaccinated person is infected with rabies and it spreads to the brain, there is little chance for survival.

8 Aug 2011

NanoLogix BNP and BNF Quick Test kits detect, identify Group B Strep in four to six hours

NanoLogix, a biotechnology innovator in the rapid detection and identification of live-cell bacteria and microorganisms, announced today that the American Journal of Perinatology has published a peer-reviewed paper from the University of Texas Health Science Center - Houston confirming NanoLogix BioNanoPore (BNP) and BioNanoFilter (BNF) Quick Test technology detect and identify Group B Strep in four to six hours.

8 Aug 2011

News media registration now open for ASM annual infectious diseases meeting

News media registration for the annual infectious diseases meeting of the American Society for Microbiology (ASM) is now open.

5 Aug 2011

Entomologist to study how immune system responds to rickettsial infection

Summer for most people means time spent outdoors, which could also mean increased exposure to bugs and, possibly, arthropod-borne diseases, such as "rickettsial diseases" - infectious diseases spread by bacteria, which, generally, are transmitted by lice, fleas, ticks and mites.

5 Aug 2011

Bruker second quarter revenue increases 33% y-o-y to $401.2 million

Bruker Corporation today reported financial results for the three and six months ended June 30, 2011.

3 Aug 2011

Microbiology News and Research

Researchers reveal specific process by which HIV virus infects healthy T cells

Scientists identify critical protein responsible for Ebola virus infection

Researchers trace source of latest cholera pandemic

Researchers discover NPC1 protein as crucial for Ebola virus to enter host cells

IMMY, University of Nevada receive FDA clearance for CrAg Lateral Flow Assay

DTU, TGen researchers pinpoint source of cholera outbreak in Haiti

Dog fecal material may constitute the dominant source of airborne bacteria

Temple University, URMC partner to translate novel medical research into new drugs

Inexpensive microcalorimeters can quickly detect TB

Scientists identify potential target that could combat allergies of early childhood

Researchers identify oncoprotein that allows MCV virus to trigger Merkel Cell Carcinoma

New ‘cure-all’ antiviral method discovered

Pyrazinamide inhibits trans-translation in Mycobacterium tuberculosis

Researchers identify novel sensory pathway that modulates pro-inflammatory cells

Researchers helps explain how the adult brain cleans out dead brain cells and produces new ones

NIH awards Jefferson $4.8M grant to study vaccine to clear rabies virus from central nervous system

NanoLogix BNP and BNF Quick Test kits detect, identify Group B Strep in four to six hours

News media registration now open for ASM annual infectious diseases meeting

Entomologist to study how immune system responds to rickettsial infection

Bruker second quarter revenue increases 33% y-o-y to $401.2 million

Microbiology eBook

Discover how SciY empowers scientists

Why use light scattering to analyze proteins and viral vectors?

Changing the landscape of R&D to build clinical success from the ground up

Latest Life Science News