Pathogen News and Research

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Researchers identify new regulator that play a critical role in B cell development

A team at the Institut de recherches cliniques de Montr-al led by Dr. Tarik M-r-y, President and Scientific Director of the institute and Director of the Hematopoiesis and Cancer research unit, will be publishing an important breakthrough in tomorrow's issue of Immunity, a scientific journal from the Cell Press group. The researchers identified a new regulator playing a critical role in the development B cells, which produce antibodies.

23 Dec 2010

New nanoparticle-based diagnostic platform provides rapid detection of sepsis

Blood poisoning can be fatal. If you suffer from sepsis, you used to have to wait as much as 48 hours for laboratory findings. A new diagnostic platform as big as a credit card will now supply the analysis after as little as an hour. This system is based on nanoparticles that are automatically guided by magnetic forces.

22 Dec 2010

Accelr8 reports $466,362 net sales revenue for first fiscal quarter ended October 31, 2010

Accelr8 Technology Corporation announced its financial results for the first fiscal quarter ended October 31, 2010. Net sales revenues totaled $466,362; net income from operations was $49,974 with total net income of $67,250. For the previous quarter, net sales were $15,549 with a loss from operations of $(423,373) and a total net loss of $(411,981). Shareholders' equity totaled $4,985,682 at the current quarter's end, up from $4,909,778 at the end of the previous fiscal quarter.

17 Dec 2010

DARPA awards Pulmatrix $5.7 million grant to advance iCALM therapies

Pulmatrix, a clinical stage biotechnology company discovering and developing a new class of therapies for the prevention, treatment and control of respiratory diseases, today announced that it has been awarded a grant for $5.7 million from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), a component of the Department of Defense (DOD), focused on identifying and advancing novel technologies to support defense of our nation's soldiers and civilian population.

14 Dec 2010

New theory explains spread of infectious diseases

New research using human-networking theory may give a clearer picture of just how, exactly, infectious diseases such as the common cold, influenza, whooping cough and SARS can spread through a closed group of people, and even through populations at large.

14 Dec 2010

Diet linked to onset of mental illness

Changes in diet have been linked to a reduction of abnormal behaviors in mentally ill people or animals, but a Purdue University study shows that diet might also trigger the onset of mental illness in the first place.

14 Dec 2010

Origin of Haiti cholera epidemic traced to South Asia

The strain of cholera currently sweeping through post-earthquake Haiti originated in South Asia, conclude scientists who did a rapid genetic analysis of bacteria collected from Haitian patients. The finding supports the notion that the cholera bacteria fueling the outbreak arrived on the island via recent visitors.

13 Dec 2010

Haitian cholera pathogen closely related to 'El Tor O1' variant from South Asia

Scientists from Pacific Biosciences of California, Inc. and Harvard Medical School have successfully employed single molecule, real-time (SMRT™) DNA sequencing technology to rapidly characterize the pathogen responsible for the recent deadly cholera epidemic in Haiti. Published online Thursday in the New England Journal of Medicine, the results provide the first whole genome sequence analysis and most detailed genetic profile to date of the Haitian Vibrio cholerae outbreak strain.

10 Dec 2010

Nanoparticles could combat Listeria

A Purdue University research team developed a nanoparticle that can hold and release an antimicrobial agent as needed for extending the shelf life of foods susceptible to Listeria monocytogenes.

8 Dec 2010

Sequella files SQ109 IND for Phase 2 studies in H. pylori-related duodenal ulcers

Sequella, Inc., a clinical-stage company focused on commercializing novel drugs for treatment of infectious diseases, announced it has successfully filed an Investigational New Drug (IND) application with the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) to test SQ109 in patients suffering from H. pylori-related duodenal ulcers, and can now begin Phase 2 studies.

7 Dec 2010

Information technology could improve prevention, treatment of depression

Could information technology and data mining techniques be used to improve the diagnosis and treatment of depression? That's the question scientists in Australia hope to have answered in a forthcoming issue of the International Journal of Functional Informatics and Personalised Medicine.

4 Dec 2010

Study reveals role of VSV in killing cancer cells through turning off major survival signal

Researchers from Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) have identified a mechanism by which specific viruses acting as oncolytic agents can enter and kill cancer cells. This finding, which is currently featured in an online edition of the Journal of Virology, could help lead to the development of more targeted treatments against many types of cancer.

2 Dec 2010

Researchers show an oncolytic virus switches off cancer cell survival signal

1 Dec 2010

Scientists uncover new regulatory mechanism in body's response to eliminate pathogens

A team of scientists from The Scripps Research Institute have uncovered a previously unknown regulatory mechanism in the body's response to eliminate pathogens, such as bacteria and viruses. The findings challenge a long-held dogma in the field of immunology and have potential implications for far-ranging topics from how vaccines should be administered to the origin of autoimmunity.

30 Nov 2010

Looking back and moving forward: 100 years of Pneumococcal vaccination

"Since the introduction of smallpox vaccination by Sir Edward Jenner in 1796, it took 184 years until the WHO could declare the world free of smallpox. How long will it take to eliminate pneumococcus from the world?"

25 Nov 2010

Humanitarian benefits of rapid cholera vaccines deployment to at risk areas could be enormous

In the wake of devastating cholera outbreaks in refugee camps in earthquake-wracked Haiti, a group of leading experts from Harvard Medical School, George Washington University, and the International Vaccine Institute (IVI) have urged the United States to create an emergency stockpile of cholera vaccines for future humanitarian use.

25 Nov 2010

New simple diagnostic tool to detect dangerous viruses

Boston University researchers have developed a simple diagnostic tool that can quickly identify dangerous viruses like Ebola and Marburg. The biosensor, which is the size of a quarter and can detect viruses in a blood sample, could be used in developing nations, airports and other places where natural or man-made outbreaks could erupt.

22 Nov 2010

Grifols launches Flebogamma 10% DIF intravenous immune globulin in the U.S.

Grifols today announced availability of its recently approved Flebogamma® 10% DIF intravenous immune globulin. Grifols is a global healthcare company specializing in bioscience medicines derived from human plasma. Approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for Flebogamma® 10% DIF was obtained in July 2010 and final approval in Europe is expected before the end of the year. Today's announcement signals widespread product availability to the US market.

22 Nov 2010

Harvard researcher to receive 2010 Naomi Berrie Award from Columbia University Medical Center

Columbia University Medical Center will present the 2010 Naomi Berrie Award to a Harvard researcher who has made important advances in understanding the molecular basis for links between obesity, diabetes and heart disease. A promising young investigator at Columbia will also be recognized for her novel investigations regarding the basis for disordered lipid metabolism in diabetes.

20 Nov 2010

Improving immune system to defend against HIV infection

Researchers have been stymied for years over the fact that people infected with the AIDS virus do indeed produce antibodies in response to the pathogen - antibodies that turn out to be ineffective in blocking infection.

19 Nov 2010