Microbiology News and Research

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Molecular technology detects up to 50% more cases of C. diff than other methods

A study from the microbiology lab at the Lifespan hospitals has found that some lab tests are much more accurate in identifying Clostridium difficile Toxin infection, which causes diarrhea.

6 Jul 2011

Infected astrocytes can cause neuroAIDS

A longstanding medical mystery - why so many people with HIV experience memory loss and other cognitive problems despite potent antiretroviral therapy - may have been solved by researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University.

2 Jul 2011

Antimicrobial copper surfaces reduce risk of acquiring hospital infection

Professor Bill Keevil, Head of the Microbiology Group and Director of the Environmental Healthcare Unit at the University of Southampton, has presented research into the mechanism by which copper exerts its antimicrobial effect on antibiotic-resistant organisms at the World Health Organization's first International Conference on Prevention and Infection Control.

2 Jul 2011

European joint project to develop novel HCV vaccine based on nanotechnology

HCVAX is a European joint project that reaches out to develop a vaccine against hepatitis C based on nanotechnology. The German Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research in Braunschweig and its department "Vaccinology and Applied Microbiology" is now a part of the transnational consortium with researchers from Germany, France and Switzerland.

2 Jul 2011

Vaccines may be given in food in the near future

Soon children could be vaccinated with bacteria mixed in milk and people in the developing world given unprecedented access to immunisations under a scheme proposed by an Australian Nobel laureate, Barry Marshall.

29 Jun 2011

Scientists discover how bacteria invade heart tissue and cause endocarditis

Scientists have discovered the tool that bacteria normally found in our mouths use to invade heart tissue, causing a dangerous and sometimes lethal infection of the heart known as endocarditis.

28 Jun 2011

Bdellovibrio safe and effective for treating Salmonella infection

Scientists have tested a predatory bacterium - Bdellovibrio - against Salmonella in the guts of live chickens. They found that it significantly reduced the numbers of Salmonella bacteria and, importantly, showed that Bdellovibrio are safe when ingested.

28 Jun 2011

Researchers identify how sooty mangabeys survive SIV infection

Sooty mangabeys, a type of African monkey, have intrigued scientists for years because they can survive infection by SIV, a relative of HIV, and not succumb to AIDS.

27 Jun 2011

Free ADAP 2.0 software upgrade with Biochrom's EZ Read 400 research reader

Busy laboratory environments require a microplate reader with the flexibility to cover many assay types, and software that delivers fast, reliable analysis. With this in mind, Biochrom are offering a free software upgrade from ADAP 2.0 Basic to ADAP 2.0 Plus with purchases of the EZ Read 400 research reader until 30 September 2011. For further information, visit www.biochrom.co.uk.

From Biochrom Ltd. 20 Jun 2011

Loyola employee donates kidney to complete stranger, saves her own life

When Dorothy Jambrosek, 47, decided to donate a kidney to a stranger, she didn't realize that her goodwill would save her own life. After undergoing a series of tests required to give a kidney, doctors discovered that Jambrosek had precancerous lesions in her breast that could become cancerous.

17 Jun 2011

Dengue virus circulating between monkeys, mosquitoes could emerge to cause human outbreaks

More than a thousand years ago, somewhere in Southeast Asia, a fateful meeting occurred between a mosquito-borne virus that infected mainly monkeys and a large, susceptible group of humans.

14 Jun 2011

STCEID to establish Center of Excellence in Infection Genomics

The South Texas Center for Emerging Infectious Diseases at The University of Texas at San Antonio announced today it will receive $4.6 million over the next five years from the U.S. Department of Defense's Army Research Office to establish a Center of Excellence in Infection Genomics to support microbiology research, teaching and outreach activities aligned with Army priorities.

13 Jun 2011

Sabin Vaccine Institute, Texas Children's Hospital, Baylor College of Medicine to create tropical disease research school

Peter Hotez, chair of the Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Tropical Medicine at George Washington University and president of Sabin Vaccine Institute, "will join the staffs of Texas Children's Hospital and Baylor College of Medicine this summer, and will serve as founding dean of a new, as yet unnamed, tropical disease research school at Baylor," the Houston Chronicle reports.

10 Jun 2011

Pall's GeneDisc System helps German authorities screen for deadly E.coli strain

Pall Corporation's GeneDisc System is helping German authorities screen for a deadly strain of E.coli that has sickened nearly 3000 people and disrupted that nation's food industry. Pall's GeneDisc technology is being used by Germany's national reference laboratory to expedite testing of food samples for the toxic strain of the pathogen known as E.coli O104:H4.

From Pall Corporation 10 Jun 2011

Adults with herpes zoster may face higher risk of multiple sclerosis

Taiwanese investigators have found that there can be a significantly higher risk of multiple sclerosis (MS) occurring in the year following a shingles, or herpes zoster, attack.

9 Jun 2011

Scientists, advocacy experts form new international Foundation for Vaccine Research

Fourteen leading scientists and advocacy experts in vaccines and infectious diseases have announced the formation of a new international Foundation to advance and accelerate vaccine research and development against infectious diseases.

9 Jun 2011

Scientists discover four different bacteria that can live on caffeine

As it turns out, humans aren't the only organisms that turn to caffeine for a pick-me-up. University of Iowa scientists have identified four different bacteria that actually can live on caffeine.

8 Jun 2011

BGI releases third version of assembled E. coli O104 genome

Scientists worldwide have been working on the publicly available genomic sequences of the deadly E. coli O104 strain, which is causing the current health crisis in Germany and now spreading throughout Europe. To continue to speed the ongoing international efforts of researchers to assess and halt this growing epidemic, BGI and their collaborators at the University Medical Centre Hamburg-Eppendorf have now released their third version of the assembled genome, which includes new data from this E. coli O104.

8 Jun 2011

University of Perugia researcher to lead BioNanoFilter European clinical trial on Group B Strep

NanoLogix, a biotechnology innovator in the rapid detection and identification of live-cell bacteria and microorganisms, announced today its BioNanoFilter (BNF) technology will undergo a clinical trial, led by Dr. Gian Carlo Di Renzo of the University of Perugia in Italy.

7 Jun 2011

GW researchers demonstrate Mta1 gene's role in survival of schistosomes

By using mice lacking a crucial gene that controls the process of chromatin remodeling of cytokines including those responsible for inflammation and comparing them to normal wild type mice with the gene, researchers at the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences have shown that the gene, Mta1, is essential for the parasite Schistosoma haematobium to establish a productive infection and survival in the host.

4 Jun 2011