Mycology News and Research

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Candida Force program of detoxification and dietary recommendations effective for weight reduction

Early this month, the cover of First for Women magazine stopped Kathleen Kalaf in her tracks. The magazine featured an article about the connection between systemic Candida, or yeast overgrowth, and fat.

10 Sep 2010

UK researchers discover new tactic used by cancer cells to cheat death

Cancer Research UK scientists have uncovered a new strategy that could be used by cancer cells to side step the body's normal safety checks and become immortal a key step for a cancer cell according to a study published in Nature today (Thursday).

10 Sep 2010

Researchers unveil protection mechanism of telomeres from DNA repair

In the latest issue of the journal Nature, Miguel Godinho Ferreira, Principal Investigator at the Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência (IGC) in Portugal, lead a team of researchers to shed light on a paradox that has puzzled biologists since the discovery of telomeres, the protective tips of chromosomes: while broken chromosome ends generated by DNA damage (such as radiation or cigarette smoke) are quickly joined together, telomeres are never tied to each other, thus allowing for the correct segregation of the genetic material into all cells in our body.

9 Sep 2010

Researchers reveal surface protein alteration mechanism of mycoplasma bacteria

Pathogenic bacteria have evolved a variety of mechanisms to avoid being killed by the immune systems of the humans and animals they invade. Among the most sophisticated is that practised by mycoplasmas, which regularly change their surface proteins to confuse the immune system. Recent work in the group of Renate Rosengarten and Rohini Chopra-Dewasthaly at the University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna has revealed surprising new details of the way they do so and at the same time raised important evolutionary questions.

9 Sep 2010

GE Global Researchers receive award from NIH for human microbiome study

Researchers from GE Global Research have been awarded a $538,000 human microbiome project from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to develop new technology that would allow for the study of individual cells growing inside and outside the body believed to have a significant impact on human health.

8 Sep 2010

Yeast can be simple model to study molecular basis of Parkinson’s disease

Yeast could be a powerful ally in the discovery of new therapeutic drugs to treat Parkinson's disease says a scientist presenting his work at the Society for General Microbiology's autumn meeting in Nottingham today.

8 Sep 2010

Simple protocol for determining Gross Chromosomal Rearrangement mutation rates

A cell devotes a significant amount of effort to maintaining the stability of its genome, preventing the sorts of chromosomal rearrangements characteristic of many cancers. Assays that measure the rate of gross chromosomal rearrangements (GCRs) are needed in order to understand the individual genes and the different pathways that suppress genomic instability.

3 Sep 2010

Pfizer enters agreement to acquire FoldRx Pharmaceuticals

Pfizer Inc. and FoldRx Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a privately held drug discovery and clinical development company, today announced that they have entered into an agreement under which Pfizer will acquire FoldRx.

2 Sep 2010

Ataxin 2 gene mutation contributes to Lou Gehrig's disease: Research

An international study led by biologists and neuroscientists from the University of Pennsylvania has identified a new genetic risk factor for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, commonly known as ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease.

26 Aug 2010

Researchers identify molecular signals that impact male fertility: Research

Male infertility is a common medical problem, affecting millions of men in the United States annually. Its causes include an inability to make productive sperm. Now, using yeast as a model organism, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine are beginning to identify the molecular signals that could in part underlie that problem.

25 Aug 2010

Researchers find new way to study oncogene's role in DNA repair

A key step in understanding the origins of familial breast cancer has been made by two teams of scientists at the University of California, Davis. The researchers have purified, for the first time, the protein produced by the breast cancer susceptibility gene BRCA2 and used it to study the oncogene's role in DNA repair.

23 Aug 2010

Montana State University offers new biomedical technologies for prevention, treatment of viral infections

Researchers at Montana State University have developed six new biomedical technologies that could have applications for treating antibiotic resistant infections, fungal infections and viral infections; boosting humans' innate immunity and improving scientists' ability to study such compounds. The technologies are available for licensing to interested companies and entrepreneurs.

19 Aug 2010

Scientists study yeast to understand human pathologies affecting male fertility

Men and yeast have something in common: they use the same molecular process to ensure the integrity of their gene pool during reproduction. This is a recent finding by researchers from CNRS, Inserm and the Université Joseph Fourier in Grenoble. The scientists are therefore set on studying yeast in order to shed light on the numerous cases of male infertility related to the malfunction of this process during spermatogenesis.

19 Aug 2010

Study discovers multiple effects of SSRIs on cells

A new discovery about selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) suggests that these drugs, which are used to treat mental health disorders like depression and anxiety, have multiple effects on our cells. In a research report published in the August 2010 issue of GENETICS, researchers used yeast cells to identify secondary drug targets or pathways affected by SSRIs. Such secondary pathways could help explain why different people taking the same drug may experience different effects, and could also lead to new types of drugs altogether.

17 Aug 2010

Zebrafish-yeast approach for studying copper deficiency, complex multifactorial diseases

Copper deficiency diseases can be devastating. Symptoms can range from crippling neurological degeneration in Menkes disease ,a classic copper deficiency disease to brittle bones, anaemia and defective skin pigmentation in gastric bypass patients. Unfortunately, very little is known about how the body uses this essential nutrient. Knowing that melanocytes (the cells that give rise to hair, skin and eye pigmentation) are dramatically affected by the effects of copper deficiency, Elizabeth Patton from the University of Edinburgh, UK, and other colleagues from UK and US based labs decided to find out how melanocytes metabolise copper.

17 Aug 2010

Researchers find transposons determine differences in physical traits, disease risks

Building on a tool that they developed in yeast four years ago, researchers at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine scanned the human genome and discovered what they believe is the reason people have such a variety of physical traits and disease risks.

12 Aug 2010

Myconostica announces CE marking for MycAssay Aspergillus and Pneumocystis on additional platforms

Myconostica Ltd, the UK-based medical diagnostic company developing and commercialising rapid and highly specific tests for life-threatening fungal infections, today announces the CE marking of its lead products MycAssay™ Aspergillus and MycAssay™ Pneumocystis on the Roche Lightcycler® 2.0 and Stratagene Mx3000 series platforms.

9 Aug 2010

Nature News examines how scientists, farmers are working to meet the growing demand for artemisinin

"From bust to boom to bust again: artemisinin, the key ingredient of front-line antimalarial drugs, is entering the third chapter of its turbulent history," Nature News writes in an article that examines the challenges scientists and farmers are facing as they attempt to keep up with the growing demand for the compound just as a "$343-million initiative starts to battle malaria through hugely subsidized medicines."

5 Aug 2010

Resveratrol suppresses inflammation in humans: Research

Resveratrol, a popular plant extract shown to prolong life in yeast and lower animals due to its anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties, appears also to suppress inflammation in humans, based on results from the first prospective human trial of the extract conducted by University at Buffalo endocrinologists.

31 Jul 2010