mold News and Research

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Custom made nanoparticles will transform cancer diagnosis and treatment

Researchers have developed "custom" nanoparticles that promise to provide a more targeted and effective way of delivering anticancer drugs than conventional medications or any of the earlier attempts to fight cancer with nanoparticles.

28 Mar 2006

Pfizer receives FDA approval for Eraxis to treat candidemia

Pfizer said today that Eraxis (anidulafungin) has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat candidemia, a potentially life-threatening bloodstream infection. Candidemia is the most deadly of the common hospital-acquired bloodstream infections, with a mortality rate of approximately 40 percent.

21 Feb 2006

Duke University biologists evolve complex trait in the laboratory

Duke University biologists have evolved a complex trait in the laboratory -- using the pressure of selection to induce tobacco hornworms to evolve the dual trait of turning black or green depending on the temperature during their development.

12 Feb 2006

New method to find new metabolites

Ever since penicillin, a byproduct of a fungal mold, was discovered in 1929, scientists have scrutinized fungi for other breakthrough drugs. As reported Jan. 20 in the Journal of Chemistry and Biology, a team led by a University of Wisconsin-Madison researcher has developed a new method that may speed the ongoing quest for medically useful compounds in fungi.

23 Jan 2006

Common anthrax sampling methods need improvement

A research team from the National Nuclear Security Administration's Sandia National Laboratories has discovered that common anthrax sampling methods need improvement. The research shows that more deadly spores remain after decontamination than previously believed.

25 Oct 2005

New fungal defensin, plectasin, possesses as much power as penicillin

A peptide identified in a fungus found in northern European pine forests possesses as much power as penicillin as well as vancomycin, according to an international team of researchers.

12 Oct 2005

Study on childhood asthma shows home-based interventions are cost-effective

New data suggest that a home-based environmental intervention program is a cost-effective way to improve the health of inner-city children who have moderate to severe asthma.

12 Oct 2005

Dilute bleach neutralizes the mold allergens that cause most mold-related health complaints

Researchers at National Jewish Medical and Research Center have demonstrated that dilute bleach not only kills common household mold, but may also neutralize the mold allergens that cause most mold-related health complaints.

22 Sep 2005

Relationship between allergies and mold spores in lawns

"Have you ever driven down the road and seen someone mowing the lawn wearing a mask? This is an example of the relationship between allergies and mold spores in lawns. Dr. Phil Colbaugh, research plant pathologist at the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station in Dallas, cites a common image seen in Texas throughout the warm weather months.

2 Aug 2005

Study suggests that adult patients with persistent asthma from inner-city populations are not being optimally evaluated

Adults with moderate and severe asthma may not have received optimal evaluation to determine if they were allergic to indoor allergens. Allergy and exposure to several indoor allergens like cockroach, dust mite, molds, and pets can play an important role in the worsening of asthma.

21 Jul 2005

New complete muscle grown in the lab

A multinational team of researchers has grown new muscle complete with its own network of blood vessels in the laboratory, and implanted the new muscle in a living mouse. The accomplishment is a first for tissue engineering, according to a report in the June 19 issue of Nature Biotechnology.

19 Jun 2005

World first air purification technology for H5N1 Avian Influenza

Sharp Corporation has demonstrated that Plasmacluster Ions reduce activity of the highly fatal and highly pathogenic airborne H5N1 avian influenza ("bird flu") virus by 99%.

6 Jun 2005

Is winter flu worse because of exercise-induced 'window of susceptibility'?

When you exercise or work outside in winter, that dry feeling at the back of your throat indicates the cold air has irritated your throat. Racehorses share a similar experience: exercising in below-freezing air causes mild airway injury.

26 May 2005

What is Sick Building Syndrome?

Science-based identification of mold and other causes of Sick Building Syndrome may improve its management, say plant pathologists with The American Phytopathological Society (APS).

26 May 2005

Crucial to develop set of protections for women who donate eggs to stem cell research

Now that stem cell researchers have devised an efficient way of creating new human embryonic stem cell lines, biomedical ethicists at the Stanford University School of Medicine say it's crucial to develop a unique set of protections for the women who donate their eggs to make the research possible.

20 May 2005

More than 70 percent could better manage asthma triggers, EPA survey finds

In the first national awareness survey on environmental asthma triggers, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has found that fewer than 30 percent of people with asthma are taking simple steps to reduce exposure to asthma triggers. Exposure to asthma triggers such as secondhand smoke, cockroaches, dust mites, mold, and ozone can cause asthma in young children or set off asthma attacks.

4 May 2005

Asthma patients' immune systems respond differently with allergies

Researchers from the University of Chihuahua in Mexico report that immune systems of patients with asthma responded differently to a common laboratory challenge, depending on whether their white blood cells had been obtained during a time when they were suffering from common season allergic rhinitis or when they were free of such allergic symptoms.

3 Apr 2005

Cockroach allergen is the primary contributor to childhood asthma in inner-city homes

New results from a nationwide study on factors that affect asthma in inner-city children show that cockroach allergen appears to worsen asthma symptoms more than either dust mite or pet allergens.

8 Mar 2005

Asthma relapse in children common

One third of children with asthma who go into remission by the age of 18 will relapse and redevelop asthma by the time they are 26, says a new study published in the March issue of CHEST, the peer-reviewed journal of the American College of Chest Physicians.

8 Mar 2005

Mouse allergen is everywhere in your house and triggers asthma in children

The amount of mouse allergen found in the air in many inner-city homes could be high enough to trigger asthma symptoms in the children who live there, say researchers at the Johns Hopkins Children's Center.

10 Feb 2005