Bacterial News and Research

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DRCRF names 21 new Damon Runyon Fellows

The Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation, a non-profit organization focused on supporting innovative early career researchers, named 21 new Damon Runyon Fellows at its spring Fellowship Award Committee review.

11 Jul 2012

Common barnyard chicken might offer new ways to attack cancer

The common barnyard chicken could provide some very un-common clues for fighting off diseases and might even offer new ways to attack cancer, according to a team of international researchers that includes a Texas A&M University professor.

11 Jul 2012

Long-term study shows effectiveness of fissure sealing

Sealing pits and fissures with a resin-based material can arrest the progression of noncavitated dentinal occlusal caries, show results of a 36-month clinical trial.

10 Jul 2012

Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery induces changes in the gut microbiota

Research to be presented at the Annual Meeting of the Society for the Study of Ingestive Behavior (SSIB), the foremost society for research into all aspects of eating and drinking behavior, finds that gastric bypass surgery induces changes in the gut microbiota and peptide release that are similar to those seen after treatment with prebiotics.

10 Jul 2012

Maternal antiviral suppressive therapy may not be as effective as thought

Maternal antiviral suppressive therapy does not necessarily prevent the development of neonatal herpes simplex virus disease, warn researchers in The Journal of Pediatrics.

9 Jul 2012

Conference highlights utility of zebrafish for human disorder studies

Zebrafish, popular as aquarium fish, now have an important place in research labs as a model organism for studying human diseases.

8 Jul 2012

New vaccine candidate against leading cause of hospital-acquired infections

Researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) have discovered a new vaccine candidate for the bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa taking advantage of a new mechanism of immunity.

7 Jul 2012

Scientists use antibody injections to rapidly reverse onset of Type I diabetes in mice

Scientists at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine have used injections of antibodies to rapidly reverse the onset of Type I diabetes in mice genetically bred to develop the disease. Moreover, just two injections maintained disease remission indefinitely without harming the immune system.

6 Jul 2012

Study: 13 zoonoses responsible for 2.4B cases of human illness per year

A new global study mapping human-animal diseases like tuberculosis (TB) and Rift Valley fever finds that an "unlucky" 13 zoonoses are responsible for 2.4 billion cases of human illness and 2.2 million deaths per year. The vast majority occur in low- and middle-income countries.

5 Jul 2012

Lower pH reduces ability of ASL to kill bacteria in CF airways

The human airway is a pretty inhospitable place for microbes. There are numerous immune defense mechanisms poised to kill or remove inhaled bacteria before they can cause problems. But cystic fibrosis (CF) disrupts these defenses, leaving patients particularly susceptible to airway infection, which is the major cause of disease and death in CF.

5 Jul 2012

New research approach can help predict the 'tenability' of antibiotics

Research by Wageningen University, part of Wageningen UR, has shown that the development of bacteria with resistance against the antibiotic cefotaxime occurs more often and more predictably than was previously assumed. Bacterial populations were found to have many mutations that increase resistance and therefore have a negative effect on public health.

4 Jul 2012

Extensive health benefits associated with milk consumption

Milk is designed by nature as a complete food. Its composition has evolved with each mammalian species to reflect the particular environmental conditions and evolutionary demands of the young of that species. Humans have exploited this valuable resource since the dawn of the agricultural revolution through domestication of animals, in particular the cow. We have developed the technology to preserve milk during times of abundance and this has resulted in an array of foods now common in the diets of most human cultures.

4 Jul 2012

IRIN examines antibiotic resistance, efforts to discover new drugs

IRIN examines a global increase in resistance to antibiotics, writing, "Almost one in every five deaths worldwide occurs as a result of infection, but many bacterial illnesses will become incurable as the efficacy of current antibiotic drugs wanes, according to the World Health Organization (WHO)."

3 Jul 2012

Study identifies possible new approach to defeat bacterial infections

Research led by St. Jude Children's Research Hospital scientists has identified a possible new approach to defeating bacterial infections by targeting an innate immune system component in a bid to invigorate the immune response.

3 Jul 2012

Bacterial vaginosis associated with increased risk of HIV transmission from women to men, study shows

Bacterial vaginosis (BV), a condition characterized by a disruption in normal vaginal bacteria, is associated with a more than three-fold increased risk of HIV transmission from an infected woman with the condition to her uninfected male partner, according to a study published June 26 in PLoS Medicine, VOA News reports.

3 Jul 2012

Study illuminates key step in the journey of inflammation-producing immune cells

Like detectives seeking footprints and other clues on a television "whodunit," science can also benefit from analyzing the tracks of important players in the body's molecular landscape. Klaus Ley, M.D., a scientist at the La Jolla Institute for Allergy & Immunology, has done just that and illuminated a key step in the journey of inflammation-producing immune cells.

2 Jul 2012

Clinical results for Teva's biologic oncology candidates presented at MASCC/ISOO 2012

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. announced today the presentation of clinical results for its biologic oncology candidates, lipegfilgrastim and balugrastim, at the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer (MASCC)/International Society of Oral Oncology (ISOO) 2012 International Symposium on Supportive Care in Cancer being held in New York June 28-30.

2 Jul 2012

Big challenges from antibiotic resistant bacteria

Antibiotic resistant bacteria are increasing and spreading at an alarming speed. The bacterial evolution is overwhelming our antibiotic defense. More and more bacteria are becoming resistant to antibiotics resulting in fatal consequences for millions of people. We need common action and responsibility for the development of new effective antibiotics and to stop antibiotic misuse.

30 Jun 2012

Rapamycin enhances learning and memory in young mice

Cognitive skills such as learning and memory diminish with age in everyone, and the drop-off is steepest in Alzheimer's disease. Texas scientists seeking a way to prevent this decline reported exciting results this week with a drug that has Polynesian roots.

30 Jun 2012

UMass Amherst biochemist receives NIH grant to map molecular structure of bacterial needle

Biochemist Alejandro Heuck at the University of Massachusetts Amherst recently received a five-year, $950,000 grant from the National Institutes of Health to map the molecular structure of a needle-like tool used by deadly bacteria to drill holes in mammalian cell walls.

29 Jun 2012