Microorganism News and Research

RSS

NovaBay's Aganocide compounds effective against multidrug-resistant bacteria

NovaBay(R) Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NYSE-AMEX: NBY) (http://www.novabaypharma.com), a clinical stage company developing novel anti-infective compounds for the treatment or prevention of a wide range of bacterial, viral and fungal infections, presented in two poster sessions today at the 49th Annual Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy (ICAAC) in San Francisco.

15 Sep 2009

Bioneutral's broad spectrum antimicrobial eradicates the H1N1 swine flu virus

BioNeutral Group, Inc. (“BioNeutral”) (OTCBB:BONU), a specialty chemical technology based Life Science Company, announced today that independent lab test results conducted at Microbiotest Inc. of Sterling, Virginia, demonstrated that Ygiene® antimicrobial diluted 1 to 10 with water can totally eradicated the H1N1 Swine Flu virus in 59 seconds on an unclean, soiled surface.

11 Sep 2009

Hanson Technologies receives patent for its UltraRapid technology

Hanson Technologies, Inc., an innovator in rapid biosensing solutions for food pathogen screening, today announced the issuance of a U.S. Patent entitled Agricultural Screening System and Method for Detection of Infectious Microorganisms. The U.S. patent describes the Company's method for screening for the presence of pathogenic microorganisms in vegetables, fruits, nuts and other plant material intended for human and animal consumption.

10 Sep 2009

Rice researchers describe a new method to predict the efficacy of H1N1 vaccines

As manufacturers work furiously to make a vaccine to protect against 2009 influenza A (H1N1) virus, a Rice University bioengineer is trying to improve the process for future flu seasons. The goal is to shorten the time it takes to identify targeted flu strains and manufacture the vaccines for them.

9 Sep 2009

Chronic periodontitis linked to head and neck cancer

Chronic periodontitis, a form of gum disease, is an independent risk factor for head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. This suggests the need for increased efforts to prevent and treat periodontitis as a possible means to reduce the risk of this form of cancer.

8 Sep 2009

Aquaculture supplies half of the total fish and shellfish for human consumption

Aquaculture, once a fledgling industry, now accounts for 50 percent of the fish consumed globally, according to a new report by an international team of researchers. And while the industry is more efficient than ever, it is also putting a significant strain on marine resources by consuming large amounts of feed made from wild fish harvested from the sea, the authors conclude.

8 Sep 2009

Myths and facts about food safety explained

Recipes can be handed down from generation to generation and so can myths surrounding food safety -- sometimes with sickening consequences. September is National Food Safety Education Month and the Partnership for Food Safety Education (PFSE), in cooperation with the Food and Drug Administration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, is marking the occasion with an outreach to consumers aimed at debunking four common food safety myths.

27 Aug 2009

Bioneutral Group holds scientific and business discussions with major health care companies

BioNeutral Group, Inc. (“BioNeutral”) (OTCBB:BONU), a specialty chemical technology based Life Science Company, announced discussions with four of the world’s largest health care companies.

25 Aug 2009

NovaBay Pharmaceuticals to deliver two poster presentations describing results from new studies of NVC-422

NovaBay(R) Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a clinical stage company developing non-antibiotic anti-infective compounds for the treatment or prevention of a wide range of bacterial, viral, and fungal infections, will deliver two poster presentations at the 49th Annual Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy (ICAAC) in San Francisco, CA.

24 Aug 2009

Marin Catholic High School's new SAS system reduces the presence of illness-causing microorganisms

Marin Catholic High School (MCHS) and CSG, the worldwide leader in environmentally-beneficial surface treatments, today announced the school is the Bay Area's first education facility to integrate the Surface Antimicrobial System (SAS). The most environmentally friendly and long-lasting treatment of its kind, SAS has transformed 10,000 square feet of high-touch surfaces in Marin's athletic facility into materials that continuously inhibit the growth of harmful bacteria, mold, and fungi for three years.

24 Aug 2009

UCLA highlights the benefits of restful sleep for increased efficiency

According to the journal Science, the function of sleep is one of the 125 greatest unsolved mysteries in science. Theories range from brain "maintenance" - including memory consolidation and pruning - to reversing damage from oxidative stress suffered while awake, to promoting longevity. None of these theories are well established, and many are mutually exclusive.

21 Aug 2009

Biologist demystifies Acinetobacter baumannii

Tao Weitao, a researcher in the College of Sciences' Department of Biology at the University of Texas at San Antonio is making great strides in a project that was funded one year ago by the San Antonio Area Foundation. The professor in the South Texas Center for Emerging Infectious Diseases is researching Acinetobacter baumannii, a soil-dwelling bacterium that threatens the health of military personnel in the Middle East and can also infect their family members once the soldiers have returned home following battle.

17 Aug 2009

New bio-hybrid materials could be used as sensors, catalysts, drug-delivery systems, more

Bacteria play a role in myriad industrial processes from fermentation to cleaning up environmental pollution. But floating freely in solution, the microbial cells constantly multiply, generating biomass that must be removed periodically, causing downtime. Additionally, the microorganisms cannot be localized to a specific region of interest.

3 Aug 2009

Researchers expose the biology of Clostridium difficile transmission in mice

New research suggests that antibiotic treatment could be asymptomatically inducing the transmission of the healthcare-acquired infection, C. difficile, contributing to the outbreaks that have recently been widely reported in hospitals and other settings. A team of scientists have successfully mirrored the infection cycle of C. difficile by generating a 'mouse hospital' with conditions mimicking the human environment in which C. difficile is transmitted.

20 Jul 2009

Special pathway makes bacteria vulnerable - new target for tailored antibiotics

More and more strains of bacteria are developing resistance to previously life-saving antibiotics. Researchers at TUM, the Technische Universitaet Muenchen, have shed light on a metabolic step that appears in many aggressive microorganisms -- such as tuberculosis and malaria pathogens -- and that may provide a promising target for a new class of antibiotics. The researchers present their results in the chemistry journal Angewandte Chemie.

14 Jul 2009

Researchers develop new method for better diagnostic of diarrhea causing bacteria

Researchers from Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research, Germany, develop new method for better diagnostic of diarrhea causing bacteria.

30 Jun 2009

Plant microbe shares features with drug-resistant pathogen - implications for biotech

An international team of scientists has discovered extensive similarities between a strain of bacteria commonly associated with plants and one increasingly linked to opportunistic infections in hospital patients. The findings suggest caution in the use of the plant-associated strain for a range of biotech applications. The genetic analysis was conducted in part at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory, and will be published in the July 2009 issue of Nature Reviews Microbiology, now available online.

16 Jun 2009

First health study of teenage boys using cellular telephones

A $4.15 million, four-year National Institutes of Health grant will enable researchers at the Indiana University School of Medicine to conduct the first health study of teenage boys using cellular telephones.

16 Jun 2009

The 'hijacking mechanism' of HIV-1 pinpointed

Researchers at McGill University and the affiliated Lady Davis Institute for Medical Research at Montreal's Jewish General Hospital - along with colleagues at the University of Manitoba and the University of British Columbia - may have found a chink in the armour of the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1), the microorganism which causes AIDS. They have pinpointed the key cellular machinery co-opted by HIV-1 to hijack the human cell for its own benefit.

10 Jun 2009

New discovery about mycobacteria – implications for tuberculosis research

A close relative of the microorganism that causes tuberculosis in humans has been found to form spores. This is a sensational finding because researchers have long been convinced that these kinds of bacteria - the mycobacteria - were incapable of forming spores.

9 Jun 2009