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Detrimental bacterial DNA identification method for use in winemaking developed

In winemaking, grape juice is turned to wine during the fermentation process by the action of a number of essential beneficial microorganisms -namely bacteria. Sometimes, though, harmful bacteria also populate the fermentation vat, spoiling the wine in the process.

20 Nov 2009

Cigarettes are widely contaminated with bacteria, reveals study

Cigarettes are "widely contaminated" with bacteria, including some known to cause disease in people, concludes a new international study conducted by a University of Maryland environmental health researcher and microbial ecologists at the Ecole Centrale de Lyon in France.

19 Nov 2009

Expansion of Excelyte manufacturing plant completed at Midland

Integrated Environmental Technologies, Ltd. announces that Benchmark Performance Group, Inc., its exclusive worldwide distributor serving the oil and gas industry, has completed the expansion of its Excelyte® manufacturing plant at its Midland, Texas facility.

19 Nov 2009

New research on viral activity may aid in treating bacterial infections

Viruses are well known for attacking humans and animals, but some viruses instead attack bacteria. Texas A&M University researchers are exploring how hungry viruses, armed with transformer-like weapons, attack bacteria, which may aid in the treatment of bacterial infections.

19 Nov 2009

Ionian Technologies receives supplemental funding from the Gates Foundation

Ionian Technologies, Inc., will continue its efforts to develop a rapid point-of-care diagnostics platform for use in the developing world with supplemental funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. This grant from the Foundation will extend the total commitment to this program, which was initiated in November 2008, to $3 million over two years.

18 Nov 2009

Cancer-fighting protein successfully placed directly into solid tumors and turned on

Experiments at the Pioneer Valley Life Sciences Institute (PVLSI) at Baystate Medical Center in Springfield, Mass., reported in a recent British Journal of Cancer, confirm that University of Massachusetts Amherst chemical engineer Neil Forbes' delivery and trigger system has for the first time successfully placed TRAIL, a cancer-fighting protein, directly into solid tumors and on cue, turned it on. The treatment improved the 30-day survival time of mice with mammary tumors from 0 to 100 percent.

18 Nov 2009

IBM scientists create one-step point-of-care-diagnostic test based on innovative silicon chip

IBM (IBM) scientists have created a one-step point-of-care-diagnostic test, based on an innovative silicon chip, that requires less sample volume, is significantly faster, portable, easy to use, and can test for many diseases, including one of world's leading causes of death, cardiovascular disease.

18 Nov 2009

Regulatory agencies offer marketing approval for new products to treat neglected diseases

New products to treat neglected diseases have received marketing approval from regulatory agencies at a steadily increasing rate in recent years as R&D funding for those diseases has increased, according to a recently completed study by the Tufts Center for the Study of Drug Development.

18 Nov 2009

Verax Platelet PGD test receives FDA clearance

Fenwal, Inc., a global medical technology company focused on improving blood collection, separation, safety and availability, announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has cleared the Verax Platelet PGD® test as a quality control test to detect bacterial contamination in whole blood-derived, pooled platelets prior to transfusion. Fenwal is the exclusive global distributor of the test, which was developed by Verax Biomedical of Worcester, Mass.

18 Nov 2009

Tel Aviv University develops new wound dressing packed with infection-fighting antibiotics

Despite advances in treatment regimens and the best efforts of nurses and doctors, about 70% of all people with severe burns die from related infections. But a revolutionary new wound dressing developed at Tel Aviv University could cut that number dramatically.

18 Nov 2009

Tips on how to prevent household members from getting sick during flu season

someone at home who has H1N1 (swine) flu, it is important for you to prevent other people in the house from getting sick, according to Gary Kalkut, MD, MPH, Senior Vice-President, Chief Medical Officer of Montefiore Medical Center.

18 Nov 2009

Anacor Pharmaceuticals commences patient dosing in AN3365 Phase I clinical study

Anacor Pharmaceuticals today announced that it has dosed the first patient in a Phase I clinical study for AN3365, a novel boron-based, small-molecule drug candidate in development for the treatment of hospital infections caused by Gram-negative bacteria. The study will evaluate the safety, tolerability and pharmacokinetics of AN3365 in healthy volunteers.

17 Nov 2009

Recent developments at Burnham Institute for Medical Research

New antibiotics for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and other pesky bacteria. Andrei Osterman and collaborators have used comparisons of bacterial genomes to identify new targets for antibiotics and produced first-generation chemical inhibitors of a class of bacterial enzymes, called NadDs (nicotinate mononucleotide adenylyltransferases).

17 Nov 2009

PPD, Janssen Pharmaceutica to develop therapeutic compounds for IBS and bacterial infections

PPD, Inc. today announced it has entered an agreement with Janssen Pharmaceutica N.V. to develop and commercialize two Phase II-ready therapeutic compounds, one to treat diarrhea-predominant irritable bowel syndrome (IBS-d) and the other to treat complicated skin and skin structure and respiratory infections.

17 Nov 2009

Source of arsenic contamination of drinking water in Bangladesh found by MIT researchers

Researchers in MIT's Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering believe they have pinpointed a pathway by which arsenic may be contaminating the drinking water in Bangladesh, a phenomenon that has puzzled scientists, world health agencies and the Bangladeshi government for nearly 30 years. The research suggests that human alteration to the landscape, the construction of villages with ponds, and the adoption of irrigated agriculture are responsible for the current pattern of arsenic concentration underground.

16 Nov 2009

FDA provides marketing clearance for the Platelet PGD Test System

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today cleared for marketing the Platelet PGD Test System, the first rapid test for the detection of bacterial contamination in pooled platelets derived from whole blood.

16 Nov 2009

Some combination drug therapies are counter-productive

Combination drug therapy has become a staple for treating many infections. For instance, doctors treat extensively drug resistant forms of tuberculosis with one drug that breaks down the pathogen's protective barriers and opens the door for another to deliver the deathblow.

16 Nov 2009

89% voters support food safety legislation, reveals new poll

An overwhelming majority of North Carolina voters - 89 percent - support food safety legislation that would give the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) new authority to ensure the food Americans eat does not make them sick, according to a new poll commissioned by the Pew Health Group and conducted by Hart Research and Public Opinion Strategies.

13 Nov 2009

CDC expected to revise estimated number of U.S. H1N1 deaths

Ahead of the anticipated CDC release of revised U.S. H1N1 (swine flu) death toll estimates, Reuters examines how the agency and WHO measure the impact of the virus, after both organizations "stopped trying to count actual cases months ago, once it became clear that H1N1 was a pandemic that would infect millions."

12 Nov 2009

CDC expected to revise H1N1 mortality figures

The New York Times: "About 4,000 Americans - rather than about 1,200 - have died of swine flu since the disease emerged in April, according to new figures being calculated by [CDC] epidemiologists" - an estimate that combines the number of "deaths from laboratory-confirmed cases of the flu and deaths that appear to be brought on by flu, even though the patient may have ultimately died of bacterial pneumonia, other infections or organ failure."

12 Nov 2009

Bacterial News and Research

Detrimental bacterial DNA identification method for use in winemaking developed

Cigarettes are widely contaminated with bacteria, reveals study

Expansion of Excelyte manufacturing plant completed at Midland

New research on viral activity may aid in treating bacterial infections

Ionian Technologies receives supplemental funding from the Gates Foundation

Cancer-fighting protein successfully placed directly into solid tumors and turned on

IBM scientists create one-step point-of-care-diagnostic test based on innovative silicon chip

Regulatory agencies offer marketing approval for new products to treat neglected diseases

Verax Platelet PGD test receives FDA clearance

Tel Aviv University develops new wound dressing packed with infection-fighting antibiotics

Tips on how to prevent household members from getting sick during flu season

Anacor Pharmaceuticals commences patient dosing in AN3365 Phase I clinical study

Recent developments at Burnham Institute for Medical Research

PPD, Janssen Pharmaceutica to develop therapeutic compounds for IBS and bacterial infections

Source of arsenic contamination of drinking water in Bangladesh found by MIT researchers

FDA provides marketing clearance for the Platelet PGD Test System

Some combination drug therapies are counter-productive

89% voters support food safety legislation, reveals new poll

CDC expected to revise estimated number of U.S. H1N1 deaths

CDC expected to revise H1N1 mortality figures

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