Bacterial News and Research

RSS

Wobble pairs make RNA more reactive

The wealth of information contained in a strand of genetic material boils down to sequences of matched pairs of nucleotides that cellular machinery decodes to construct proteins.

13 Mar 2006

Mutant genes trigger AMD but may lighten the way to new treatments

According to new research in the U.S., the most common form of blindness in the elderly, age-related macular degeneration (AMD), can be attributed to just two genes which trigger the condition.

7 Mar 2006

Factor B and H genes found to play role in the development of age-related macular degeneration

A new study, led by researchers at Columbia University Medical Center, pinpoints the role that two genes - Factor H and Factor B - play in the development of nearly three out of four cases of age-related macular degeneration (AMD), a devastating eye disease that affects more than 10 million people in the United States.

7 Mar 2006

Genome signature tagging used to quickly identify and distinguish between pathogens and harmless microbes

Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory have developed a new, high-throughput technique for identifying the many species of microorganisms living in an unknown "microbial community."

6 Mar 2006

Is persistent bacterial infection good for your health?

Bacteria are bad. Mothers and doctors, not to mention the cleaning product industry, repeatedly warn of their dangers. But a Stanford University School of Medicine microbiologist is raising the intriguing idea that persistent bacterial and viral infections have benefits.

27 Feb 2006

Smoking increases risk for root canal treatment

According to a new study appearing in the April issue of the Journal of Dental Research, cigarette smoking can lead to not only tooth discoloration and gum disease, but also a common dental procedure that helps to heal a diseased tooth--the root canal.

27 Feb 2006

Common practice of prescribing H2 blockers to treat acid reflux in premature infants should be discontinued

Researchers in an NIH network have found that premature infants given a common class of non-prescription drugs used to treat acid reflux are slightly more likely to develop a potentially fatal bowel disorder than are infants who are not treated with the drugs

24 Feb 2006

Research points to a novel approach to treating serious Strep infections

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine have discovered that so-called flesh-eating "Strep" bacteria use a specific enzyme to break free of the body's immune system, a finding which could potentially lead to new treatments for serious infections in human patients.

24 Feb 2006

New molecule could help in treating hospital infections

The scientists replaced a single atom from the molecular structure of vancomycin aglycon, a glycopeptide antibiotic that attacks the bacteria by inhibiting cell wall synthesis, significantly increasing the drug's spectrum of activity.

24 Feb 2006

Atherosclerosis MAY be a result of bacteria from gum infection entering the bloodstream

New research is reinforcing the longstanding belief that a connection exists between periodontal disease, or severe gum inflammation, and cardiovascular disease.

23 Feb 2006

Removing a gene involved in repairing damaged DNA causes metabolic syndrome

Removing a gene involved in repairing damaged DNA causes mice to develop the metabolic syndrome, researchers at Oregon Health & Science University have discovered.

21 Feb 2006

MIT researchers capture virus in extraordinary detail

Fifty years after MIT researchers pioneered the use of electron microscopy to study viruses, MIT scientists have helped produce the most detailed images yet of the tiny infectious agents.

21 Feb 2006

New device to boost supply and quality of blood platelets

Cancer and open-heart surgery patients, disaster victims, organ or bone marrow transplant recipients, and others who require life-saving blood platelet transfusions will benefit from equipment invented by a researcher at the University of British Columbia's Centre for Blood Research (CBR).

21 Feb 2006

Oddly shaped DNA can cause DNA breaks in mammalian cells

When otherwise normal DNA adopts an unusual shape called Z-DNA, it can lead to the kind of genetic instability associated with cancers such as leukemia and lymphoma, according to a study by researchers at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center.

21 Feb 2006

GeneDesign speeds design of artificial pieces of DNA

Johns Hopkins researchers have announced the development of a Web-based, automated computer program that they say greatly simplifies the time-consuming and error-prone process of manually designing artificial pieces of DNA.

17 Feb 2006

Scientists put ehrlichiosis under the genomic spotlight

Ehrlichiosis is no star of science. This emerging disease has an awkward name, vague flu-like symptoms, and a nasty habit of being caused by bacteria that live inside ticks and flatworms.

17 Feb 2006

New method determines in a matter of hours exposure to a bioterrorism agents

Researchers at Walter Reed Army Institute of Research are developing a method to determine in a matter of hours if someone has been exposed to a bioterrorism agent just by looking at the pattern of active genes in that person's white blood cells.

17 Feb 2006

Genome data may contain small but significant errors

Since the genome sequence of the bacterial pathogen Haemophilus influenzae was published in 1995, the genetic code of many other large, complex, medically, and commercially significant organisms including humans has also been elucidated

17 Feb 2006

Male circumcision, HIV and other STDs

A statistical review of the past medical files of more than 300 couples in Uganda, in which the female partner was HIV negative and the male was HIV positive, provides solid documentation of the protective effects of male circumcision in reducing the risk of infection among women.

16 Feb 2006

Less is more hypothesis - gene loss may explain unique human traits

Humans and chimps share most of their genes, yet they differ dramatically in many ways - their walk, the sizes of their brains and their capacities for speech and language, for example.

16 Feb 2006