Bacterial News and Research

RSS

Limitless applications for nitric oxide in healthcare, bio-security, agriculture and industrial applications

Low levels of nitric oxide gas can prevent and kill disease-causing bacteria by tricking them into thinking their time is up, according to scientists from the Environmental Biotechnology Cooperative Research Centre (EBCRC) and the University of New South Wales.

10 Jan 2006

Clever ants may hold the secret to antibiotic resistance

New research has revealed that ants that tend and harvest gardens of fungus carry on their bodies a secret weapon, an antibiotic-producing bacteria, which works against the parasites that invade their crops.

9 Jan 2006

Reduced rates of lung function decline in cystic fibrosis clinical study patients

Although cystic fibrosis patients in clinical trials had more severe illness, worse lung function, a lower weight level and more respiratory infection than non-participants, their involvement in research studies resulted in less lung function decline over a 7-year period.

2 Jan 2006

New drug shows promise in fighting Tuberculosis (TB)

Scientists from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, have determined how a promising drug candidate attacks the bacterium that causes tuberculosis (TB). Published online this week in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the finding may help scientists optimize the drug candidate, PA-824, which targets Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M. tb).

28 Dec 2005

New drug shows promise in fighting Tuberculosis (TB)

28 Dec 2005

Blue-green algae shows promise as a natural weapon against Alzheimer's

A compound isolated from a cyanobacterium, a type of blue-green algae known as Nostoc, shows promise of becoming a natural drug candidate for fighting Alzheimer's and other neurodegenerative diseases, according to an in vitro study by researchers in Switzerland.

28 Dec 2005

University at Buffalo researches rules for targeting RNA

Once described as DNA's less-famous chemical cousin, RNA, or ribonucleic acid, recently has moved to center stage.

15 Dec 2005

New understanding of Mediterranean spotted fever

New research by a team of scientists in France and the United States has identified both the bacterial and host receptor proteins that enable Rickettsia conorii, the Mediterranean spotted fever pathogen, to enter cells.

15 Dec 2005

Chlamydia loves lipid droplets

Invasive bacterial pathogens, the Chlamydiae know us very, very well. The Chlamydiae learned to parasitize eukaryotic cells half a billion years ago by reprogramming cellular functions from within.

13 Dec 2005

Streptococcus mutans copes without pathway

Leave it to the bacteria that cause tooth decay to be able to live without something all cells were thought to require.

13 Dec 2005

Antibacterial coatings on hip and knee implants cut infection rates

Putting antibacterial coatings on hip and knee implants and biomedical devices such as catheters could cut infection rates following surgery and significantly reduce health care costs and improve quality of life for patients, researchers at the University of South Australia have found.

13 Dec 2005

Study of 30-day extended wear contact lenses

A team of researchers led by the Johns Hopkins Wilmer Eye Institute have determined that the corneal infection rate associated with the use of 30-day -extended-wear contact lenses made from silicone hydrogel is comparable to that previously reported for older lens types worn for fewer consecutive 24-hour periods.

5 Dec 2005

Significant relationships between household endotoxin and diagnosed asthma

Exposure to household endotoxin levels poses a significant risk for asthma, according to the first nationwide sampling of house dust.

2 Dec 2005

New anthrax antibody

A new anthrax antibody engineered by scientists at The University of Texas at Austin protects and defends against inhalation anthrax without the use of antibiotics and other more expensive antibodies.

2 Dec 2005

Bacterial DNA and IVF contamination risk on New Scientist

Some children conceived by a common method of IVF could be carrying chunks of bacterial DNA in their chromosomes, according to a study in mice. The researchers who conducted the work say that such accidental genetic modification would be very rare, but they argue that fertility doctors should take more precautions to exclude it.

30 Nov 2005

Accurate and rapid method of diagnosing bacterial meningitis

Several hundred serious cases of bacterial meningitis are diagnosed in Australians every year. Bacterial meningitis is a medical emergency that requires immediate diagnosis and treatment, however doctors have always faced difficulty in diagnosis, both in children and adults.

21 Nov 2005

Acoustics experts say medical sound pollution is widely recognized, rarely addressed

Announcements blare from overhead speakers. Electronic devices beep. Heating and cooling systems rumble. Employees and visitors speak loudly.

21 Nov 2005

Nanotechnology and biochemistry provide new way to study T cell signaling

Researchers with the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and the University of California at Berkeley, combining nanotechnology with biochemistry, have created unique synthetic membranes that, for the first time ever, enable them to directly control signaling activity in living T cells from the immune system. Already their experiments have yielded surprising results.

21 Nov 2005

Study of how bacteria change their metabolic networks

Bacteria feel pressures to evolve antibiotic resistance and other new abilities in response to a changing environment, and they react by 'stealing' genetic information from other better-adapted types of bacteria, according to research published in Nature Genetics.

20 Nov 2005