fungi News and Research

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Deadly fungus on the move

Researchers revealed this Thursday that a deadly fungus that is usually found only in the tropics is making its way to the Pacific Coast of British Columbia and south into Washington, Oregon and Idaho.

23 Apr 2010

Initial results of gallium-containing compound to treat serious infection presented at AACR 2010

Genta Incorporated today announced the presentation of initial results from the first human use of a gallium-containing compound to treat serious infection. In a patient with cystic fibrosis and a highly resistant lung infection, who has been treated over a 2-year period, high concentrations of gallium were achieved in sputum.

21 Apr 2010

UDH to participate in Abbott's new PLEX-ID BPEP

Abbott today announced that the Utah Department of Health is one of five sites in the United States to participate in Abbott's new PLEX-ID Biopreparedness Evaluation Program, which involves Abbott, the Association of Public Health Laboratories and five state public health labs.

16 Apr 2010

Researchers investigate effects of nanoparticles on yeast

Nanoparticles are already widely used in everyday products such as cosmetics, textiles, dyes, and paints. It is quite possible that these minute fragments of matter may in future not only come to play a crucial role in medicine and pharmacology, but also in the food and biotechnology industries. The latest research currently being conducted in India has shown that nanoparticles can promote the growth of fungi and even assist plant growth.

12 Apr 2010

Findings may help devise new strategies for Cryptococcus infections

Highly dangerous Cryptococcus fungi love sugar and will consume it anywhere because it helps them reproduce. In particular, they thrive on a sugar called inositol which is abundant in the human brain and spinal cord.

6 Apr 2010

New ways to halt the rise of antimicrobial-resistant infections

Preventing, controlling and treating drug-resistant infections is one of the major challenges in modern medicine. Antimicrobial Resistance goes beyond simple definitions and microbiological data to fully explore this rapidly changing area, describing evidence for effective interventions, costs, treatment strategies and directions for future research.

27 Mar 2010

GENETICS 2010 meeting highlights latest research on human genetic disorders

The Genetics Society of America (GSA) biennial meeting, "GENETICS 2010: Model Organisms to Human Biology," June 12-15, 2010, at the Sheraton Boston, Massachusetts, will bring together investigators who study genetic models in organisms such as flies, yeast, fungi, mice and other non-human organisms, with researchers in human genetics

24 Mar 2010

New device detects bacterial and fungal contamination

Microorganisms are everywhere and most of them are harmless, but they can do a lot of damage in the manufacture of pharmaceuticals or in tissue transplants. With the aid of a new device, germs can be detected in artificial cartilage within a few hours.

20 Mar 2010

Fungi, like bacteria, can cause severe infections

Fungi have significant potential for "horizontal" gene transfer, a new study has shown, similar to the mechanisms that allow bacteria to evolve so quickly, become resistant to antibiotics and cause other serious problems.

18 Mar 2010

Study: Bacteria, fungi and other microbes live in our gut are essential contributors to good health

The thousands of bacteria, fungi and other microbes that live in our gut are essential contributors to our good health. They break down toxins, manufacture some vitamins and essential amino acids, and form a barrier against invaders. A study published today in Nature shows that, at 3.3 million, microbial genes in our gut outnumber previous estimates for the whole of the human body.

4 Mar 2010

Unusual compounds in pitcher plant could prove effective against human fungal infections

The moment insects like flies, ants and beetles fall into a pitcher, the plant's enzymes are activated and begin dissolving their new meal, obtaining nutrients such as carbon and nitrogen which are difficult to extract from certain soils.

19 Feb 2010

Changes in vaginal pH make women more susceptible to infections

Changes in vaginal pH as a result of common “pH triggers” make women more susceptible to infections such as bacterial vaginosis (BV). Understanding how the vaginal environment responds to pH fluctuation helps health professionals prevent and treat these conditions.

18 Feb 2010

New research units established for Japanese-German research collaboration

With its ten new Research Units, the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) is intensifying interdisciplinary and multiple-location collaboration among researchers pursuing specific scientific questions and new avenues of research.

17 Feb 2010

Research offers new hope for rare metabolic disorder

A research team led by biochemist Scott Garman at the University of Massachusetts Amherst has for the first time determined the mechanism of one of the cell's "recycling" enzymes, human alpha-galactosidase or alpha-GAL, as it breaks down substances in the lysosome, the cell's recycling center.

2 Feb 2010

Pretreating BPA plastic may be the key to dispose waste in an eco-friendly way

Just as cooking helps people digest food, pretreating polycarbonate plastic - source of a huge environmental headache because of its bisphenol A (BPA) content - may be the key to disposing of the waste in an eco-friendly way, scientists have found. Their new study is in ACS' Biomacromolecules, a monthly journal.

29 Jan 2010

Antibiotic drops are safe and effective for treating swimmer's ear

When treating the pain and inflammation of swimmer's ear, antibiotic drops are the most effective — and safest - therapy, finds a new review of studies.

20 Jan 2010

Babraham Institute research may lead to new means of making purified T cells

Research from the Babraham Institute, reported today in the Journal of Experimental Medicine, provides new insights into how our immune system produces T cells, a type of white blood cell that is an essential part of the body's immune surveillance system for fighting infection. The findings pave the way for a new means of making purified T cells, which gets over one of many hurdles faced in the use of T cells in regenerative medicine and transplantations, and in addition will open up new avenues of research and applications in drug and toxicity testing in industry.

18 Jan 2010

Scientists determine structure of enzyme essential to the survival of protozoan parasites

After many years of study, a team of researchers is releasing data today that it hopes will lead to new drug therapies that will kill the family of parasites that causes a deadly trio of insect-borne diseases and has afflicted inhabitants of underdeveloped and developing nations for centuries.

18 Jan 2010

New tools show potential for treating brain disorders

Neuroscientists at MIT have developed a powerful new class of tools to reversibly shut down brain activity using different colors of light.

7 Jan 2010

Research may point to more effective therapeutic targets for prion diseases

Scientists from The Scripps Research Institute have determined for the first time that prions, bits of infectious protein devoid of DNA or RNA that can cause fatal neurodegenerative disease, are capable of Darwinian evolution.

4 Jan 2010