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Drug resistance gene has spread from East Coast to Midwest

A resistance gene that allows bacteria to beat an important class of antibiotics has started to appear in microorganisms taken from Midwestern patients, according to researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

20 Sep 2007

Rapid test to screen blood approved by the FDA

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has given it's approval for the first rapid test to detect bacterial contamination in blood platelets prior to transfusion.

20 Sep 2007

Gates Foundation digs down deep for TB

The fight against the global tuberculosis (TB) epidemic has received a huge boost in the form of a $280 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

20 Sep 2007

Researchers genetically engineering microorganisms, such as E. coli, into tiny, cellular factories

Microorganisms may soon be efficiently and inexpensively producing novel pharmaceutical compounds, such as flavonoids, that fight aging, cancer or obesity, as well as high-value chemicals, as the result of research being conducted by University at Buffalo researchers.

18 Sep 2007

Moxifloxacin drug combo speeds up treatment of tuberculosis

A team of tuberculosis (TB) experts at Johns Hopkins and in Brazil have evidence that substituting the antibiotic moxifloxacin in the regimen of drugs used to treat the highly contagious form of lung disease could dramatically shorten the time needed to cure the illness from six months to four.

18 Sep 2007

GlaxoSmithKline to pursue novel antibacterial research program for DOD

GlaxoSmithKline has announced that it has signed an agreement with the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) of the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD), to identify and develop a new class of antibacterials targeting both Gram negative biothreats and conventional Gram negative hospital pathogens.

18 Sep 2007

FDA clears for marketing rapid test to screen for bacterial contamination in blood platelets

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has cleared for marketing the first rapid test to detect bacterial contamination in blood platelets prior to transfusion.

18 Sep 2007

Toss that salad...in the bin!

The FDA has recalled a salad mix because traces of the potentially dangerous E. coli have been found in some of the packages.

18 Sep 2007

Nanoparticle that delivers vaccines more effectively

Good news for public health: Bioengineering researchers from the EPFL in Lausanne, Switzerland, have developed and patented a nanoparticle that can deliver vaccines more effectively, with fewer side effects, and at a fraction of the cost of current vaccine technologies.

18 Sep 2007

Off with the sleeves as battle of the superbug begins

The National Health Service (NHS) in the UK, battling to control the spread of superbugs like MRSA, will in future ban the signature long-sleeved white coats, favoured by doctors.

17 Sep 2007

Ticks abound both sides of the Atlantic

Ticks are making their presence felt both sides of the Atlantic. The British public is being warned to take precautions against ticks following a rise in the tick population after a wet and mild summer

17 Sep 2007

E. Coli crops up again in lettuce from the U.S.

In yet another food scare in North America, Canadian consumers are being warned about contaminated lettuce.

17 Sep 2007

LL37 peptide provides a new potential target for autoimmune disease

A human peptide that acts as a natural antibiotic against invading microbes can also bind to the body's own DNA and trigger an immune response in the absence of an infection, a research team led by scientists at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center reports in an early online publication in Nature.

17 Sep 2007

Immune system police recognize good and bad guys in the body

Immune system police are as good at recognizing bad guys, such as bacteria and viruses, as they are our own tissue, researchers say.

17 Sep 2007

DNA as a picoforce standard

DNA, the biomolecule that provides the blueprint for life, has a lesser-known identity as a stretchy polymer.

17 Sep 2007

Economic development linked to differences in rates of asthma symptoms

Children with allergic sensitizations in economically developed countries are much more likely to develop asthma than similarly sensitized children in poorer countries, according to a team of international researchers.

17 Sep 2007

Platelets help white blood cells fight inflammation

Scientists have shown for the first time that platelets, the cells needed for blood clotting, help white blood cells called neutrophils fight inflammation.

13 Sep 2007

Staphylococcus aureus gets from bottom to bedrail in hospital

The presence of the bacterium Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) in patients' stools increases the likelihood that it will make its way onto skin, hospital bed rails and other surfaces, according to research published in the online open access journal, BMC Infectious Diseases.

13 Sep 2007

Forces unite to tackle latest outbreak of Ebola in the Congo

The World Health Organisation (WHO) says another outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus in the Democratic Republic of Congo has killed at least five people.

12 Sep 2007

Community superbug a growing menace

A strain of the superbug MRSA (Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus Aureus) is causing concern across the U.S. because it is becoming more common in the wider community.

11 Sep 2007