Bacteria News and Research

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Scientists visualise protein complex responsible for looking after out of shape proteins

The structure of the chaperonin complex of the bacteria Thermus thermophilus reveals clues about how the important molecule may do its job of folding new or damaged proteins within cells.

17 Aug 2004

Scientists have successfully filmed individual cells migrating within a functioning lymph node

The researchers hope to gain a deeper understanding of how our immune system functions from their detailed study of lymph node processes.

17 Aug 2004

Friendly bacteria the key to ulcerative colitis treatment

Affecting an estimated fifty thousand people in the UK, with a particularly high incidence rate in north east Scotland, ulcerative colitis is an acute and chronic disease that causes inflammation and sores, called ulcers, in the lining of the large bowel.

17 Aug 2004

New imaging technique may help cystic fibrosis sufferers

Now, Jefferson Lab scientists have used their expertise to build a small animal medical imager that's helping researchers develop a new gene therapy technique for cystic fibrosis.

15 Aug 2004

Strep throat, scarlet fever and other disorders appears to use a single wasplike "stinger" to spread infection

The bacterium responsible for strep throat, scarlet fever and other disorders appears to use a single wasplike "stinger" to spread infection, according to surprised microbiologists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

15 Aug 2004

Trick illustrates life’s determination to survive hostile environments

Dipping your hands into 160-degree water is guaranteed to give you an immediate and severe scalding - unless you’re one of the few species of bacteria that manage to thrive in temperatures that would maim or kill the rest of the Earth’s inhabitants.

13 Aug 2004

Pineal gland which regulates the cycles of sleep and waking evolved to improve vision

The pineal gland - which regulates the cycles of sleep and waking - appears to have evolved as an indirect way to improve vision, by keeping toxic compounds away from the eye

13 Aug 2004

New method for building carbohydrate molecules

Chemists at the California Institute of Technology have succeeded in devising a new method for building carbohydrate molecules in a simple and straightforward way that requires very few steps. The new synthesis strategy should be of benefit to scientists in the areas of chemistry and biology and in the pharmaceutical industry.

13 Aug 2004

Ways to economically recover recombinant proteins from transgenic tobacco

The economics of producing biopharmaceuticals from transgenic plants such as tobacco is still a roadblock to producing large quantities of urgently needed medicines, especially for people in underdeveloped nations.

12 Aug 2004

Research unlocks the mystery of the miraculous healing powers of honey

A Sydney researcher has unlocked the mystery of the miraculous healing powers of honey, adding to the calls for its use as a first line defence against serious infection.

11 Aug 2004

Vaccine trial shows promising results for streptococcal infection protection

A study published in the current issue of JAMA reports that a streptococcal vaccine trial has shown promising results for protection against streptococcal infections.

11 Aug 2004

Self-assembling peptides, a breakthrough with enormous therapeutic potential

In the August 12 issue of the journal Nature, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania detail the creation of a library of small protein-like molecules that can self-assemble to form hollow corkscrew-like pores that could mimic pores seen in living systems.

11 Aug 2004

Not only has life evolved, but life has evolved to evolve

That's the conclusion drawn by two Rice University scientists who have designed a computer simulation to test the idea that evolvability — the likelihood of genetic mutation — is a trait that can itself be favored or disfavored through the process of natural selection.

11 Aug 2004

Hospital anti-infection strategy probably won't work

Hospital patients increasingly face tenacious bacterial infections because microbes found in hospitals acquire resistance to commonly prescribed antibiotics. A recent strategy alternating the most commonly used antibiotics has sparked hope of stopping the spread of antibiotic resistance.

9 Aug 2004

Changes to the UK's childhood vaccination programme

From the end of September these vaccines will be given in the routine vaccination schedule in a combined vaccine along with Diphtheria, Tetanus, and Hib.

9 Aug 2004

Self-recovery from Hep C infection linked to genes that suppress action of killer immune cells

In a study to be published in Science online Aug. 6, researchers at Johns Hopkins have found that genes involved in suppressing the body's defensive "killer" immune cells are a potential key factor in spontaneous recovery from hepatitis C.

5 Aug 2004

First evidence of the molecular link between inflammation and cancer

The investigators found that a gene called I-kappa-B kinase (IKK beta), a pro-inflammatory gene, acts differently in two cell types to cause cancer. When IKK beta was deleted, the cancer incidence and tumor growth in mice was decreased by nearly 80 percent.

5 Aug 2004

Growing crisis of antibiotic-resistant bacteria

Scientists, the federal government and the pharmaceutical industry must work together quickly to solve the growing crisis of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, a Virginia Commonwealth University infectious disease expert said in today's issue of The New England Journal of Medicine.

5 Aug 2004

How to avoid MRSA infection

Staph bacteria are not uncommon in health care settings. In fact, they account for a large number of hospital-related infections each year.

3 Aug 2004

First-of-its-kind noninvasive imaging technique shows two proteins interacting

Radiologists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have developed a first-of-its-kind noninvasive imaging technique that allows them to watch two proteins interacting in live animals.

2 Aug 2004