Biofilms News and Research

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Research reveals significant information about the dynamics of bacterial gels

Research by scientists at the University of York has revealed important new information about the dynamics of bacterial gels which could ultimately suggest new ways of helping prevent or better control diseases such as cystic fibrosis.

26 Sep 2015

Pioneering ultrasonic device can improve cleaning of medical instruments, reduce risk of infection

Researchers from the University of Southampton have demonstrated how a pioneering ultrasonic device can significantly improve the cleaning of medical instruments and reduce contamination and risk of infection.

16 Sep 2015

Umeå University chemist explores ways to decrease bacterial colonization

Among the bacterial infections that are most difficult to treat, chronic infections associated with bacterial biofilms are one of the most hazardous. Bacterial biofilms are densely packed communities of microbial cells surrounded with secreted polymers. In her doctoral thesis, chemist Shoghik Hakbyan has studied ways to decrease the bacterial colonization at Umeå University in Sweden.

14 Sep 2015

Preventing the build up of dangerous biofilms, ESCMID publishes guidelines

The European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Disease (ESCMID) – an organization that explores the risks and best practices in infectious disease – advocates the need for greater education, guidance and research on the build-up, treatment and prevention of biofilms, which contribute to antimicrobial resistance.

2 Sep 2015

Pittcon will be exhibiting at Recent Advances in Microbiology Research: A BioConference Live 2015 Virtual Event

The field of microbiology, the study of minute organisms such as bacteria, viruses, archaea, and eukaryotes, is yielding startling new findings about their effects on people and the environment. Keeping current with these advances while keeping up with a demanding workflow can be challenging.

18 Aug 2015

VA study examines use of medicinal maggots to heal diabetic foot ulcers

Maggot, or larval, therapy has been around since ancient times as a way to heal wounds. Now, the method has gone high-tech--in some ways--and it's being tested in a rigorous clinical trial at the Malcom Randall Veterans Affairs (VA) Medical Center in Gainesville, Fla. Recruitment is now underway.

18 Aug 2015

Bacterial biofilms play role in development of systemic lupus erythematosus

Lupus, multiple sclerosis, and type-1 diabetes are among more than a score of diseases in which the immune system attacks the body it was designed to defend. But just why the immune system begins its misdirected assault has remained a mystery.

7 Jul 2015

Discovery provides basis for new pertussis treatments

The worldwide spreading of the whooping cough, also known as pertussis, has substantially increased since 2010. Researchers from the Biozentrum, University of Basel, have investigated structure and function of an important membrane protein of the bacterium causing pertussis. They discovered that the protein structure differs from a previously postulated model.

24 Jun 2015

Removing bacterial biofilms could help prevent and treat colon cancers, study suggests

A team led by scientists at The Scripps Research Institute and Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine has uncovered a big clue to how bacteria may promote some colon cancers.

8 May 2015

Natural substance could help people avoid cavities, gum disease

Arginine, a common amino acid found naturally in foods, breaks down dental plaque, which could help millions of people avoid cavities and gum disease, researchers at the University of Michigan and Newcastle University have discovered.

8 May 2015

Maple syrup makes disease-causing bacteria more susceptible to antibiotics, study shows

A concentrated extract of maple syrup makes disease-causing bacteria more susceptible to antibiotics, according to laboratory experiments by researchers at McGill University.

17 Apr 2015

DFG selects 10 researchers to receive 2015 Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Prize

This year's recipients of the most important prize for early career researchers in Germany have been announced. The selection committee, appointed by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) and the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), has chosen ten researchers, five women and five men, to receive the 2015 Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Prizes.

10 Apr 2015

Researchers examine why joint infections persist despite standards of care

Researchers at Thomas Jefferson University and the National Institutes of Health are building on their research which seeks to understand why joint infections persist despite standards of care designed to stop them.

23 Mar 2015

Antibiotic nanoparticles can help treat lung infection, prevent drug resistance

Treating respiratory disease is often difficult because drugs have to cross biological barriers such as respiratory tissue and mucosa, and must therefore be given in large quantities in order for an effective amount to reach the target.

13 Mar 2015

Study suggests that antibiotics can induce potentially dangerous biofilm formation

Most people have taken an antibiotic to treat a bacterial infection. Now researchers from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the University of San Diego, La Jolla, reveal that the way we often think about antibiotics - as straightforward killing machines - needs to be revised.

24 Feb 2015

Researchers find methods to manipulate natural proteins that self-assemble into amyloid fibrils

Nature has many examples of self-assembly, and bioengineers are interested in copying or manipulating these systems to create useful new materials or devices. Amyloid proteins, for example, can self-assemble into the tangled plaques associated with Alzheimer's disease -- but similar proteins can also form very useful materials, such as spider silk, or biofilms around living cells.

27 Jan 2015

Findings could lead to new therapeutic approach to Parkinson's disease

E.. coli usually brings to mind food poisoning and beach closures, but researchers recently discovered a protein in E.. coli that inhibits the accumulation of potentially toxic amyloids--a hallmark of diseases such as Parkinson's.

23 Jan 2015

New colloidal gold test strip demonstrates great potential for early detection of heart attack

NYU Polytechnic School of Engineering professors have been collaborating with researchers from Peking University on a new test strip that is demonstrating great potential for the early detection of certain heart attacks.

16 Jan 2015

Bacterial biofilms may increase colon cancer risk

Researchers from Johns Hopkins have found that dense mats of interacting bacteria, called biofilms, were present in the majority of cancers and polyps, particularly those on the right side of the colon. The presence of these bacterial bunches, they say, may represent an increased risk for colon cancer and could form the basis of new diagnostic tests.

17 Dec 2014

New technique could help diagnose cancerous, pre-cancerous conditions

Since the first "catalog" of the normal bacterial makeup of the human body was published in 2012, numerous connections between illness and disturbances in the human microbiota have been found. This week, scientists report yet another: Cancerous tumors in the ascending colon (the part nearest to the small intestine) are characterized by biofilms, which are dense clumps of bacterial cells encased in a self-produced matrix.

14 Dec 2014