E. coli News and Research

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E. coli or Escherichia coli is the name of a type of bacteria that lives in your intestines. Most types of E. coli are harmless. However, some types can make you sick and cause diarrhea. One type causes travelers' diarrhea. The worst type of E. coli causes bloody diarrhea, and can sometimes cause kidney failure and even death. These problems are most likely to occur in children and in adults with weak immune systems. You can get E. coli infections by eating foods containing the bacteria. To help avoid food poisoning and prevent infection, handle food safely. Cook meat well, wash fruits and vegetables before eating or cooking them, and avoid unpasteurized milk and juices. You can also get the infection by swallowing water in a swimming pool contaminated with human waste. Most cases of E. coli infection get better without treatment in 5 to 10 days.

Genomics tools provide clues to what causes 400 million cases of gastrointestinal disease each year

In a study that could benefit medical and food-safety research, scientists have used comparative genomics tools to find clues about why some strains of the bacterium Campylobacter – which each year cause more than 400 million cases of gastrointestinal disease – are more virulent than others.

4 Jan 2005

Multi-state urinary tract infections likely caused by consumption of a contaminated food product of animal origin

A multi-state outbreak of urinary tract infections caused by drug-resistant Escherichia coli was probably due to consumption of a contaminated food product of animal origin, such as meat or milk, according to an article in the Jan. 15 issue of Clinical Infectious Diseases.

4 Jan 2005

Jumping genes help explain immune system's remarkable ability

A team led by Johns Hopkins scientists has found the first clear evidence that the process behind the human immune system's remarkable ability to recognize and respond to a million different proteins might have originated from a family of genes whose only apparent function is to jump around in genetic material.

22 Dec 2004

Essential oils have been found to kill the deadly MRSA bacteria

Essential oils usually used in aromatherapy have been found to kill the deadly MRSA bacteria according to research carried out at The University of Manchester.

From The University of Manchester 21 Dec 2004

Study sheds light on how bacteria persist despite antibiotics

Researchers at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Rockefeller University in New York have demonstrated the constant presence of antibiotic-tolerant "persistent cells" within bacteria colonies and have shown, through mathematical modeling, how these cells develop into "normal" cells following their survival of even heavy dosages of antibiotics.

13 Dec 2004

Trimming fat overcomes one of the major obstacles to drug design

Biochemists at Ohio State University and their colleagues have overcome one of the major obstacles to drug design, by trimming some of the fat from a molecular sponge that scientists use to study proteins.

8 Dec 2004

Researchers step closer to cure for common childhood cancer

Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is a malignant disease caused by the abnormal growth and development of white blood cells (WBC) in the bone marrow and blood. ALL is the most common cancer occurring in children with an annual rate of approximately 30 to 40 new cases per million.

5 Dec 2004

Potential vaccine for the deadly toxin ricin

A potential vaccine for the deadly toxin ricin, a "Category B" biological agent, will enter the first phase of clinical testing in coming weeks at UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas.

30 Nov 2004

Oral administration of saline spray may stop spread of influenza, tuberculosis, and SARS

Some individuals exhale many more pathogen-laden droplets than others in the course of ordinary breathing, scientists have found, but oral administration of a safe saline spray every six hours might slash exhalation of germs in this group by an average 72 percent.

29 Nov 2004

Nanoscale switch could serve as sensor, medical tool

Improving significantly on an early prototype, Johns Hopkins University researchers have found a new way to join two unrelated proteins to create a molecular switch, a nanoscale "device" in which one biochemical partner controls the activity of the other.

29 Nov 2004

Research advances understanding of urinary tract infections

Anyone who has ever had a urinary tract infection knows that they can be difficult to fight.

20 Nov 2004

Researchers attempt to quantify processes underlying cell heterogeneity

Combining the latest methods in gene splicing and computer modeling, Rice University researchers are trying to develop a predictive framework for one of the most basic and complex biological phenomena — cellular heterogeneity, or the ability of genetic clones to act and behave differently when exposed to the same set of environmental stimuli.

8 Nov 2004

The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority has issued a preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) licence for inherited colon cancer

The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority has confirmed that it has issued a preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) licence for Familial Adenomatous Polyposis Coli (FAP) to the Assisted Conception Unit at University College Hospital, London.

2 Nov 2004

Study results suggest that metronidazole and clindamycin differ in their effects on microbes in women with bacterial vaginosis

In the first study to directly compare the emergence of antibiotic resistance following topical treatment between two antibiotics routinely prescribed for a common vaginal infection, researchers from the Magee-Womens Research Institute have found antibiotic-resistant bacteria more likely to develop with the drug clindamycin than metronidazole.

1 Nov 2004

Study could lead to new, more effective treatments for urinary tract infections

Anyone who thinks scientists lead a glamorous, exciting life should talk to Jennifer Snyder, a graduate student at the University of Maryland’s School of Medicine.

25 Oct 2004

Tabletop DNA test laboratory cuts disease diagnosis down to 30 minutes

British scientists have developed a tabletop DNA test laboratory that can cut the diagnosis of disease and infection from hours to 30 minutes. This new test laboratory will soon begin trials in UK hospitals.

24 Oct 2004

Laboratory test of evolutionary theory confirms the importance of connections between populations

Researchers studying the evolutionary dynamics of bacteria and viruses in bubbling glass tubes have confirmed an evolutionary theory of central importance to ecologists studying more familiar flora and fauna in the wild.

13 Oct 2004

Bionanotechnology that combines the strengths of nanotechnology and biochemistry to generate a new type of bionanomaterial

A team of University of Florida researchers has created tiny hybrid particles that can speedily root out even one isolated E. coli bacterium lurking in ground beef or provide a crucial early warning alarm for bacteria used as agents of bioterrorism and for early disease diagnosis.

11 Oct 2004

Researchers identify new sulfur-containing scent molecules in sweat

Sometimes, people just don't smell good – and not only in the figurative sense. The sense of smell plays an important role in interpersonal relations.

7 Oct 2004

Berkeley searches for AIDS cure in a Samoan indigenous tree

The University of California, Berkeley, has signed an agreement with the Samoan government to isolate from an indigenous tree the gene for a promising anti-AIDS drug and to share any royalties from sale of a gene-derived drug with the people of Samoa.

30 Sep 2004