Microbiology News and Research

RSS

Better treatment, prevention strategies still needed for opportunistic infections related to AIDS

Although treatment advances have dramatically reduced deaths from opportunistic infections related to AIDS, a new study drawing on 30 years of data from more than 20,000 patients in San Francisco suggests there is still ample room to improve. About a third--35 percent--of AIDS patients diagnosed with their first opportunistic infection from 1997 to 2012 in that city died within five years, according to the study, published in the Journal of Infectious Diseases.

4 Jun 2015

Roche announces FDA 510(k) clearance for cobas HSV 1 and 2 Test

Roche announced today that the US Food and Drug Administration has provided 510(k) clearance for the cobas HSV 1 and 2 Test for the direct detection and differentiation of HSV-1 and HSV-2 DNA in anogenital specimens from symptomatic patients. With dual target detection and automation, the cobas HSV 1 and 2 Test provides laboratories with the capability to report up to 94 results in significantly less time than traditional methods and provides a simplified workflow for sample handling in the laboratory.

4 Jun 2015

Toothbrushes can serve as vector for transmission of fecal coliforms in communal bathrooms

Data confirms that there is transmission of fecal coliforms in communal bathrooms at Quinnipiac University and that toothbrushes can serve as a vector for transmission of potentially pathogenic organisms. This research is presented at the annual meeting of the American Society for Microbiology.

3 Jun 2015

New finding may lead to development of immunity-based therapies for tuberculosis

A study by researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center has identified how an enzyme involved in protecting the body from pathogens senses Mycobacterium tuberculosis (TB), a bacterial pathogen that infects millions of people worldwide and causes about 1.5 million deaths annually.

2 Jun 2015

Chronic exposure to bacteria may lead to development of Type 2 diabetes

Bacteria and viruses have an obvious role in causing infectious diseases, but microbes have also been identified as the surprising cause of other illnesses, including cervical cancer (Human papilloma virus) and stomach ulcers (H. pylori bacteria).

2 Jun 2015

ERC Advanced Grants awarded to seven ETH researchers

Seven ETH Zurich professors have applied successfully for an ERC Advanced Grant, which is worth about CHF 2.5 million. Two of the seven received the coveted award for the second time.

1 Jun 2015

NYU researchers identify root cause of eye infections among contact lens wearers

Using high-precision genetic tests to differentiate the thousands of bacteria that make up the human microbiome, researchers at NYU Langone Medical Center suggest that they have found a possible — and potentially surprising — root cause of the increased frequency of certain eye infections among contact lens wearers.

1 Jun 2015

New data indicates that most microbes behave similarly on Earth and International Space Station

Do microbes grow differently on the International Space Station than they do on Earth? Results from the growth of microbes collected by citizen scientists in Project MERCCURI indicate that most behave similarly in both places.

1 Jun 2015

Study expands understanding of the production of ET-743 compound

For decades, scientists have known that ET-743, a compound extracted from a marine invertebrate called a mangrove tunicate, can kill cancer cells. The drug has been approved for use in patients in Europe and is in clinical trials in the U.S.

29 May 2015

Duke researchers reveal how bladder cells can eject UTI-causing bacteria

Duke Medicine researchers have found that bladder cells have a highly effective way to combat E. coli bacteria that cause urinary tract infections (UTIs).

29 May 2015

Novel discovery offers new insight into why women more likely than men to develop MS

An innocent mistake made by a graduate student in a Northwestern Medicine lab (she accidentally used male mice instead of female mice during an experiment) has led scientists to a novel discovery that offers new insight into why women are more likely than men to develop autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis (MS).

28 May 2015

IDT to host instructive talk on accelerating synthetic biology at ASM General Meeting

Integrated DNA Technologies will host an instructive talk on accelerating synthetic biology at the American Society for Microbiology General Meeting in New Orleans, Louisiana on Sunday May 31, 2015 at 11am CDT.

From Integrated DNA Technologies 28 May 2015

Scientists identify molecular 'lock' that enables Ebola virus to gain entry to cells

An international team including scientists from Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University and the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases has identified the molecular "lock" that the deadly Ebola virus must pick to gain entry to cells.

27 May 2015

Liverpool scientists complete genomics studies on multidrug resistant Typhoid fever in Africa

The team has completed two genomics studies on the tropical disease, a condition that is estimated to cause up to 30 million illnesses and over a quarter of a million deaths globally each year.

27 May 2015

Study: Drugs that block NPC1 protein could be used to treat Ebola virus disease

A new study has demonstrated that a protein called Niemann-Pick C1 (NPC1) is critical for the Ebola virus to infect a host. The study, published in the May/June issue of mBio, the online open-access journal of the American Society for Microbiology, suggests that drugs that block NPC1 could be used to treat this deadly disease.

27 May 2015

Microfluidic cell-squeezing device could introduce specific antigens inside immune system's B cells

MIT researchers have shown that they can use a microfluidic cell-squeezing device to introduce specific antigens inside the immune system's B cells, providing a new approach to developing and implementing antigen-presenting cell vaccines.

22 May 2015

Phages in chicken meat can transfer antimicrobial resistance to bacteria

Bacteria resistant to antibiotics are on the rise. There are different explanations for how resistances are transferred. Researchers from the Vetmeduni Vienna found phages in chicken meat that are able to transfer antimicrobial resistance to bacteria. Phages are viruses that exclusively infect bacteria. They can contribute to the spread of antimicrobial resistance.

22 May 2015

Chemical compound shows promise in treating rheumatoid arthritis

Montana State University researchers and their collaborators have published their findings about a chemical compound that shows potential for treating rheumatoid arthritis.

22 May 2015

New study suggests ways to accelerate recovery from dangerous diarrheal disease

A new study delineates a sequential pattern of changes in the intestinal microbial population of patients recovering from cholera in Bangladesh, findings that may point to ways of speeding recovery from the dangerous diarrheal disease.

20 May 2015

Study shows trophon EPR effective in inactivating high-risk, cancer-causing HPV

A new study presented at the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America has demonstrated that the trophon EPR is the only high level disinfection system proven to kill natural, infectious, high-risk human papilloma virus (HPV) under normal use conditions.

20 May 2015

Microbiology News and Research

Better treatment, prevention strategies still needed for opportunistic infections related to AIDS

Roche announces FDA 510(k) clearance for cobas HSV 1 and 2 Test

Toothbrushes can serve as vector for transmission of fecal coliforms in communal bathrooms

New finding may lead to development of immunity-based therapies for tuberculosis

Chronic exposure to bacteria may lead to development of Type 2 diabetes

ERC Advanced Grants awarded to seven ETH researchers

NYU researchers identify root cause of eye infections among contact lens wearers

New data indicates that most microbes behave similarly on Earth and International Space Station

Study expands understanding of the production of ET-743 compound

Duke researchers reveal how bladder cells can eject UTI-causing bacteria

Novel discovery offers new insight into why women more likely than men to develop MS

IDT to host instructive talk on accelerating synthetic biology at ASM General Meeting

Scientists identify molecular 'lock' that enables Ebola virus to gain entry to cells

Liverpool scientists complete genomics studies on multidrug resistant Typhoid fever in Africa

Study: Drugs that block NPC1 protein could be used to treat Ebola virus disease

Microfluidic cell-squeezing device could introduce specific antigens inside immune system's B cells

Phages in chicken meat can transfer antimicrobial resistance to bacteria

Chemical compound shows promise in treating rheumatoid arthritis

New study suggests ways to accelerate recovery from dangerous diarrheal disease

Study shows trophon EPR effective in inactivating high-risk, cancer-causing HPV

Microbiology eBook

Achieving and maintaining ISO/IEC 27001 and BS 10012 certifications

Expanding research and clinical options for children with cancer

Examining how pain could play a direct protective role in the gut

Latest Life Science News