Microbiology News and Research

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Cleaning water at household is best diarrhea prevention

Clean water can prevent diarrhea and save lives, but among the world's most susceptible populations, it is cleaned best at its point of use rather than its source, researchers report in a large new review of studies.

19 Jul 2006

Secrets of cells revealed

With the advancement of technology we are managing to see ever smaller and smaller pieces of the puzzle that is life.

17 Jul 2006

University of Florida and France sign cooperative four-year research agreement

The University of Florida and two biomedical institutes in France have signed a four-year cooperative agreement on biopharmaceutical research that is designed to help bring new therapies to clinical trials.

11 Jul 2006

Researchers develop T-cells from human embryonic stem cells

Human embryonic stem cells can be genetically manipulated and coaxed to develop into mature T-cells, raising hopes for a gene therapy to combat AIDS.

3 Jul 2006

Listeriosis and pregnancy

For years, doctors have puzzled over why pregnant women are 20 times more likely than others to be infected by the bacterium Listeria monocytogenes. Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, now think they have the answer, and it isn't pretty.

3 Jul 2006

New guidelines for healthy swimming

The World Health Organization (WHO) is launching the world's first-ever international guidelines on how to create safe places to swim and bathe.

28 Jun 2006

Researchers identify gene used to recognize pathogens

Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health have identified a gene in the Anopheles gambiae mosquito's DNA that is central to the insect's ability to defend against infectious pathogens, including Plasmodium, the parasite that causes malaria in humans.

27 Jun 2006

Where bird flu began is a Chinese puzzle

A surprising revelation by a group of Chinese researchers has led to a formal request from the World Health Organization (WHO) for a meeting with officials of the Chinese Ministry of Health.

26 Jun 2006

Scientists use embryonic stem cells to awaken latent motor nerve repair

In a dramatic display of stem cells' potential for healing, a team of Johns Hopkins scientists reports that they've engineered new, completed, fully-working motor neuron circuits - neurons stretching from spinal cord to target muscles - in paralyzed adult animals.

26 Jun 2006

Researchers identify gene used to recognize pathogens

Researchers have identified a gene in the Anopheles gambiae mosquito's DNA that is central to the insect's ability to defend against infectious pathogens, including Plasmodium, the parasite that causes malaria in humans.

20 Jun 2006

Burkitt lymphoma gene expression signature identified

An international research study involving the University of Nebraska Medical Center, the National Cancer Institute and 10 other institutions has successfully identified the gene expression signature for Burkitt lymphoma.

14 Jun 2006

Research explains how pathogenic bacteria evolved over millions of years

Bacteria like Salmonella have a complicated immune system that helps them recognize and isolate foreign DNA trying to invade their cell membrane, according to a University of Washington-led study in the June 8 issue of Science Express.

9 Jun 2006

The antimicrobial peptide cathelicidin protects the urinary tract against invasive bacterial infection

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden have succeeded in explaining how the body protects itself against urinary tract infections; with the help of an endogenous antibiotic.

9 Jun 2006

Microbes could represent the future of medicine

Not all bacteria are bad. In fact, beneficial microbes could represent the future of medicine, with the potential to treat a variety of diseases in humans and animals from diarrhea and eczema to gum disease and autoimmune disorders.

9 Jun 2006

What is the optimal duration of antibiotic therapy?

Taking antibiotics for three days is just as effective for community acquired pneumonia as continuing treatment for the recommended 7-10 days, finds a study in this week's British Medical Journal.

8 Jun 2006

Exposing cancer more quickly

Previous methods for uncovering cancer are old and inaccurate. Now, data analysts at Norut IT Research in Norway are moving cancer treatment forward.

7 Jun 2006

Milstein gift seeks cure for antibiotic-resistant TB and malaria

A $7.25 million gift to Weill Medical College of Cornell University will establish the Abby and Howard P. Milstein Chemistry Core Facility and the Abby and Howard P. Milstein Program in Chemical Biology.

5 Jun 2006

Scientists gain better understanding of Proteus mirabilis

Scientists now have inside information to use in the fight against Proteus mirabilis - a nasty bacterium that can cause kidney stones, as well as hard-to-treat urinary tract infections.

1 Jun 2006

Organ-recipients' deaths prompt call for suppliers of pet rodents to screen for lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus

A case involving seven transplant recipients killed by a rodent-borne virus that they apparently acquired from donated and infected human organs has prompted a recommendation that regulatory authorities require suppliers of pet rodents to screen their colonies for the virus.

1 Jun 2006

Aggressive cancer treated successfully in mice

White blood cells from a strain of cancer-resistant mice cured advanced cancers in ordinary laboratory mice, researchers at Wake Forest University School of Medicine reported.

9 May 2006