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Same-sex mating found in most common human fungal pathogen Candida albicans

Brown University researchers have discovered that Candida albicans, a human fungal pathogen that causes thrush and other diseases, pursues same-sex mating in addition to conventional opposite-sex mating.

12 Aug 2009

New insights into identifying children at risk for autoimmune brain disorders

A new study by researchers at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health's Center for Infection and Immunity indicates that pediatric obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), Tourette syndrome and/or tic disorder may develop from an inappropriate immune response to the bacteria causing common throat infections.

11 Aug 2009

Discovery of 'tell-tale' viral signature in blood that identifies underlying viral infection

Scientists have identified a genomic "signature" in circulating blood that reveals exposure to common upper respiratory viruses, like the cold or flu, even before symptoms appear.

6 Aug 2009

Pattern of gene expression in blood provides clues to etiology of respiratory infections

Scientists have shown that they can identify and characterize an individual's response to a respiratory viral infection by examining the pattern of gene expression in their blood.

6 Aug 2009

J. Craig Venter Institute offers new Affymetrix array for faster identification of E. coli and shigella

Affymetrix, Inc. and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)-supported Pathogen Functional Genomics Resource Center (PFGRC) at the J. Craig Venter Institute (JCVI) today announced the launch of the Affymetrix FDA-ECSG custom microarray for identifying and discriminating between different strains of E. coli and Shigella.

6 Aug 2009

Autophagy helps HIV to proliferate

Not satisfied with simply thwarting its host's defensive maneuvers, HIV actually twists one to its advantage, based on new findings from Kyei et al. in the July 27, 2009 issue of the Journal of Cell Biology. Vojo Deretic and colleagues suggest that autophagy - a stress response process - helps HIV to proliferate and that conversely, blocking autophagy lessens HIV production.

27 Jul 2009

NovaSterilis receives patent for vaccine creation using supercritical carbon dioxide

NovaSterilis Inc., a developer of supercritical carbon dioxide technology for biomedical applications, announces the issue of US Patent 7,560,113 for creation and production of whole cell vaccines with supercritical carbon dioxide (SCCO2)*.

22 Jul 2009

Researchers decipher special role of the messenger Beta-interferon for immune responses

Researchers from the Molecular Immunology group at the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) in Braunschweig, Germany have now shown that Beta-Interferon also plays a crucial role during an immune response: without Beta-Interferon immune cells are unable to show "wanted posters" of pathogens to other cells.

20 Jul 2009

Researchers expose the biology of Clostridium difficile transmission in mice

New research suggests that antibiotic treatment could be asymptomatically inducing the transmission of the healthcare-acquired infection, C. difficile, contributing to the outbreaks that have recently been widely reported in hospitals and other settings. A team of scientists have successfully mirrored the infection cycle of C. difficile by generating a 'mouse hospital' with conditions mimicking the human environment in which C. difficile is transmitted.

20 Jul 2009

Researchers map how staph infections alter immune system

Infectious disease specialists at UT Southwestern Medical Center have mapped the gene profiles of children with severe Staphylococcus aureus infections, providing crucial insight into how the human immune system is programmed to respond to this pathogen and opening new doors for improved therapeutic interventions.

14 Jul 2009

One secret to how tuberculosis resists the host immune system

Mycobacterium tuberculosis is arguably the world's most successful infectious agent because it knows how to avoid elimination by slowing its own growth to a crawl. Now, a report in the July 10 issue of the journal Cell, a Cell Press publication, offers new insight into the bugs' talent for meager living.

9 Jul 2009

New tuberculosis drug targets

A fundamental question about how sugar units are strung together into long carbohydrate chains has also pinpointed a promising way to target new medicines against tuberculosis.

23 Jun 2009

Plant microbe shares features with drug-resistant pathogen - implications for biotech

An international team of scientists has discovered extensive similarities between a strain of bacteria commonly associated with plants and one increasingly linked to opportunistic infections in hospital patients. The findings suggest caution in the use of the plant-associated strain for a range of biotech applications. The genetic analysis was conducted in part at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory, and will be published in the July 2009 issue of Nature Reviews Microbiology, now available online.

16 Jun 2009

New insights into causes of multiple sclerosis

Over 100,000 people suffer from multiple sclerosis in Germany alone. Despite intensive research, the factors that trigger the disease and influence its progress remain unclear.

10 Jun 2009

Experimental drug five times more effective against MDR-TB than conventional therapy

A Johnson & Johnson-run study found that its experimental drug TMC207 could make conventional tuberculosis treatment five times more effective against multi-drug resistant TB (MDR-TB) because it cleared traces of the TB bacteria in the sputum of 48 percent of study volunteers after eight weeks, Reuters reports (Emery, Reuters, 6/3). The results were published on Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine.

4 Jun 2009

Discovery of new arenavirus associated with hemorrhagic fever – first identified in nearly four decades

Scientists at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health, the South African National Institute for Communicable Diseases of National Health Laboratory Service (NICD-NHLS), the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and Roche's 454 Life Sciences Corporation have discovered the new virus responsible for a highly fatal hemorrhagic fever outbreak in Zambia and South Africa in late 2008.

2 Jun 2009

MicroRNAs grease the cell's circadian clockwork

Most of our cells possess an internal clock, a group of genes displaying a cyclic expression pattern that reaches a peak once a day. A large number of circadian genes are expressed by organs such as the liver, whose activity needs to be precisely regulated over the course of the day.

31 May 2009

Discovery of biochemical signals that help immune cells remember how to fight infection

Immunology researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have discovered how two biochemical signals play unique roles in promoting the development of a group of immune cells employed as tactical assassins.

28 May 2009

Methylene blue in combo with new malaria drugs curbs the spread of malaria parasites

New combinations of agents based on the oldest synthetic malaria drug, the methylene blue stain, can curb the spread of malaria parasites and make a significant contribution to the long-term eradication called for by the international "Roll Back Malaria Initiative."

20 May 2009

Computer simulation captures immune response to flu

Researchers have successfully tested first the first time a computer simulation of major portions of the body's immune reaction to influenza type A, with implications for treatment design and preparation ahead of future pandemics, according to work accepted for publication, and posted online, by the Journal of Virology.

18 May 2009

Pathogen News and Research

Same-sex mating found in most common human fungal pathogen Candida albicans

New insights into identifying children at risk for autoimmune brain disorders

Discovery of 'tell-tale' viral signature in blood that identifies underlying viral infection

Pattern of gene expression in blood provides clues to etiology of respiratory infections

J. Craig Venter Institute offers new Affymetrix array for faster identification of E. coli and shigella

Autophagy helps HIV to proliferate

NovaSterilis receives patent for vaccine creation using supercritical carbon dioxide

Researchers decipher special role of the messenger Beta-interferon for immune responses

Researchers expose the biology of Clostridium difficile transmission in mice

Researchers map how staph infections alter immune system

One secret to how tuberculosis resists the host immune system

New tuberculosis drug targets

Plant microbe shares features with drug-resistant pathogen - implications for biotech

New insights into causes of multiple sclerosis

Experimental drug five times more effective against MDR-TB than conventional therapy

Discovery of new arenavirus associated with hemorrhagic fever – first identified in nearly four decades

MicroRNAs grease the cell's circadian clockwork

Discovery of biochemical signals that help immune cells remember how to fight infection

Methylene blue in combo with new malaria drugs curbs the spread of malaria parasites

Computer simulation captures immune response to flu

Expanding research and clinical options for children with cancer

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

From Puberty to Menopause: Clue’s CEO, Audrey Tsang on the Power of Femtech

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