Plague News and Research

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How women would like to manage heavy periods

According to a new online survey of women with heavy periods, women have strong opinions about what they want – and what they don't want to do – to manage their heavy periods.

25 May 2004

Researchers to develop a highly sensitive, portable method of detecting bioterror agents like anthrax

Their method uses "Cellular Analysis and Notification of Antigen Risks and Yields" (CANARY) cells, which are immune-system cells engineered to contain a fluorescent protein naturally found in jellyfish. CANARY cells have the immune system's ability to detect specific disease-causing agents, lighting up when they recognize a pathogen.

24 May 2004

Researchers develop hinged figure skate prevent to joint injuries

Researchers at the University of Delaware have redesigned the traditional figure skate, with the goal of reducing the joint injuries that plague many competitive skaters.

29 Apr 2004

Scientists have unraveled the behavior of one key component of bacteria

The researchers studied a mechanism of action they call the "magic spot" – an important regulator of gene expression. They describe their results in the current issue of the journal Cell.

29 Apr 2004

New bladder control device for women

An estimated one-third of all women experience it at some point and few are willing to talk about it, but urinary incontinence affects more than 15 million Americans and 1.5 million Canadians. Now, thanks to the innovative patent of a pelvic floor muscle trainer for at-home use, women can take control of the problem.

29 Apr 2004

A new technique for engineering protein crystals is helping scientists figure out the three-dimensional structures of some important biological molecules

A new technique for engineering protein crystals is helping scientists figure out the three-dimensional structures of some important biological molecules, including a key plague protein whose structure has eluded researchers until now. The technique, developed with support from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), promises to help pharmaceutical companies develop more effective drugs to treat various diseases by tailor-making molecules to "fit" a protein's shape.

6 Apr 2004

Scientists identify genetic changes during infection by tuberculosis

Researchers at the Center for Biomedical Inventions at UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas have identified the genetic changes that Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the bacterium that causes tuberculosis, undergoes during infection of a living host.

22 Mar 2004

New research may help prevent anthrax, bubonic plague and typhoid fever

The mechanism used by the bacteria that cause anthrax, bubonic plague and typhoid fever to avoid detection and destruction by the body’s normal immune response, leading to life-threatening bacterial infections, has been identified by researchers at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine.

22 Mar 2004