Over the past decade genomics has revolutionized our understanding of how microorganisms cause disease. However, genomic studies need to be extended to a more diverse array of microorganisms and research tools improved to gain additional insights into pathogenesis, according to a new report released by the American Academy of Microbiology.
Genomic studies have placed a comprehensive understanding of pathogenesis in sight, but much work lies ahead, according to the report, The Geno
Study suggests possible role for BK virus in prostate cancer
Chances are excellent that your urinary tract is home to a pathogenic organism called the human BK virus. Most of the time, the virus lurks quietly in the kidneys without causing problems. But in people with a depressed immune system — especially those who have just received a kidney transplant — the virus can cause serious kidney and bladder disease. Now, new research by scientists at the University of Michigan Medical Sc
Further investigation into how the common organism Escherichia coli regulates gene expression has given scientists new ideas for designing antibiotics that might drastically reduce a bacterium’s ability to resist drugs.
The findings, reported in the current issue of the journal Cell, suggest that bacteria rely on a key protein in order to properly regulate gene expression — a process fundamental to cell survival. This protein, called DksA, coordinates the expression of numer
Researchers from Rockefeller University are enlisting proteins produced by viruses in a novel strategy that may someday help prevent bacterial infections in hospitals and nursing homes.
Bacterial viruses, or bacteriophage, worm their way into bacterial cells, copy themselves and then, as an exit strategy, produce enzymes that quickly destroy the bacterial cell wall, killing the bacteria and releasing the viral offspring.
“These are highly evolved enzymes that work effic
Mount St. Helens 20 years after the eruption
When Mount St. Helens erupted in 1980, it set off an enormous avalanche, spewed out deadly hot steam, and buried a vast area with volcanic rock and ash, violently shattering its 123-year ’slumber.’ Ecologists used this once in a life-time chance to discover how ecosystems respond to such a natural disturbance.
The symposium “Ecological Recovery After the 1980 Eruptions of Mount St. Helens” will reveal how the surrounding lan
Research from the University of Michigan shows that the current federal plan to reduce the “dead zone” in the Gulf of Mexico may not be enough to protect the region’s half billion dollar a year shrimp industry.
Researchers from U-M, Louisiana State University, and Limnotech Inc, an Ann Arbor-based firm, used three different models to analyze oxygen depletion and to answer two key questions: Is the expanded dead zone human-caused? Will a proposed goal of 30 percent nitrogen loa
Whether viewed dimly through the haze and lights of a city or in all their glory in a pristine wilderness, the stars that surround the Earth are magnificent, and one day Earthlings will travel to some of the new planets that astronomers are locating. However, the stars we see are not necessarily where we think they are, according to an international research team.
“We know that the light from distant stars takes a very long time to reach the Earth,” says Dr. Akhlesh Lakhtakia, distin
New method allows scientists to probe fundamental questions of surface science
A team of researchers including University of California, Riverside Assistant Professor of Chemistry, Ludwig Bartels has developed a technique to take extremely fast snapshots of molecular and atomic movement. The development is considered a significant advance in surface science, the study of chemical reactions taking place on the surface of solids.
The results are reported in the current issue of t
Scientists have developed an experimental vaccine against ricin, a potential biological threat agent, which fully protected mice from aerosol challenge with lethal doses of the toxin. The study was performed at the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID).
Ricin is a toxin derived from the castor plant, which is grown throughout the world for commercial purposes. Approximately one million pounds of castor beans are used each year in the process of man
A brain imaging study by the NIH’s National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) has found that an emotion-regulating brain circuit is overactive in people prone to depression – even when they are not depressed. Researchers discovered the abnormality in brains of those whose depressions relapsed when a key brain chemical messenger was experimentally reduced. Even when in remission, most subjects with a history of mood disorder experienced a temporary recurrence of symptoms when their brains were exper
It’s no secret that life in the 21st century moves at a rapid pace. Human inventions such as the Internet, mobile phones and fiber optic cable have increased the speed of communication, making it possible for someone to be virtually in two places at once. But can humans speed up the rate of one of nature’s most basic and slowest processes, evolution? A study by J. Todd Streelman, new assistant professor of biology at the Georgia Institute of Technology suggests that humans may have sped up the ev
The extreme toxicity of botulism makes it a potentially lethal type of food poisoning – and a possible agent of bioterrorist attack
The extreme toxicity of botulism makes it a potentially lethal type of food poisoning – and a possible agent of bioterrorist attack. Data from the Republic of Georgia (a former Soviet nation south of Russia) suggest that an infected person’s symptoms could help doctors predict how immediate the risk of death is, allowing physicians to prioritize victim
Blocking growth factor stops rejection process
For the first time scientists have found that a growth factor called vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-3 (VEGFR-3), known to cause the growth of lymphatic vessels in the body, controls how immune cells traffic (move) within the eye and also stimulates the immune system to reject corneal transplants–the most common type of transplantation performed. The researchers from the Schepens Eye Research Institute and the Massachusetts E
An estimated 41,000 new cases of primary brain tumors are expected to be diagnosed in 2004, according to the American Brain Tumor Association. To further narrow the gap between diagnosis and effective therapy, physicians at the University of Pennsylvania Health System now offer several promising approaches to brain tumor treatment, including novel imaging for oncologic neurosurgery and refined genetic testing for tumors to better target treatment.
Through enhanced magnetic resonanc
Viewers of future Olympic Games will enjoy the marriage of two entertainment industries – sports television and sports computer games – when a highly immersive and fully interactive TV system is being developed by the IST project.
PISTE comes to life. PISTE represents the most advanced and immersive interactive sports television experience created to date. Using digital video processing, computer vision, 3D-visualisation and animation techniques, the PISTE system will eventually al
Researchers at the University of York are beginning a major study into the ethical and personal issues raised by a potential revolution in healthcare, which could incorporate individualised medical care – pharmacogenetics – into clinical practice.
The use of genetic testing as a routine part of medical treatment opens exciting horizons, but brings with it the responsibility to understand the concerns individuals may have about DNA sampling, and about wider issues such as the possi
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