Posts Tagged ‘pathogens’
Earth & Environment - Jun 2, 2010 13:30 - 1 Comment
Irrigation threatens drinking water in Asia
STANFORD (US)—In Bangladesh, where an estimated 60 million people are exposed to unsafe arsenic levels in their drinking water, irrigation practices that tap deep aquifers could compromise access to clean drinking water across the country, according to a report in a recent issue of the journal Science. (more…)
Health & Medicine - May 26, 2010 12:32 - 1 Comment
Nation’s ‘salad bowl’ not overrun with E. coli
UC DAVIS (US)—A strain of E. coli known to cause illness in humans appears to be present but rare in some wildlife species of California’s Central Coast region—an area often referred to as the nation’s “salad bowl.” (more…)
Science & Technology - May 14, 2010 10:23 - 0 Comments
Final liftoff for space shuttle Atlantis
U. COLORADO (US)—The launch today from Kennedy Space Center is expected to be the last one for space shuttle Atlantis, marking the end of a career that includes 32 space missions—covering more than 115 million miles. (more…)
Science & Technology - May 6, 2010 13:31 - 0 Comments
Outer layer of ‘crust’ keeps spores safe
NYU / PRINCETON (US)—Bacterial spores, the most resistant organisms on earth, carry an extra coating of protection previously undetected. The finding could shed light on why spores of the bacteria that cause botulism, tetanus, and anthrax survive methods to eradicate them. (more…)
Health & Medicine - Apr 28, 2010 22:13 - 2 Comments
Belly bacteria are talking. Your body listening?
CALTECH (US)—We are not alone—even in our own bodies. The human gut is home to 100 trillion bacteria, which, for millions of years, have co-evolved along with our digestive and immune systems. Some can be harmful, some beneficial, and—according to new research—other microbes may be perched somewhere in between. (more…)
Health & Medicine - Apr 14, 2010 17:07 - 4 Comments
Pathogenic fungus craves your brain sugar
DUKE (US)—Highly dangerous Cryptococcus fungi love sugar and will consume it anywhere because it helps them reproduce. In particular, they thrive on a sugar called inositol, which is abundant in the human brain and spinal cord. (more…)
Science & Technology - Mar 4, 2010 19:30 - 0 Comments
Why are some plants pathogen proof?
TEXAS A&M (US)—A team of scientists has been studying—at the cellular level—how a plant defends itself from bacterial infections rather than how it gets sick. They say it may help them understand how people and other animals could be better protected from such pathogens. (more…)
Health & Medicine - Mar 2, 2010 11:47 - 3 Comments
Probiotics prime immune system to fight
PENN (US)—Scientists have long pondered the seeming contradiction that taking broad-spectrum antibiotics over an extended period of time can lead to severe secondary bacterial infections. Now researchers may have figured out why. (more…)
Science & Technology - Feb 23, 2010 11:47 - 1 Comment
Pesky aphid thrives despite weak defenses
EMORY (US)—Pea aphids, expert survivors of the insect world, appear to lack major biological defenses, according to the first genetic analysis of their immune system. (more…)
Health & Medicine - Feb 22, 2010 15:34 - 0 Comments
Proteins act as special forces to stop bacteria
EMORY (US)—A set of proteins found in our intestines can recognize and kill bacteria that have human blood type molecules on their surfaces, scientists have discovered. (more…)
Science & Technology - Feb 22, 2010 12:34 - 0 Comments
New type of genetic variation discovered
VANDERBILT (US)—The unexpected discovery of a new type of genetic variation suggests that natural selection—the force that drives evolution—is both more powerful and more complex than scientists have thought. (more…)
Science & Technology - Feb 2, 2010 12:08 - 0 Comments
Virus entices insects to spread infection
PENN STATE—A common plant virus lures aphids to infected plants by making the plants more attractive. When the insects taste the plant, they quickly leave for tastier, healthier ones, rapidly transmitting the disease. (more…)
Science & Technology - Jan 5, 2010 12:30 - 2 Comments
Calcium key to ‘legless’ bacteria
UNC-CHAPEL HILL (US)—Bacteria can swim. Bacteria can walk. It’s this mobility that enables some pathogenic bacteria to infect human hosts. Now researchers have identified a spot on bacteria, that when blocked, can stop the microbes in their tracks. (more…)
Health & Medicine - Nov 18, 2009 14:07 - 1 Comment
Stopping Lyme disease with tick saliva
YALE (US)—A protein found in the saliva of ticks helps protect mice from developing Lyme disease, researchers have discovered. The findings may spur development of a new vaccine against infection from Lyme disease, which is spread through tick bites. (more…)
Health & Medicine - Nov 11, 2009 15:52 - 2 Comments
To understand GI infections, learn the language
TEXAS A&M (US)—New technology is able to mimic the unique bacteria-laden environment of the human GI tract because it knows how to decode the complex way cells “talk” to each other, a new study reports. (more…)
Earth & Environment - Nov 9, 2009 17:57 - 1 Comment
Plants, bacteria tango to trip up disease
UC DAVIS (US)—New research is helping unravel some of the mystery surrounding how plants and bacteria partner in a kind of immunity dance to defend against invasion from disease-causing microbes. (more…)
Health & Medicine - Nov 9, 2009 17:27 - 0 Comments
Molecules kick start body’s response to HIV
YALE (US)—Researchers have developed synthetic molecules capable of enhancing the body’s immune response to HIV and HIV-infected cells, as well as to prostate cancer cells. (more…)
Health & Medicine - Nov 6, 2009 12:37 - 3 Comments
Humans host melting pot of ‘personal’ bacteria
U. COLORADO (US)—People carry “personalized” communities of bacteria around that vary widely from our foreheads and feet to our noses and navels, says chemistry professor Rob Knight. He’s part of a research team that has developed the first atlas of bacterial diversity across the human body. (more…)
