Pathogen News and Research

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Scientists have successfully filmed individual cells migrating within a functioning lymph node

The researchers hope to gain a deeper understanding of how our immune system functions from their detailed study of lymph node processes.

17 Aug 2004

Hospital anti-infection strategy probably won't work

Hospital patients increasingly face tenacious bacterial infections because microbes found in hospitals acquire resistance to commonly prescribed antibiotics. A recent strategy alternating the most commonly used antibiotics has sparked hope of stopping the spread of antibiotic resistance.

9 Aug 2004

Potential of genomics in disease research yet to be realized

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.

5 Aug 2004

New glycan arrays discover autoimmunogenic activities of SARS-CoV

Researchers in New York City and Guangzhou, China applied the rapidly-developing carbohydrate microarray technology to study an inactivated SARS-coronavirus (SARS-CoV) vaccine and discovered autoimmunogenic activity of this newly identified human viral pathogen.

2 Aug 2004

Eradicating deadly E. coli O157:H7 from the bottoms of cows may prevent future outbreaks of food poisoning

According to an article in the August 2004 issue Microbiology Today, the quarterly magazine of the Society for General Microbiology, the majority of people with E. coli O157:H7, picked up the infection from cattle, either through direct contact with faeces or by consuming contaminated meat or milk.

28 Jul 2004

How ulcer bugs stick to stomach

Scientists working to develop a vaccine for the bacterium Helicobacter pylori, the primary cause of ulcers and a contributor to stomach cancers, have uncovered new intricacies in the way the bacterium sticks to the lining of the human stomach.

26 Jul 2004

Computer modeling method for mapping the evolution of the influenza virus

A University of California scientist working at Los Alamos National Laboratory with collaborators from the University of Cambridge (England) and the World Health Organization National Influenza Center at Erasmus Medical Center, (Rotterdam, Netherlands) have developed a computer modeling method for mapping the evolution of the influenza virus.

21 Jul 2004

Genome decoded of distant relative of human pathogens

The Sanger Institute has completed the sequence and analysis of Erwinia carotovora subsp. atroseptica strain SCRI1043 (ATCC BAA-672).

21 Jul 2004

Myriad Genetics awarded a $14.2 million contract for AIDS and hepatitis research

Myriad Genetics has announced that it has been awarded a five-year, $14.2 million contract by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health.

10 Jul 2004

Avian influenza virus in East Asia arose through a series of genetic reassortment events with other viruses

An avian influenza virus that has caused three major outbreaks among poultry and killed several people in East Asia over the past seven years arose through a series of genetic reassortment events with other viruses.

9 Jul 2004

Brazilian Government approves DuPont system that detects salmonella

The BAX® system, a genetics-based diagnostic tool developed by DuPont Qualicon, has been approved by the Ministry of Agriculture in Brazil as an Official Reference Method to detect Salmonella in food, water and environmental samples.

8 Jul 2004

As humans alter land, infectious diseases follow

As people remake the world's landscapes, cutting forests, draining wetlands, building roads and dams, and pushing the margins of cities ever outward, infectious diseases are gaining new toeholds, cropping up in new places and new hosts, and posing an ever-increasing risk to human and animal health.

5 Jul 2004

$1.6 million ecological stoichiometry grant to study how certain nutrients affect the development of disease in humans and animals

Two University of Kansas and four Arizona State University researchers have received an almost $1.6 million grant from the National Science Foundation to study how certain nutrients affect the development of disease in humans and animals.

29 Jun 2004

Research for faster Polymerase Chain Reaction technology

Imagine being able to diagnose a viral strain at the site of an outbreak or identifying a deadly pathogen on the battlefield.

28 Jun 2004

Molecular biologists find chink in the armor of Candida, the most common human fungal pathogen

Molecular biologists at Rice University have discovered a key defense mechanism that the yeast Candida albicans uses against attack by the human immune system.

26 Jun 2004

Discovery could pave the way to smallpox Immunity

A team of scientists led by a Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) international research scholar has discovered the immune system mechanism that causes some mice to be more susceptible to mousepox than others.

9 Jun 2004

Link between oral bacterium and premature babies

For years, scientists have noticed a particular oral bacterium can be found in the amniotic fluid of about 20 percent of women with premature babies.

27 May 2004

Research into flipping genes therapy by Leeds University

Graham Cook and Erica de Wynter of molecular medicine have secured £125,000 to investigate the unique way antibody genes are assembled and how they can be harnessed to fight disease.

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

KETEK® (telithromycin) is highly active in vitro against Streptococcus pneumoniae (S. pneumoniae) isolates

Results from an ongoing surveillance study, PROTEKT US (Prospective Resistant Organism Tracking and Epidemiology of the Ketolide Telithromycin – United States) Year 2 (2001-2002), suggest that KETEK® (telithromycin) is highly active in vitro against Streptococcus pneumoniae (S. pneumoniae) isolates, including those resistant to other antimicrobial agents.