E. coli News and Research

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E. coli or Escherichia coli is the name of a type of bacteria that lives in your intestines. Most types of E. coli are harmless. However, some types can make you sick and cause diarrhea. One type causes travelers' diarrhea. The worst type of E. coli causes bloody diarrhea, and can sometimes cause kidney failure and even death. These problems are most likely to occur in children and in adults with weak immune systems. You can get E. coli infections by eating foods containing the bacteria. To help avoid food poisoning and prevent infection, handle food safely. Cook meat well, wash fruits and vegetables before eating or cooking them, and avoid unpasteurized milk and juices. You can also get the infection by swallowing water in a swimming pool contaminated with human waste. Most cases of E. coli infection get better without treatment in 5 to 10 days.

Patent-pending probiotic could help patients with gastrointestinal diseases avoid harmful biofilms

Probiotics typically aim to rebalance bacteria populations in the gut, but new research suggests they may also help break apart stubborn biofilms. Biofilms are living microbial communities--they provide a haven for microbes and are often resistant to antibiotics.

4 Apr 2019

Study reveals new strategy to combat antibiotic resistance

A new strategy to combat antibiotic resistance has emerged from a study led by researchers at Baylor College of Medicine. Published in the journal Molecular Cell, the report reveals for the first time how bacteria evolve mutations that confer antibiotic resistance and that this process can be inhibited with FDA-approved drug edaravone.

2 Apr 2019

Smartphone test detects unsafe arsenic levels in water

A smartphone device could help millions of people avoid drinking water contaminated by arsenic.

27 Mar 2019

Research helps develop new medicines with antibacterial properties

The research, conducted at the CEU UCH, combines molecular typology and QSAR methods as faster and more affordable tools in order to obtain new medicines and challenge the growing appearance of bacterial resistances.

27 Mar 2019

Researchers look for new ways to skirt impressive Gram-negative defense system

Superbugs, also known as Gram-negative bacteria, are causing a global health crisis. Each year in the United States, at least two million people contract an antibiotic-resistant infection, according to the Centers for Disease Control.

22 Mar 2019

UIC scientists identify hidden proteins in bacteria

Scientists at the University of Illinois at Chicago have developed a way to identify the beginning of every gene -- known as a translation start site or a start codon -- in bacterial cell DNA with a single experiment and, through this method, they have shown that an individual gene is capable of coding for more than one protein.

21 Mar 2019

Human microbiome metabolites enhance colon injury by enterohemorrhagic E. coli, study shows

It remains mysterious why humans get infected by some bacterial or viral pathogens relatively easily while animals that have very similar tissues and immune functions do not.

20 Mar 2019

Rice University bioscientists reveal danger of vitamin B12 deficiency

Using roundworms, one of Earth's simplest animals, Rice University bioscientists have found the first direct link between a diet with too little vitamin B12 and an increased risk of infection by two potentially deadly pathogens.

14 Mar 2019

Zinc could help develop new non-antibiotic treatment for bacterial diseases

New details about the role of zinc in our immune system could help the development of new non-antibiotic treatment strategies for bacterial diseases, such as urinary tract infections.

9 Mar 2019

Bacteria-killing glass offers hope to combat deadliest hospital infections

Scientists at Aston University have discovered a technique similar to medieval stained glass-making that can completely eradicate the deadliest hospital infections within hours.

5 Mar 2019

Isolating Bacterial Pathogen DNA from Food Samples

Isolating bacterial pathogen DNA is important and often seen as QA ensure that the food manufactured or the ingredients used do not contain food-borne bacteria.

From Promega Corporation 5 Mar 2019

Antimicrobials used to treat zoonotic diseases are becoming less effective, data reveals

Data released today by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control and European Food Safety Authority reveal that antimicrobials used to treat diseases that can be transmitted between animals and humans, such as campylobacteriosis and salmonellosis, are becoming less effective.

27 Feb 2019

Tobacco plants used as 'green bioreactors' to produce anti-inflammatory protein

Researchers at Western University and Lawson Health Research Institute are using tobacco plants as 'green bioreactors' to produce an anti-inflammatory protein with powerful therapeutic potential.

27 Feb 2019

Scientists use CRISPR to reveal the secret life of antimicrobial peptides

When it comes to the immune system, we usually think about lymphocytes like B and T cells or macrophages going on constant seek-and-destroy missions against invading pathogens like bacteria and viruses.

26 Feb 2019

Researchers uncover how Gram-negative bacterium delivers toxins that make us sick

Researchers at Binghamton University, State University of New York have uncovered the unique way in which a type of Gram-negative bacterium delivers the toxins that make us sick. Understanding this mechanism may help design better ways to block and eventually control those toxins.

25 Feb 2019

Combination of common antibiotics can eliminate multi-drug resistant E. coli

A group of scientists in Denmark is trying to get one step ahead in the battle against antibiotic resistance.

20 Feb 2019

New study seeks to understand how colibactin causes cancer

For more than a decade, scientists have worked to understand the connection between colibactin, a compound produced by certain strains of E. coli, and colorectal cancer, but have been hampered by their inability to isolate the compound.

15 Feb 2019

Kansas geologist reveals startling global spread of antibiotic-resistant microbes

A University of Kansas geologist's work in the remote High Arctic of Norway has exposed the startling global spread of antibiotic-resistant microbes -- including multidrug-resistant "superbugs" -- that could have dire implications for human health worldwide.

6 Feb 2019

Understanding the defense mechanism of NETs could lead to better antibiotics

Experiencing a bacterial infection? You're generally prescribed antibiotics by your doctor. But how exactly do those antibiotics and your white blood cells work in tandem to improve your infection?

1 Feb 2019