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Novel uses for bacterial cellulose, artificial blood vessels, bioengineered wound dressing

New and unique products created from bacterial cellulose — from electronic paper to treatment for wounds — will highlight a one-day symposium at the 227th national meeting of the American Chemical Society, the world's largest scientific society.

30 Mar 2004

A peptide called magainin, found in the skin of the African clawed frog, holds the secret to creating bacteria-killing surfaces

A peptide called magainin, first found in the skin of the African clawed frog, holds the secret to creating bacteria-killing surfaces, according to researchers at the University of Pennsylvania. The Penn scientists have taken a joint experimental-computational approach to mimicking magainin.

30 Mar 2004

Novel vaccine technology to suppress the growth of certain tumors

MedImmune, Inc. and Cerus Corporation have announced preclinical results demonstrating the effectiveness of a novel therapeutic vaccine technology in suppressing the growth of certain tumors.

From Baxter International Inc. 29 Mar 2004

Comparative genomics to cast new light on other spirochete microbes

Three centuries after a pioneering Dutch microbiologist first observed the spiral-shaped oral pathogen Treponema denticola, scientists have deciphered the bacterium’s entire DNA sequence and used comparative genomics to cast new light on other spirochete microbes.

29 Mar 2004

Children with sickle cell disease are living longer, dying less often from their disease

Children with sickle cell disease, an inherited red blood-cell disorder, are living longer, dying less often from their disease and contracting fewer fatal infections than ever before, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas report. Their study, which will appear in the June edition of the scientific journal Blood, is the first to evaluate survival rates of children receiving the most modern treatments for sickle cell disease. It's also one of the largest published sickle cell studies to date. Researchers followed more than 700 Dallas-area children with the disease over two decades.

25 Mar 2004

A debate over the origins of what is sometimes called "junk" DNA has been settled

A debate over the origins of what is sometimes called "junk" DNA has been settled by research involving scientists at the Center for Advanced Research in Biotechnology (CARB) and a collaborator, who developed rigorous proof that these mysterious sections were added to DNA "late" in the evolution of life on earth, after the formation of modern-sized genes, which contain instructions for making proteins.

25 Mar 2004

Asthma study turns up new information on viral infections

Researchers know that viral infections can exacerbate asthma and, in turn, make people with the condition more sensitive to environmental exposures such as endotoxin. But how viral infections contribute to this sensitivity in airway cells has not been clear. A recent study led by investigators from the University of Iowa Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine and the Veterans Affairs Medical Center (VAMC) in Iowa City shows, for the first time, that viral infections may increase environmental sensitivity in lung epithelial (surface) cells by changing expression of receptors on those cells.

25 Mar 2004

Scientists discover a method to detect trace levels of swine antibiotics in the groundwater.

Scientists from the Department of Soil, Water, & Climate at University of Minnesota have developed a simple method to quantify two types of antibiotics in animal manures, and surface and ground waters. Chlortetracycline and tylosin antibiotics are commonly used for growth promotion in swine production.

25 Mar 2004

British company to launch "super bug tester" into UK hospitals

MRSA is the first test to be developed from Acolyte’s BacLite® testing platform. BacLite reduces the time for identifying both the type of bacteria and, more importantly, the antibiotic sensitivity of the bacteria from the current 3-4 day standard to just 2-5 hours. This time advantage will mean clinicians will be able to treat, much more effectively, serious bacterial infections and prevent potentially fatal complications, such as sepsis and septic shock, from developing.

24 Mar 2004

EU gives 32 million Euro for vaccines to stop tuberculosis

The European Commission today launched the largest-ever collaborative tuberculosis (TB) initiative for World TB-day, March 24. Fifty-two research teams from academia and industry from 15 European and African countries are joining forces with the European Commission to help eradicate TB. Globally, TB kills 2 million people a year, with one-third of the world's population currently infected with the bacillus, Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb). While most cases and deaths occur in developing countries, resistant Mtb strains are mainly found among the poorest people in developed countries, as incomplete treatment increases drug resistance. The European Union is confronting the re-emerging threat of TB by investing €32 million in two overlapping research projects. This cash will be used in an accelerated effort to develop new, effective vaccines to fight TB.

23 Mar 2004

Research suggests protein released from lungs could initiate labour

A protein released from the lungs of a developing mouse fetus initiates a cascade of chemical events leading to the mother's initiation of labor, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas have found.

22 Mar 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

Bacteria Live in the Esophagus!

The esophagus isn't merely a tube for food traveling from the mouth to the stomach, it also provides an environment for bacteria to live, according to a new study by NYU School of Medicine scientists that overturns the general belief that the esophagus is free of bacteria.

22 Mar 2004