Immunology

Cachexia: Cancer-Related Wasting Condition Halted By Antibody

Cachexia is a profound wasting of fat and muscle occurring in about half of all cancer patients, raising their risk of death. Many strategies have been tried to reverse the condition, which may cause such frailty that patients can't endure potentiall ...

Article - News Staff - Jul 14 2014 - 1:31am

Drug-resistant Superbug Instances Up Sharply In Southeastern US

Cases of the highly contagious drug-resistant bacteria carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae   (CRE), have increased fivefold in community hospitals in the Southeastern United States, according to a new study in Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiolo ...

Article - News Staff - Jul 16 2014 - 12:05pm

Cinnamon Oil Prevents E. Coli Foodborne Illnesses

A new study has found a way to prevent some of the most serious foodborne illnesses caused by pathogenic bacteria, like Escherichia coli (E. coli): cinnamon. A new paper in Food Control suggests Cinnamomum cassia oil can work effectively as a natural anti ...

Article - News Staff - Jul 17 2014 - 10:01am

Valley Fever: The Increased Dangers Of Desert Dust

The rapid rise in valley fever cases in the arid southwest has become a serious health concern, as human habitation has pushed further into desert areas where the soil spores are widespread. Currently, Valley Fever affects an estimated 150,000 people a ye ...

Article - News Staff - Jul 23 2014 - 9:53am

Genetic Modification May Lead To Mildew Resistant Barley

In Australia, annual barley production is second only to wheat, with 7-8 million tons grown per year. Powdery mildew is one of the most important diseases of barley and a new project has opened the way for the development of new lines of barley with resis ...

Article - News Staff - Jul 25 2014 - 12:00pm

Blood Test Biomarker Could Help Prevent Spina Bifida

Folate is a naturally occurring form of vitamin B found in food, while folic acid is synthetically produced and used in fortified foods and supplements. Taking folic acid before and during early pregnancy is linked to a reduction in the risk of neural tub ...

Article - News Staff - Jul 30 2014 - 10:08am

R.I.P. Hepatitis C

Effective new drugs and screening would make hepatitis C a rare disease by 2036, according to a new computer simulation conducted by The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health.  Hepa ...

Article - News Staff - Aug 10 2014 - 3:24pm

Muslim Clerics Increase Uptake Of Polio Vaccination In Nigeria

Muslim clerics get a bad rap in an interconnected world. It was once possible to be anti-women, anti-medicine and anti-science without much notice- just control the media- but today that is a difficult task. In some parts of the world, imams, Islamic scho ...

Article - News Staff - Aug 8 2014 - 5:31pm

FAK! Master Regulator Of Toxin Production In Staph Infections Discovered

Researchers have discovered an enzyme that regulates production of the toxins that contribute to potentially life-threatening Staphylococcus aureus infections.  The enzym is fatty acid kinase (FAK) and FAK is formed by the proteins FakA and FakB1 or FakB2 ...

Article - News Staff - Aug 9 2014 - 3:30pm

Parasites FTW: Galápagos Hawks Hand Down Lice Like Family Heirlooms

Parasite is colloquially a bad word but about half of all known species are parasites and biologists have long hypothesized that the strategy of leeching off other organisms is a major driver of biodiversity.  Perhaps being called a parasite is a negative ...

Article - News Staff - Aug 7 2014 - 3:31am