Microbiology

The Little Antibody That Could: It Chews Up Viral DNA And RNA

Antibodies and their derivatives can protect plants and humans against viruses but members of this class of drugs are usually highly specific against components of a particular virus, and mutations in the virus that change these components can make them i ...

Article - News Staff - Jun 26 2014 - 6:28pm

Notorious Pathogen Staphylococcus Aureus Forms Slimy Streamers To Clog Up Medical Devices

 By revealing the mechanisms that allow the bacteria to rapidly clog up medical devices, a group of researchershas moved a step closer to preventing infections of the common hospital pathogen, Staphylococcus aureus. The researchers have shown that the bac ...

Article - News Staff - Jun 27 2014 - 1:00am

Do Probiotics Work? Are They Safe?

Probiotics are a popular fad but there is little evidence they are anything more than a well-marketed placebo. Like homeopathy, at least that means the only harm will be in your wallet. ...

Article - News Staff - Jul 6 2014 - 9:30pm

Creating A Global Genome- The Metagenome Of Intestinal Microbiota

An international research team has developed a new method to analyze the global genome, or the metagenome of the intestinal microbiota. The intestinal microbiota is all the bacteria found in the digestive tract.  The metagenome corresponds to all the gene ...

Article - News Staff - Jul 7 2014 - 8:39am

Fungus In Chobani Greek Yogurt Outbreak A Threat To Consumers

In September of 2013, customers of Chobani brand Greek yogurt complained of gastrointestinal problems after consuming products manufactured in the company's Idaho plant. The company issued a recall and claimed that the fungal contaminant Murcor circi ...

Article - News Staff - Jul 8 2014 - 9:34am

Volvox Carteri: What Transgender Algae Reveal About The Evolutionary Origin Of The Sexes

There is nothing more natural than sexes. Throughout evolution, living things have repeatedly developed physically distinct genders but how this happens has been a puzzle. A discovery in the multicellular green alga Volvox carteri may be the revelation of ...

Article - News Staff - Jul 9 2014 - 4:30am

Is Ranavirus Behind Frog Population Declines?

In some parts of the world, amphibian numbers are in decline. Activists are quick to blame everything from fracking to pesticides for reduced numbers of some frogs, but scientists have linked it to an emerging fungal disease called chytridiomycosis. New r ...

Article - News Staff - Jul 9 2014 - 12:35pm

Sometimes Good Gut Bacteria Get Sick

We all know what happens to us when we get sick, but at least we have a microbiota to protect us. What happens when those ecosystem bacteria colonizing our guts gets hit with infection? A new computational models showed how infection can affect bacteria t ...

Article - News Staff - Jul 11 2014 - 6:31pm

Personalized Antibiotics Could Leverage The Neat Trick Bacteria Play On Us

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is rightfully concerned that the U.S. faces “potentially catastrophic consequences” from the growing threat of antibiotic-resistant infections, which kill about 23,000 Americans a year. One solution is persona ...

Article - News Staff - Jul 14 2014 - 3:00am

What Disease Killed This 700-year-old Skeleton?

Using shotgun metagenomics to sequence DNA from a calcified nodule in the pelvic region of a 700-year-old middle-aged male skeleton excavated from the settlement of Geridu in Sardinia, European researchers have recovered a genome of the bacterium Brucella ...

Article - News Staff - Jul 15 2014 - 3:30am