Microbiology Research and News
The bottom of a glacier is not the most hospitable place on Earth, but at least two types of bacteria happily live there, according to researchers.
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A study carried out by Eric Vivier and Sophie Ugolini at the Marseille-Luminy Centre for Immunology has just reveal a gene in mice which, when mutated, can stimulate the immune system to help fight against tumors and viral infections. Whilst this gene was known to activate one of the body's first lines of defense (Natural Killer, or 'NK' cells), paradoxically, when deactivated it makes these NK cells hypersensitive to the warning signals sent out by diseased cells.
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 | Carnegie Mellon researchers have discovered that manganese, an element commonly found in nature, might provide a way to neutralize the potentially lethal effects Shiga toxin. New results published in the Jan. 20 issue of Science could pave the way for future research aimed at creating an inexpensive treatment for infections caused by bacteria that produce the Shiga toxin. Currently there is no treatment for such infections that afflict more than 150 million people each year, resulting in more than one million deaths worldwide. ...> Full Article |
The discovery by researchers from the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of a molecule that is key to malaria's 'invisibility cloak' will help to better understand how the parasite causes disease and escapes from the defenses mounted by the immune system.
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 | Research into biofuel crops such as switchgrass and Miscanthus has focused mainly on how to grow these crops and convert them into fuels. But many steps lead from the farm to the biorefinery, and each could help or hinder the growth of this new industry. A new computer model can simplify this transition, running millions of simulations and optimizing operations to bring down costs, reduce greenhouse gas emissions or achieve other goals. ...> Full Article |
Killer T-cells in the human body which help protect us from disease can inadvertently destroy cells that produce insulin, new research has uncovered.
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A devastating neurodegenerative disease that first appears in toddlers just as they are beginning to walk has been traced to defects in mitochondria, the 'batteries' or energy-producing power plants of cells.
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Vaccination with the anthrax capsule -- a naturally occurring component of the bacterium that causes the disease -- protected monkeys from lethal anthrax infection, according to US Army scientists. The study, which appears in the Jan. 20th print edition of the journal VACCINE, represents the first successful use of a non-toxin vaccine to protect monkeys from the disease.
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Researchers at the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health, have developed a new way to see structures within viruses that were not clearly seen before. Their findings are reported in the Jan. 13 issue of Science.
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 | Berkeley researchers have provided the most detailed look ever at the "regulatory particle" used by the proteasome - one of the most critical protein machines in living cells - to identify and degrade proteins marked for destruction. This new information holds implications for a broad range of vital biochemical processes, including transcription, DNA repair and the immune defense system. ...> Full Article |
Genome sequencing leads to the identification of a protein crucial to the work of two parasites as they spread a pair of deadly diseases, toxoplasmosis and malaria.
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Fungi may be unexpected allies in our efforts to keep hazardous lead under control. That's based on the unexpected discovery that fungi can transform lead into its most stable mineral form. The findings suggest that this interaction between fungi and lead may be occurring in nature anywhere the two are found together. It also suggests that the introduction or encouragement of fungi may be a useful treatment strategy for lead-polluted sites.
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The available amount of fossil fuels is limited and their combustion in vehicle motors increases atmospheric carbon dioxide levels. The generation of fuels from biomass as an alternative is on the rise. In the journal Angewandte Chemie, Johannes A. Lercher and his team at the Technische Universitaet Muenchen have now introduced a new catalytic process that allows the effective conversion of biopetroleum from microalgae into diesel fuels.
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 | Of all the habitable parts of our planet, one ecosystem still remains largely unexplored and unknown to science: The igneous ocean crust.This rocky realm of hard volcanic lava exists beneath ocean sediments that lie at the bottom of much of the world's oceans.While scientists have estimated that microbes living in deep ocean sediments may represent as much as one-third of Earth's total biomass, the habitable portion of the rocky ocean crust may be 10 times as great. ...> Full Article |
Dr. Philip Marsden has made new discoveries about the basic workings of endothelial cells that could lead to a diagnostic test for the serious kidney disease known as hemolytic uremic syndrome and a possible treatment.
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