Showing 20 articles starting at article 1541

< Previous 20 articles        Next 20 articles >

Categories: Biology: Microbiology, Offbeat: Space

Return to the site home page

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Routinely cleaning wristbands is generally ignored. New research finds 95 percent of wristbands tested were contaminated. Rubber and plastic wristbands had higher bacterial counts, while gold and silver, had little to no bacteria. Bacteria found were common skin residents of the genera Staphylococcus and Pseudomonas, and intestinal organisms of the genera Escherichia, specifically E. coli. Staphylococcus was prevalent on 85 percent of the wristbands; researchers found Pseudomonas on 30 percent of the wristbands; and they found E. coli bacteria on 60 percent of the wristbands, which most commonly begins infection through fecal-oral transmission.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Bioengineers developed a platform that enhances survival and function of probiotics engineered to diagnose inflammatory bowel disease in animals. The technology holds promise for minimally invasive disease monitoring and advanced smart therapeutics.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

In antibacterial photodynamic therapy, irradiation is used to produce reactive oxygen species that kill off bacteria. Because it requires external light and oxygen, this method is only suitable for surface infections. A research team has now introduced a molecular 'singlet oxygen battery' that can be 'charged' with reactive oxygen, which it then releases in deep tissue layers to target methicillin-resistant staphylococcus.

     (via sciencedaily.com) 

In a new study, researchers have taken an important step toward understanding how exploding stars can help reveal how neutrinos, mysterious subatomic particles, secretly interact with themselves.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Advanced microscopy techniques give scientists valuable clues for how to fight an enzyme that is leading to a rise in cases of antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections worldwide.

     (via sciencedaily.com) 

A mathematical model provides new insights into the distribution of genetic information during bacterial cell division

     (via sciencedaily.com) 

Iron is well-known for rusting, but this doesn't just happen on contact with oxygen and water. Some bacteria are also able to able to decompose iron anaerobically in a process referred to as electrobiocorrosion. The sediment-dwelling bacterium Geobacter sulfurreducens uses electrically conductive protein threads for this purpose. They produce magnetite from the iron, which promotes further corrosion in a positive feedback loop.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Unexpected new insights into how COVID-19 infects cells help explain why coronaviruses are so good at jumping from species to species and will help scientists better predict how COVID-19 will evolve.

     (via sciencedaily.com) 

Megastorms regularly appear on Saturn, marring the relatively bland surface before disappearing. But radio observations show that the storms have long-lasting effects deeper in the atmosphere, in particular in the distribution of ammonia. Using NRAO's Very Large Array, astronomers see such impacts from storms that happened hundreds of years ago. The findings will help explain the differences between storms on the gas giants Saturn and Jupiter.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Using a novel method to detect microbial activity in biological soil crusts, or biocrusts, after they are wetted, a research team in a new study uncovered clues that will lead to a better understanding of the role microbes play in forming a living skin over many semi-arid ecosystems around the world. The tiny organisms -- and the microbiomes they create -- are threatened by climate change.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers have created a panel of genetically diverse mice that accurately model the highly variable human response to SARS-CoV-2 infection. The team uncovered differences in the innate immune and regulated proinflammatory responses, the timing and strength of which are associated with disease severity.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

An experimental malaria vaccine appears safe and promotes an immune response in African infants, one of the groups most vulnerable to severe malaria disease. There is currently only one malaria vaccine, 'RTS,S' that is approved by the World Health Organization and offers partial disease protection. However, in the results of the early-stage phase Ib trial, researchers find that targeting RH5 -- a protein that the malaria pathogen Plasmodium falciparum uses to invade red blood cells -- can generate a promising immune response that is most pronounced in an infant cohort.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A new analysis shows that infectious bacteria exposed to the antibiotic albicidin rapidly develop up to a 1,000-fold increase in resistance via a gene amplification mechanism.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Creating new technologically advanced sensors, scientists have engineered bacteria that detect the presence of tumor DNA in live organisms. Their innovation could pave the way to new biosensors capable of identifying various infections, cancers and other diseases.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers created a germ-free mouse model to evaluate the role of the microbiome in the infection, replication, and pathogenesis of HIV and the Epstein-Barr virus, the virus that can cause mononucleosis and other serious diseases.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A new observation suggests that a life-threatening blood clotting disorder can be caused by an infection with adenovirus, one of the most common respiratory viruses in pediatric and adult patients.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A study has identified a new pathway that human immune deficiency virus (HIV) uses to enter the nucleus of a healthy cell, where it can then replicate and go on to invade other cells.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Following the first stay-at-home orders issued in the U.S. to curb the spread of COVID-19, gastrointestinal viruses such as norovirus, rotavirus and adenovirus all but disappeared from California communities, and remained at very low levels for nearly 2 years, according to new research.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A scientific journey decades in the making has found a new antibiotic strategy to defeat gram-negative bacteria like Salmonella, Pseudomonas and E. coli, the culprits in many urinary tract infections. The synthetic molecule works fast and is durable. It interferes with synthesis of the bacterial outer membrane by jamming an enzyme. When tested against a clinical collection of 285 bacterial strains, including some that were highly resistant to commercial antibiotics, it killed them all.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

New observations of mud cracks made by the Curiosity Rover show that high-frequency, wet-dry cycling occurred in early Martian surface environments, indicating that the red planet may have once seen seasonal weather patterns or even flash floods.