P. aeruginosa bacteria associated with increased hospitalizations in COPD patients
Patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) who become infected with the bacterium Pseudomonas aerguinosa are more likely to have worse clinical outcomes and experience more hospitalizations during the course of their disease than COPD patients who are not infected, according to researchers from Buffalo, N.Y. View More (2012-05-24)
Fighting bacteria's strength in numbers
Scientists at The University of Nottingham have opened the way for more accurate research into new ways to fight dangerous bacterial infections by proving a long-held theory about how bacteria communicate with each other. View More (2012-05-18)
Advanced genetic screening method may speed vaccine development
Infectious diseases-both old and new-continue to exact a devastating toll, causing some 13 million fatalities per year around the world. View More (2012-05-10)
History is key factor in plant disease virulence
The virulence of plant-borne diseases depends on not just the particular strain of a pathogen, but on where the pathogen has been before landing in its host, according to new research results. View More (2012-04-23)
Blood type A may predispose to some rotavirus infections
Whether you become infected by some strains of rotavirus may depend on your blood type. View More (2012-04-16)
UCF scientists use nanotechnology to hunt for hidden pathogens
Researchers at the University of Central Florida have developed a novel technique that may give doctors a faster and more sensitive tool to detect pathogens associated with inflammatory bowel disease, including Crohn's disease. View More (2012-04-10)
Black flies may have a purpose after all
Black flies drink blood and spread disease such as river blindness-creating misery with their presence. A University of Georgia study, however, proves that the pesky insects can be useful. View More (2012-04-10)
UCLA scientists identify novel pathway for T-cell activation in leprosy
UCLA researchers pinpointed a new mechanism that potently activates T-cells, the group of white blood cells that play a major role in fighting infections. View More (2012-03-26)
Low-calorie diet linked to higher death rate in bowel disease model
In a surprising result, Michigan State University researchers looking at the effects of diet on bowel disease found that mice on a calorie-restricted diet were more likely to die after being infected with an inflammation-causing bacterial pathogen in the colon. View More (2012-03-21)
Genetic Variation in Human Gut Viruses Could be Raw Material for Inner Evolution, Perelman School of Medicine Study Finds
A growing body of evidence underscores the importance of human gut bacteria in modulating human health, metabolism, and disease. Yet bacteria are only part of the story. Viruses that infect those bacteria also shape who we are. View More (2012-03-20)
Scientists discover how a bacterial pathogen breaks down barriers to enter and infect cells
Scientists from the Schepens Eye Research Institute, a subsidiary of Mass. Eye and Ear and affiliate of Harvard Medical School, have found for the first time that a bacterial pathogen can literally mow down protective molecules, known as mucins, on mucus membranes to enter and infect a part of the body. View More (2012-03-08)
More grapes, less wrath: Hybrid antimicrobial protein protects grapevines from pathogen
A team of researchers has found a way to ensure that your evening glass of wine will continue to be available, despite the potential attack of Xylella fastidiosa (Xf), a bacterium that causes Pierce's Disease and poses a significant threat to the California wine industry's valuable grapevines. View More (2012-02-22)
Cell death unleashes full force of human antiviral system
A scientific team led by researchers at the University of Geneva (UNIGE) and the Charité Berlin Medical University has made a completely unprecedented discovery showing how much our immune system is provoked into action when confronted by viral intruders. View More (2012-02-10)
Secrets of immune response illuminated in new study
When disease-causing invaders like bacteria infect a human host, cells of various types swing into action, coordinating their activities to address the threat. View More (2012-02-10)
Why bad immunity genes survive
Biologists have found new evidence of why mice, people and other vertebrate animals carry thousands of varieties of genes to make immune-system proteins named MHCs--even though some of those genes make vertebrate animals susceptible to infections and to autoimmune diseases. View More (2012-02-09)
Researchers examine consequences of non-intervention for infectious disease in African great apes
Infectious disease has joined poaching and habitat loss as a major threat to the survival of African great apes as they have become restricted to ever-smaller populations. View More (2012-02-07)
UBC researchers discover key to immune cell's 'internal guidance' system
University of British Columbia researchers have discovered the molecular pathway that enables receptors inside immune cells to find, and flag, fragments of pathogens trying to invade a host. View More (2012-02-06)
Bacterial plasmids -- the freeloading and the heavy-lifters -- balance the high price of disease
Studying self-replicating genetic units, called plasmids, found in one of the world's widest-ranging pathogenic soil bacteria -- the crown-gall-disease-causing microorganism Agrobacterium tumefaciens -- Indiana University biologists are showing how freeloading, mutant derivatives of these plasmids benefit while the virulent, disease-causing plasmids do the heavy-lifting of initiating infection in... View More (2012-02-02)
New Probiotic Bacteria Shows Promise for Use in Shellfish Aquaculture
The use of probiotic bacteria, isolated from naturally-occurring bacterial communities, is gaining in popularity in the aquaculture industry as the preferred, environmentally-friendly management alternative to the use of antibiotics and other antimicrobials for disease prevention. View More (2012-01-31)
Stealthy leprosy pathogen evades critical vitamin D-dependent immune response
A team of UCLA scientists has found that the pathogen that causes leprosy has a remarkable ability to avoid the human immune system by inhibiting the antimicrobial responses important to our defenses. View More (2012-01-30)
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