Updated on 26 January 2009

MRSA's 'Weak Point' Visualized By Scientists
LtaS, an enzyme that lives in MRSA and helps the dangerous bacterium to grow and spread infection through the human body has been visualised for the first time, according to a new study.
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E. Coli Persists Against Antibiotics Through HipA-induced Dormancy
By demonstrating in detail how the HipA protein freezes bacterial activity, the researchers have opened the possibility of adding a new class of drugs to therapy against chronic and multidrug resistant bacterial infection.
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Shedding Light On Emerging Seaborne Pathogen
A new research study at the University of Delaware seeks to determine why Vibrio parahaemolyticus, a microorganism that lives in seawater and is related to the bacterium that causes cholera, is expanding its range and virulence.
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New Technique To Tap Full Potential Of Antibody Libraries Developed
In hopes of more fully tapping the libraries' potential, a group of Scripps Research Institute scientists, has for the first time developed a new screening technique that enables antibody screening against equally massive libraries of targets. This technique makes it possible to accelerate searches for new treatments against cancer and other diseases.
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How Toxoplasma Gondii Gets Noticed
Researchers provide insight into how Toxoplasma gondii, a common parasite of people and other animals, triggers an immune response in its host.
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New Family Of Antibacterial Agents Uncovered
As bacteria resistant to commonly used antibiotics continue to increase in number, scientists keep searching for new sources of drugs. One potential new bactericide has now been found in the tiny freshwater animal Hydra.
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New Generation Of Salmonella-based, Single Dose Vaccine Candidates To Fight Infant Pneumonia
Two new vaccine strains designed in Curtiss' lab draw on the properties of an unlikely vaccine carrier—one generally associated with causing sickness rather than safeguarding the body against it.
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Structure Of Key Ebola Protein Discovered
A team led by Gaya Amarasinghe, an assistant professor in biochemistry, biophysics and molecular biology, has recently solved the structure from a key part of the Ebola protein known as VP35.
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Hepatitis C May Increase Pancreatic Cancer Risk
A new study shows that infection with hepatitis C virus (HCV) increases a person’s risk for a highly fatal cancer of the biliary tree, the bile carrying pathway between the liver and pancreas.
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Nose-spray Vaccine Against Botulism Effective In First Tests
A preclinical study found a new nasal spray vaccine to provide complete protection against a major botulism toxin, according to a study published January 8 in the Nature journal Gene Therapy.
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Structure Mediating Spread Of Antibiotic Resistance Identified
Scientists have identified the structure of a key component of the bacteria behind such diseases as whooping cough, peptic stomach ulcers and Legionnaires' disease. The research sheds light on how antibiotic resistance genes spread from one bacterium to another.
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New Bartonella Species That Infects Humans Discovered
Bartonella melophagi is such a newly discovered member of the genus Bartonella it is considered a "Candidatus" species, meaning that its name has yet to be formally accepted.
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New Method For Bacterial Toxin Transfer Discovered
Scientists have discovered a new way for bacteria to transfer toxic genes to unrelated bacterial species, a finding that raises the unsettling possibility that bacterial swapping of toxins and other
disease-aiding factors may be more common than previously imagined.
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Updated on October 11,  2008

Saliva-Based Test for HIV Is Accurate and Rapid
Anew saliva-based test for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) gives results in approximately 20 minutes. This could replace taking a blood sample, which is invasive and frequently painful.
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Rapid Blood Detection of Malaria
Adevice uses magneto-optic technology (MOT) to detect hemozoin, a waste product of the malarial parasite, in blood in less than a minute.
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Multi-Analytic Test Detects Three Human Parasite Antigens
Aparasite multi-analyte diagnostics test kit detects three intestinal parasites from human stool specimens – Cryptosporidium, Giardia, and Entamoeba histolytica. The three parasites, which can cause health-threatening diarrhea, are transmitted through contaminated food or water, and are found worldwide.
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DNA Analysis Speeds Up Identification of Pathogenic E Coli
New genetic techniques have enabled scientists to test the DNA of Escherichia coli and to examine very small genetic changes called single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). Using these SNPs, scientists analyzed 96 markers, making genetic analysis of pathogenic bacteria possible at a rate never before accomplished.
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Rapid Tests for Epstein-Barr Virus Employ Recombinant Antigen Technology
Two new rapid tests for Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) detect IgM and IgG antibodies specific to EBV. The new Tru EBV tests are highly sensitive for specific antibodies that can classify acute and chronic stages of the disease. The Tru EBV test system is a simple, sensitive, and rapid approach that allows healthcare providers to diagnose more precisely EBV infections.
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Pertussis: Adults can fall severely ill too
Pertussis, also known as whooping cough, is not just a childhood disease. The pathogen Bordetella pertussis is highly infectious and an infection may occur at any age
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New insights could lead to a better pneumococcal vaccine
Discovery of a previously unknown mechanism of immunity suggests that there may be a better way to protect vulnerable children and adults against pneumococcal infection, say researchers at Children's Hospital Boston and Harvard School of Public Health.
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Pores open the door to death
Scientists settle the question as to how our immune defenses enter and attack its own cells when they fall prey to viruses and tumor cells.
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Is re-emerging superbug the next MRSA?
Loyola physicians issue warning that Clostridium difficile, a virulent strain of an intestinal bacteria, is currently plaguing hospitals and now rivals the superbug Methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus as a top disease threat to humans.
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Study reveals how viruses collectively decide the fate of a bacterial cell
A new study suggests that bacteria-infecting viruses -- called phages -- can make collective decisions about whether to kill host cells immediately after infection or enter a latent state to remain within the host cell.
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Naturally Occurring 'Protective RNA' Used To Develop New Antiviral Against Influenza
Researchers have developed a new antiviral using naturally occurring influenza virus "protecting virus" that may defend against any influenza A virus in any animal.
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Honey Effective In Killing Bacteria That Cause Chronic Sinusitis
Honey is very effective in killing bacteria in all its forms, especially the drug-resistant biofilms that make treating chronic rhinosinusitis difficult, according to new study.
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Cancer-causing Gut Bacteria Exposed
Normal gut bacteria are thought to be involved in colon cancer but the exact mechanisms have remained unknown. Now, scientists from the USA have discovered that a molecule produced by a common gut bacterium activates signalling pathways that are associated with cancer cells.
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Tuberculosis Drug Shows Promise Against Latent Bacteria
A new study has shown that an investigational drug (R207910, currently in clinical trials against multi-drug resistant tuberculosis strains) is quite effective at killing latent bacteria. This revelation suggests that R207910 may lead to improved and shortened treatments for this globally prevalent disease.
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Clinical Trial For New Tuberculosis Vaccine
For the first time in 80 years, a very promising live tuberculosis vaccine has reached the clinical trial stage in Germany. VPM1002 is based on a vaccine that has been in use since 1921, and has been genetically engineered to prevent infection with tuberculosis bacteria.
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Updated on August 07 2008

Viral Recombination: Another Way HIV Fools The Immune System
 When individuals infected with HIV become infected with a second strain of the virus, the two viral strains can exchange genetic information, creating a third, recombinant strain of the virus.
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Research exposes new target for malaria drugs
The malaria parasite has waged a successful guerrilla war against the human immune system for eons, but a study in this week's Journal of Biological Chemistry has exposed one of the tricks malaria uses to hide from the immune proteins, which may aid in future drug development.
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International panel updates treatment guidelines for HIV infection
An evaluation of recent data has led to an update in the guidelines and recommendations for antiretroviral treatment of adult human immunodeficiency virus infection, according to an article in the Aug. 6 issue of JAMA, a theme issue on HIV/AIDS.
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New treatment therapy helps inhibit hepatitis C
Two new studies examine the use of the nucleoside polymerase inhibitor, R1626, to the standard therapy for hepatitis C.
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Spanish researchers take part in the discovery of a new immune disease
An international study  has identified a strange disease in which the innate immune system works in an irregular fashion.
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How Bacteria Attach To Human Tissues During Infection Process: New Clues
Scientists have helped to reveal more about the way bacteria can attach to human tissues.
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Facing Apparent Resistance To Antibiotics, Researchers Develop New Techniques To Kill Dormant Bacteria
Researchers have found new ways to kill dormant bacteria that have become seemingly resistant.
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Parasitic Worm Infections Increase Susceptibility To AIDS Viruses
Persons infected with schistosomes, and possibly other parasitic worm infections, may be more likely to become infected with HIV than persons without worm infections, according to a new study.
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New Vaccine May Protect Against All Four Strains Of Dengue Virus
Researchers have developed a novel four-component vaccine that protects monkeys against all four strains of dengue virus and may potentially offer protection to the millions of humans at risk.
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Virulence Factor That Induces Fatal Candida Infection Identified
Singapore scientists found that certain substances from bacteria living in the human intestine cause the normally harmless Candida albicans fungus to become highly infectious.
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Paradoxical Relationship Discovered Between Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever And Its Carrier Mosquitoes
Scientists have shown a negative correlation between dengue hemorrhagic fever and the density of the Aedes mosquitoes that transmit the virus.
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Herpesvirus Proteins That Target Key Cellular Processes Identified
Herpesviruses use multiple strategies to manipulate important components of the host cell nuclear environment during infection, according to new research.
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Researchers Use Salmonella As A Way To Administer Vaccines In The Body
Researchers have made a major step forward in their work to develop a biologically engineered organism that can effectively deliver an antigen in the body.
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How The Malaria Parasite Hijacks Human Red Blood Cells
A new study--done on a scale an order of  magnitude greater than anything previously attempted in the field of malaria--has uncovered an arsenal of proteins produced by the malaria parasite that allows it to hijack and remodel human red blood cells, leaving the oxygen-carrying cells stiff and sticky.
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How Cold Sore Virus Hides During Inactive Phase
Now that Duke University Medical Center scientists have figured out how the virus that causes cold sores hides out, they may have a way to wake it up and kill it.
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