Biocompare.com RSS feed http://www.biocompare.com/ © 2010 Biocompare.com Sun, 01 Aug 2010 02:13:36 GMT http://backend.userland.com/rss RSS.NET: http://www.rssdotnet.com/ Researchers have discovered a novel mechanism in Salmonella that affects its virulence and its susceptibility to antibiotics by changing its production of proteins in a previously unheard of manner. This allows Salmonella to selectively change its levels of certain proteins to respond to inhospitable conditions. http://news.biocompare.com/newsstory.asp?id=335979 Biocompare.com Fri, 30 Jul 2010 14:13:00 GMT Some trees growing in nutrient-poor forest soil may get what they need by cultivating specific root microbes to create compounds they require. These microbes are exceptionally efficient at turning inorganic minerals into nutrients that the trees can use. Researchers from France report their findings in the July 2010 issue of the journal Applied and Environmental Microbiology. http://news.biocompare.com/newsstory.asp?id=335975 Biocompare.com Fri, 30 Jul 2010 13:54:00 GMT Often causing no symptoms in carriers of the disease, worldwide tuberculosis (TB) infects eight to ten million people every year, kills two million, and it is highly contagious as it is spread through coughing and sneezing. "It's a global health disaster waiting to happen, even here in Canada, but this new paradigm in TB research may offer an immediate opportunity to improve vaccination and treatment initiatives," explains Dr. Maziar Divangahi of McGill University and of the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre. http://news.biocompare.com/newsstory.asp?id=335960 Biocompare.com Fri, 30 Jul 2010 13:14:00 GMT Grown-ups aren't the only ones making exciting scientific discoveries these days. Two middle school students from Wisconsin joined a team of scientists who are reporting the first glimpse of the innermost structure of a key bacterial enzyme. It helps activate certain antibiotics and anti-cancer agents so that those substances do their job. Their study appears in ACS' weekly journal Biochemistry. The student co-authors of the study are from Edgewood Campus Middle School in Madison and participated in Project CRYSTAL, a special program that provides middle school students with hands-on laboratory experience. http://news.biocompare.com/newsstory.asp?id=335755 Biocompare.com Thu, 29 Jul 2010 11:54:00 GMT Researchers have found that an enzyme in the bacteria that causes cholera uses a previously unknown mechanism in providing the bacteria with energy. Because the enzyme is not found in most other organisms, including humans, the finding offers insights into how drugs might be created to kill the bacteria without harming humans. http://news.biocompare.com/newsstory.asp?id=335754 Biocompare.com Thu, 29 Jul 2010 11:51:00 GMT Every day, millions of microorganisms reach Spain from the Sahara Desert and the Sahel region - by flying. Louis Pasteur demonstrated back in 1861 that germs can move through the air, but it was only recently discovered that bacteria, funguses and viruses can travel thousands of kilometers stuck onto dust particles. Satellite images show clouds that come close to the size of the Iberian Peninsula. For the first time, the international team on the Ecosensor project, funded by the BBVA Foundation, have analyzed these traveling microorganisms using molecular biology techniques. As well as identifying the species, they have found that they colonize high-mountain lakes in the Sierra Nevada and the Pyrenees, and that the phenomenon is escalating with climate change. http://news.biocompare.com/newsstory.asp?id=335352 Biocompare.com Tue, 27 Jul 2010 13:42:00 GMT The mechanism by which a herpes virus invades cells has remained a mystery to scientists, but now research from Tufts University and the University of Pennsylvania reveals the unusual structure of a key member of the protein complex that allows a herpes virus to invade cells. http://news.biocompare.com/newsstory.asp?id=335331 Biocompare.com Tue, 27 Jul 2010 12:31:00 GMT When it infects the lungs, the Legionnaire's bacterium Legionella pneumophila causes acute pneumonia. The pathogen's modus operandi is particularly ingenious: it infiltrates deliberately into cells of the human immune system and injects a host of proteins which then interfere in the normal cellular processes. Scientists from the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Physiology in Dortmund have now discovered how Legionella reprogrammes the cells to ensure its own survival and to propagate. They examined a protein used by the pathogen to divert the material transport within the cells for its own purposes. http://news.biocompare.com/newsstory.asp?id=335159 Biocompare.com Mon, 26 Jul 2010 12:01:00 GMT Run-off water from hospitals in India has been analysed using liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS-MS) in an attempt to determine whether the presence of antibiotics could be leading to resistance among bacteria. http://news.biocompare.com/newsstory.asp?id=334875 Biocompare.com Thu, 22 Jul 2010 17:51:00 GMT A new form of paper with the built-in ability to fight disease-causing bacteria could have applications that range from anti-bacterial bandages to food packaging that keeps food fresher longer to shoes that ward off foot odor. A report about the new material, which consists of the thinnest possible sheets of carbon, appears in ACS Nano, a monthly journal. http://news.biocompare.com/newsstory.asp?id=334846 Biocompare.com Thu, 22 Jul 2010 08:19:00 GMT