Could the cure for melanoma — the most dangerous type of skin cancer — be a compound derived from a marine invertebrate that lives at the bottom of the ocean? National Science Foundation-funded scientists led by Alison Murray of the Desert Research Institute in Reno, Nevada, think so. They’re looking to the microbiome of an...
Tag: <span>bacteria</span>
‘Harmless’ bacteria turning deadly
James Cook University researchers are warning microorganisms previously thought to be benign are becoming more dangerous worldwide – and especially in the tropics. Professor John Miles from JCU’s Australian Institute of Tropical Health and Medicine said diseases caused by non-tuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) have been steadily increasing globally. “NTMs are the lesser-known cousins of tuberculosis. They...
Location, location, location: Even gut immune response is site-specific
by Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg The pictures show the same stomach organoids: It shows the cell nuclei (blue) and the skeleton of the cell (pink) as a cross-section of the organoids. In grey is the microscopic picture of the organoids. A single organoid here is about a quarter millimeter in size. Credit: Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg, JMU Why is...
Irresistin: a ‘Poison Arrow’ to Defeat Antibiotic Resistance
By Emily Henderson, B.Sc. What led you to carry out this research? When I (James) started graduate school, I had never worked in bacteria before. I originally worked with Drosophila, but when I joined Zemer’s lab, we basically came to the table with the question, “How can we address the global need for new antibiotics...
New vaccination strategy targets toxic molecules released by all Staphylococcal bacteria
Experiments in mice have shown early success in vaccinating them against potentially deadly bacterial infections, such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcal aureus, or MRSA, the strain resistant to most drug treatments. The new vaccination strategy, developed by researchers at NYU Grossman School of Medicine, targets toxic molecules released by all Staphylococcal bacteria, called leukocidins, rather than directly...
WATCH: Drug-resistant superbugs are a slow-moving pandemic
Scientists at McMaster are warning that while the world’s attention is focused on COVID-19, another pandemic — antimicrobial resistance (AMR) — is of grave concern. “AMR is a pandemic that has been going on for a very long time. Essentially, when we started to use antibiotics, we started to see resistance to them,” says Lori...
Parkinson’s linked to overabundance of opportunistic gut pathogens
By Nick Lavars June 21, 2020 As a disease without a cure or means of prevention, there is a lot we don’t know about Parkinson’s and the way it takes hold in the human body. One school of thought is that it actually begins in the gut, and a new study has strengthened these ties...
Tongue microbes provide window to heart health
EUROPEAN SOCIETY OF CARDIOLOGY CLINICALLY, THERE ARE DIFFERENCES IN TONGUE IMAGES, INCLUDING TONGUE COATING AND TONGUE COLOUR BETWEEN CHRONIC HEART FAILURE (CHF) PATIENTS AND HEALTHY INDIVIDUALS. RECENT REPORTS HAVE SUGGESTED ALTERATIONS IN THE TONGUE… view more CREDIT: @EUROPEAN SOCIETY OF CARDIOLOGY 2020 Sophia Antipolis – 23 June 2020: Microorganisms on the tongue could help diagnose...
Improved gut microbiota with cholesterol-lowering medication
by Margareta Gustafsson Kubista, University of Gothenburg There is a clear link between improved gut microbiota and one of our most common cholesterol-lowering drug groups: statins. This is evident from a European study involving researchers from the University of Gothenburg. Scientists have previously found an association between the gut microbiota and various metabolism-related and cardiovascular...
Creating a new paradigm for understanding the individual effects of diet
by Murdoch University Researchers at the Australian National Phenome Centre at Murdoch University and partners at Imperial College London have made a major breakthrough in understanding how individuals can have different reactions to the same diets. For decades, nutritionists and scientists have been debating whether weight loss is down to sheer will power and healthiness...