Microbiology

Hepatitis A And Hepatitis C Attack Same Protein To Block Immune Defenses

Despite the fact that they both infect the liver, the hepatitis A and hepatitis C viruses actually have very little in common. The two are far apart genetically, are transmitted differently, and produce very different diseases. Hepatitis A spreads through ...

Article - News Staff - May 17 2007 - 10:57am

How Cell Memory Evolves

New Danish research has examined the mechanisms behind latent cell memory, which can come to life and cause previously non-existent capacities suddenly to appear. Special yeast cells for example, can abruptly change from being of a single sex to hermaphrod ...

Article - News Staff - May 17 2007 - 12:23pm

Study Of Protein Folds Offers Insight Into Metabolic Evolution

Researchers at the University of Illinois have constructed the first global family tree of metabolic protein architecture. Their approach offers a new window on the evolutionary history of metabolism. Their work relies on established techniques of phylogen ...

Article - News Staff - May 18 2007 - 9:59am

Deadly Fish Virus Spreading To New Species

A lethal fish virus in the Great Lakes and neighboring waterways is approaching epidemic proportions, according to Paul Bowser, Cornell professor of aquatic animal medicine in the College of Veterinary Medicine. The viral hemorrhagic septicemia virus (VHSV ...

Article - News Staff - May 18 2007 - 4:57pm

HIV's Effect On White Blood Cells Questioned By New Research

Scientists have refuted a longstanding theory of how HIV slowly depletes the body’s capacity to fight infection, in new research published today. The researchers were looking at T helper cells, a class of white blood cells which recognise infection and co- ...

Article - News Staff - May 21 2007 - 11:31pm

Resistance Genes In Our Food Supply

Could the food we eat be contributing to the continuing rise of antibiotic-resistant infections? Harmless and even beneficial bacteria that exist in our food supply may also be carrying genes that code for antibiotic resistance. Once in our bodies, could t ...

Article - News Staff - May 23 2007 - 12:52pm

Hebrew University Scientist Observes Brain Cell Development In 'real Time'

For the first time anywhere, a researcher at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem has succeeded in observing in vivo the generation of neurons in the brain of a mammal. Magnified photo shows division of neuron in vivo. Credit: (Hebrew University of Jerusalem ...

Article - News Staff - May 26 2007 - 8:56pm

How Plague-causing Bacteria Disarm Host Defense

Effector proteins are the bad guys that help bacterial pathogens do their job of infecting the host by crippling the body's immune system. In essence, they knock down the front door of resistance and disarm the cell's alarm system. Now, research ...

Article - News Staff - May 27 2007 - 11:39pm

How E. Coli Evolves

A recent paper highlights experimental research in evolution and artificial selection, providing insight into how organisms adapt to changing environmental conditions and fluctuations. In this month's Physiological and Biochemical Zoology, Bradley S. ...

Article - News Staff - May 29 2007 - 11:03am

Molecular Motors Speed Nutrient Processing

Matthew Tyska, Ph.D., recalls being intrigued, from the first day of his postdoctoral fellowship in 1999, with a nearly 30-year-old photograph. It was an electron micrograph that showed the internal structures of an intestinal cell microvillus, a finger-li ...

Article - News Staff - May 30 2007 - 10:50pm