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Genetic Mapping of Lyme Disease Bacteria Offers New Diagnostic and Treatment Possibilities

A genetic analysis of Lyme disease bacteria may pave the way for improved diagnosis, treatment and prevention of the tick-borne ailment.

19 Aug 2024

Global Effort Maps Genetic Makeup of Lyme Disease Bacteria

A team led by CUNY Graduate Center biologists has produced a genetic analysis of Lyme disease bacteria that may pave the way for improved diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of the tick-borne ailment.

16 Aug 2024

Discovery of Free-Floating Genes in Bacteria Challenges Genetic Code Assumptions

Since the genetic code was first deciphered in the 1960s, our genes seemed like an open book. By reading and decoding our chromosomes as linear strings of letters, like sentences in a novel, we can identify the genes in our genome and learn why changes in a gene's code affect health.

12 Aug 2024

Geographic Origin Plays Key Role in Tuberculosis Infection, Harvard Study Finds

For some forms of tuberculosis, the chances that an exposed person will get infected depend on whether the individual and the bacteria share a hometown, according to a new study comparing how different strains move through mixed populations in cosmopolitan cities.

2 Aug 2024

New CRISPR-Based Test Achieves Rapid Detection of Tuberculosis

The rapid detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the etiological agent of tuberculosis.

1 Aug 2024

Harvard Researchers Crack the Code on Western Equine Encephalitis Decline

The story of the rise and fall of western equine encephalitis as a lethal disease offers essential lessons about how a pathogen can gain or lose its ability to jump from animals to humans.

29 Jul 2024

UNC Charlotte Study: SARS-CoV-2 Variants BA.2.86 and JN.1 Show Minimal Immune Evasion

New research from UNC Charlotte's Center for Computational Intelligence to Predict Health and Environmental Risks (CIPHER) has found that the two recent and prevalent strains of the virus that cause COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2 variants BA.2.86 and JN.1, are not significantly better than their predecessor Omicron at evading immune responses and causing infections despite having a high number of mutations compared to Omicron.

22 Jul 2024

New Approach to Finding Antibiotic Alternatives Using Bacterial Data

Researchers have devised an approach for identifying novel antimicrobial drugs with clinical potential using bacterial databases, offering insights into finding alternatives to existing antibiotics.

17 Jul 2024

Few Chicken Products with Highly Virulent Salmonella Strains Responsible for Most Illnesses

Raw poultry is one of the main causes of Salmonella poisoning, which affects thousands of people in the U.S. every year. A new study from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign shows that few products with high levels of very virulent Salmonella strains are responsible for most of the illnesses from raw chicken parts.

16 Jul 2024

Study Uncovers a Biological Explanation for Long-Term Memories

Whether it's a first-time visit to a zoo or when we learned to ride a bicycle, we have memories from our childhoods kept well into adult years.

27 Jun 2024

Flower Bulbs and Compost Carry Hidden Threat of Fungal Infection

That pile of soil you bought at the home improvement store may contain more than just dirt, according to new research from the University of Georgia.

26 Jun 2024

Unlocking the Secrets of Aging Brains

Researchers have determined the potential mechanisms through which some long-lived mutants of the Caenorhabditis elegans model system experience cognitive decline and others can retain learning and memory into old age.

26 Jun 2024

Primerdesign Launches Real-Time PCR Workflow for Onsite Detection of Norovirus in Oysters

Primerdesign (part of the Novacyt Group), a company focussed on the design, manufacture, validation and supply of real-time PCR kits and reagents, today launched the genesig® Easy_oys Detection Kit for Norovirus in oysters.

From Primerdesign 26 Jun 2024

Breakthrough Imaging Reveals the Dynamics of the Brain's Fast-Acting Kainate Receptor

New groundbreaking images of one of the brain's fastest-acting proteins are providing critical clues that may lead to the development of targeted therapies to treat epilepsy and other brain disorders.

18 Jun 2024

Discovery Speeds Up Cyclic Peptide Production for Antibiotic Development

A discovery made by scientists at King's College London could speed up efforts to produce new antibiotics in the fight against antimicrobial resistance.

11 Jun 2024

UCI Researchers Receive $1.19 Million Grant to Unravel the Genetic Basis of Nicotine Addiction

A three-year, $1.19 million grant from the Tobacco-Related Disease Research Program will allow University of California, Irvine researchers to explore how specific sections of DNA might influence nicotine addiction.

26 Apr 2024

The Potential Impact of CRISPR-Cas9 Gene Editing on Controlling Chagas Disease

The principal vector of Chagas disease, a serious public health hazard in Central and South America as well as the southern United States, is kissing bugs, also known as triatomine bugs.

23 Apr 2024

Mysterious Plasmid in Human Gut Holds Potential for Health Hazard Detection

A component of the human intestinal flora that has been little studied to date is the focus of a new study.

17 Apr 2024

Can Pets Harbor and Spread Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria?

According to new research, pet dogs and cats are major contributors to the spread of bacteria resistant to antibiotics.

15 Apr 2024

Genetic Link to Persistent HPV Infections Identified

Human papillomavirus (HPV) is the second most common cancer-causing virus, accounting for 690,000 cervical and other cancers each year worldwide.