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My husband was telling me about this yesterday. He heard about it on reddit but he couldn't remember which kind of bug it was.

That's actually where I found it the other night. It was a very interesting read to say the least.

This is so scary. I am always wary when China says, "Don't worry everything is under control". China was criticized during the SARS outbreak for failing to release information. If bird flu ever gains the ability to spread from human to human, we have a very bad situation.

This in an interesting application in slowing the spread of diseases such as dengue and yellow fever, but one also has to wonder what this will do to the mosquito population as it reduces the mosquito's ability to lay viable eggs. How controlled will this application be and how often will it be utilized?

pretty interesting that there wasnt rejection from the mice immune system. very cool for furthering research 

This article does a good job summarizing this week's announcement by the CDC director on the gravity of the CRE problem.

Genetics Researchers at UC Davis and the University of British Columbia have shed new light on methylation, a critical process that helps control how genes are expressed. Working with placentas, the team discovered that 37 percent of the placental genome has regions of lower methylation, called partially methylated domains (PMDs), in which gene expression is turned off. Studying of the placenta is particularly interesting because the placenta has invasive characteristics associated with cancer. Increasing our knowledge about PMDs can help determine which genes are silenced and where specific DNA originated.

Researchers have applied knowledge about bacteria phages in order to develop a new antibiotic. They studied the enzyme 2-epimerase, which controls the formation Bacillus anthracis cell wall. Researchers used an inhibitory molecule that would bind to the allosteric site* site of this enzyme. They tested this antibiotic called Epimerox in mice infected with Ballcillus anthracis and found that it protected the mice from anthrax. It also showed that the bacteria did not develop a resistance to this inhibitory molecule. Although this is just a start, it could change so much in the quest for effective antibiotics!

Researchers have recently found a novel mode of interaction between Salmonella, a foodborne pathogen, and the bacteria that live in our guts. Fecal bacteria collected from healthy donors effectively inactivated Salmonella, when they were allowed close contact. Mathematical modelling of this interaction is now being used to find new ways of controlling Salmonella.

A vaccine to combat the microorganism C. bolteae may be the solution for alleviating digestion symptoms often associated with autism. Children with autism have been known to have higher levels of this organism than that of a healthy child. It is assumed that toxins produced by the C. bolteae may be associated with severe symptoms that autistic children typically have, such as diarrhea. I found it ironic that many people still think that vaccines cause autism, and here is a vaccine to assist in alleviating the digestive symptoms associated with it.

A vaccine to combat the microorganism C. bolteae may be the solution for alleviating digestion symptoms often associated with autism. Children with autism have been known to have higher levels of this organism than that of a healthy child. It is assumed that toxins produced by the C. bolteae may be associated with severe symptoms that autistic children typically have, such as diarrhea. I found it ironic that many people still think that vaccines cause autism, and here is a vaccine to assist in alleviating the digestive symptoms associated with it.

A variety of microbial communities and their genes (the microbiome) exist throughout the human body, with fundamental roles in human health and disease. The National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded Human Microbiome Project Consortium has established a population-scale framework to develop metagenomic protocols, resulting in a broad range of quality-controlled resources and data including standardized methods for creating, processing and interpreting distinct types of high-throughput metagenomic data available to the scientific community. An ambitious article found in another article I enjoyed reading. Was incredibly interested to find out that the vaginal microbiota of pregnant women was significantly different from non-pregnant and to find that these microbiota are preparing the soon to be born baby with it's own microbiota!! (http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/19/science/studies-of-human-microbiome-yield-new-insights.html?ref=microbiology)

Good food doesn't mean good infection control!!

Bernhard Kaltenboeck, Editor Abstract Debilitating infectious diseases caused by Chlamydia are major contributors to the decline of Australia's iconic native marsupial species, the koala ( Phascolarctos cinereus). An understanding of koala chlamydial disease pathogenesis and the development of effective strategies to control infections continue to be hindered by an almost complete lack of species-specific immunological reagents.

Scientist have a found innate protein that increases inflammation and,agents that block it, resulting in increased in survival and improved lung function in animal models pneumonia. "The F-box protein Fbxo3, and other related proteins, represent ideal targets for treatment of acute lung injury, because it controls the innate immune response, is upstream of important inflammatory signaling pathways, and is more selective than traditional drugs that regulate protein turnover" noted Mark T Gladwin M.D., chief of the Division of Pulmonary, Allergy and Critical Care Medicine, Pitt School of Medicine.

WOW! random discoveries are being made every day. Makes you wonder when the cure will come!