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Casey Finnerty

The Virus That Learns - Phenomena: The Loom - 0 views

phenomena.nationalgeographic.com/...the-virus-that-learns

microbiology CRISPR

shared by Casey Finnerty on 07 Mar 13 - No Cached
  • Likewise, restriction enzymes are a dangerous defense, because they can chop up the distinctive stretches of DNA in a bacterium’s own genes. It avoids attacking itself by capping those sequences in its own DNA, so that the restriction enzymes can’t reach them.
  • Some species can muck up the production of new viruses, stealing their proteins before they can form shells. Others commit suicide upon infection, so as to avoid becoming an incubator for new viruses that would then kill their nearby relatives.
  • CRISPR genes can produce RNA molecules with a matching sequence. They grab onto the virus’s RNA and prevent them from being turned into proteins. The virus factory grinds to a halt.
  • ...6 more annotations...
  • The bacteria hold onto an invading virus’s DNA, so that they are now prepared for a fresh attack. And over time, bacteria can build up little libraries of these virus barcodes. 
  • Last year, scientists at Indiana University surveyed the bacteria in people’s mouths and discovered 8,000 different viral barcodes–many of them corresponding to viruses scientists have yet to discover.
  • But if you build up a healthy store of antibodies to various strains of flu, smallpox, and other diseases, all that knowledge dies with you.
  • Not so for bacteria. When a microbe reproduces, it passes down its CRISPR genes and all of their viral barcodes to its descendants–including the ones it acquired in its own lifetime.
  • Last fall, for example, University of Cambridge scientists discovered viruses that carry an antidote for the suicide toxin made by their hosts. When the bacteria want to die, the virus forces them to live on. And just last month, University of Toronto scientists even discovered anti-CRISPR genes in viruses, which the viruses use to shut down the production of virus-killing molecules.
  • the scientists demonstrated that the ICP1 virus uses its CRISPR immune system to attack its host’s virus-attacking genes.
Alison Prodzinski

The Flu Virus Can Tell Time. Here's Why You Should Care | Popular Science - 0 views

www.popsci.com/...time-heres-why-you-should-care

shared by Alison Prodzinski on 02 Apr 13 - No Cached
  • Influenza can tell time, and it choreographs its actions according to a strict schedule.
  • The virus has to orchestrate its actions carefully--if it moves too fast, it won’t have time to make new copies of itself, and if it moves too slowly, it might be stopped by immune defenses.
  • To fight it, they tricked the virus into changing the amount of time it took to gather the protein. First, they made it acquire the protein too quickly, which caused the flu to leave the cell before it had made enough copies of itself. In this case, the cells were lung epithelial cells. Then they altered it to leave too late, giving immune cells enough time to respond and kill the virus before it escaped.
  • Alison Prodzinski on 02 Apr 13
     
    Viruses are smarter then we ever imagined!! Researchers have realized that virus have their own time-clock. Virus's take about 8 hours to sufficiently make copies and overtake our bodies. They slowly build in our bodies, before the body actually realizes what is happening - by that time it is too late. Researchers are now tricking viruses into changing the time needed to overtake the body - making the body react quicker and kill the virus. The flu vaccine is still the best way, however, if we can fool the time it takes for a virus to overthrow the body - can we stop it in general? 
Casey Finnerty

Really? The Claim: Hand Sanitizer Stops Norovirus Spread - NYTimes.com - 0 views

well.blogs.nytimes.com/...nitizer-stops-norovirus-spread

microbiology virology norovirus

shared by Casey Finnerty on 15 Jan 13 - No Cached
  • Some viruses, like influenza, are coated in lipids, “envelopes” that alcohol can rupture.
    • Casey Finnerty
      Casey Finnerty on 15 Jan 13
       
      Which are more resistant to dessication, enveloped or naked viruses?
Richard Herron

Viruses Can Have Immune System, Study Finds | Biology | Sci-News.com - 1 views

www.sci-news.com/...article00905.html

virology virus immune system

shared by Richard Herron on 03 Mar 13 - No Cached
  • A new research led by Dr Kimberley Seed from the Tufts University School of Medicine provides the first evidence that bacteriophages – viruses that infect and replicate within bacteria – can acquire a wholly functional and adaptive immune system.
  • The study, published today in the journal Nature, finds that a viral predator of the cholera bacteria can steal the functional immune system of bacteria and use it against its bacterial host.
  • Developing phage therapy is particularly important because some bacteria, called superbugs, are resistant to most or all current antibiotics.
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  • This study focused on a phage that attacks Vibrio cholerae, the bacterium responsible for cholera epidemics in humans.
  • Finding a CRISPR/Cas system in a phage shows that there is gene flow between the phage and bacteria even for something as large and complex as the genes for an adaptive immune system,”
Jeremiah Williamson

Ending pandemics: How close are we? - CNN.com - 0 views

www.cnn.com/...index.html

shared by Jeremiah Williamson on 19 Apr 13 - No Cached
  • Jeremiah Williamson on 19 Apr 13
     
    Pandemics have spread throughout the world since man has walked the Earth. If we can stop a pandemic before it even starts that could be a huge breakthrough. With early detection easier than ever, this possible. With smallpox already eradicated and polio and guinea worm on its way, we have taken big steps to fight pandemics. In the next few years who knows what other major viruses we could eradicate.
Richard Herron

Braconidae - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - 1 views

en.wikipedia.org/...Braconidae

parasites virus immunosupression dna virology

shared by Richard Herron on 19 Jan 13 - No Cached
  • Endoparasitoid species often display elaborate physiological adaptations to enhance larval survival within the host, such as the co-option of endosymbiotic viruses for compromising host immune defenses.
  • he DNA of the wasp actually contains portions that are the templates for the components of the viral particles and they are assembled in an organ in the female's abdomen known as the calyx.
  • Because of this highly modified system of host immunosuppression it is not surprising that there is a high level of parasitoid-host specificity. It is this specificity that makes Braconids a very powerful and important biological control agent.
  • anonymous on 20 Jan 13
     
    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.
  • Richard Herron on 20 Jan 13
     
    That's actually where I found it the other night. It was a very interesting read to say the least.
Whitney Hopfauf

Doctors warned to be vigilant for warn new deadly virus sweeping the globe from Middle ... - 0 views

www.dailymail.co.uk/...weeping-globe-Middle-East.html

globe virus virology microbiology

shared by Whitney Hopfauf on 12 Mar 13 - No Cached
  • three confirmed infections in Britain suggests the virus can pass from person to person rather than from animal to humans
  • coronavirus, part of the same family of viruses as the common cold and the deadly outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome
  • 60-year-old man who had recently traveled to Pakistan and Saudi Arabia and developed a respiratory illness on January 24, 2013. Samples from the man showed he was infected with both the new virus and with H1N1
  • Whitney Hopfauf on 12 Mar 13
     
    While the number of confirmed cases is really low, the unnerving aspect is that 8 of the 14 people infected died. 
Whitney Hopfauf

Could new flu spark global flu pandemic? New bird flu strain seen adapting to mammals, ... - 0 views

www.sciencedaily.com/...130412192402.htm

pandemic humans virology influenza

shared by Whitney Hopfauf on 16 Apr 13 - No Cached
  • "The human isolates, but not the avian and environmental ones, have a protein mutation that allows for efficient growth in human cells and that also allows them to grow at a temperature that corresponds to the upper respiratory tract of humans, which is lower than you find in birds,
    • Whitney Hopfauf
      Whitney Hopfauf on 30 Apr 13
       
      These are the same researchers who did the infamous bird flu study that was temporarily banned
  • new virus has sickened at least 33 people, killing nine.
  • ...4 more annotations...
    • Whitney Hopfauf
      Whitney Hopfauf on 30 Apr 13
       
      This is so concerning... and yet it seems that the general population is oblivious to the implications of this virus
  • majority of the viruses in the study -- from both humans and birds -- display mutations in the surface protein hemagglutinin, which the pathogen uses to bind to host cells.
  • The same mutation, Kawaoka notes, lets the avian virus thrive in the cooler temperatures of the human upper respiratory system
  • the new strain could be treated with another clinically relevant antiviral drug, oseltamivir.
  • Jenna Veldhuizen on 16 Apr 13
     
    Genetic sequencing of the current H7N9 outbreak in China has revealed the ability of the virus to adapt to a human host
Jenna Veldhuizen

Fighting disease from within the mosquito: New techniques to help halt the spread of di... - 0 views

phys.org/...-mosquito-techniques-halt.html

mosquito disease

shared by Jenna Veldhuizen on 12 Apr 13 - No Cached
  • When infected with the bacteria Wolbachia, mosquitoes are unable to spread viruses such as dengue
  • by introducing an insecticide resistance gene alongside the Wolbachia bacteria into the mosquito, that the insects pass on the disease-blocking bacteria to other mosquitoes faster
  • Our results show that Wolbachia-based strategies could hold the key to a cheap and sustainable approach to disease control
  • Amy Jorgenson on 12 Apr 13
     
    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?
Amanda Bergstedt

Viruses | Free Full-Text | Mutation Distribution in the NSP4 Protein in Rotaviruses Iso... - 0 views

www.mdpi.com/792

shared by Amanda Bergstedt on 30 Apr 13 - No Cached
  • Amanda Bergstedt on 30 Apr 13
     
    The NSP4 protein is a multifunctional protein that plays a role in the morphogenesis and pathogenesis of the rotavirus, but studies continue to show the relationship between gastroenteritis severity and amino acid variations in the genome of NSP4 of the human rotavirus remains uncertain. Focus paper for presentation.
Megan Rasmussen

Feds blame combination of parasite, virus, bacteria, pesticides for strange bee disappe... - 1 views

www.foxnews.com/...ria-pesticides-for-strange-bee

microbiology virus

shared by Megan Rasmussen on 05 May 13 - No Cached
  • Megan Rasmussen on 05 May 13
     
    A report blames colony collapse disorder on pesticides for possibly damaging the bee's immune system and making them more susceptible to parasites, viruses and bacteria. I know a lot of people are allergic to bees or hate them but check out this quotation: "About one-third of the human diet comes from insect-pollinated plants, and the honeybee is responsible for 80 percent of that pollination." Bees are important!!!
Abdirizak Abdi

Your Immune System 'Remembers' Microbes It's Never Fought Before, New Study Says - 0 views

www.popsci.com/...ts-never-fought-new-study-says

shared by Abdirizak Abdi on 09 May 13 - No Cached
  • Abdirizak Abdi on 09 May 13
     
    How do naive cells accomplish this microbial memory generation? It's all about the environment. People are constantly exposed to countless bacteria, fungi and viruses, everywhere all of the time. T cells might act like they're reacting to something they've seen before--maybe the bacteria's proteins look similar to that of a harmless bug, and the cell is fooled.
Tiffany Arcand

Scientists Find Bacteria Where It Isn't Supposed to Be: The Brain - The Daily Beast - 0 views

www.thedailybeast.com/...-supposed-to-be-the-brain.html

shared by Tiffany Arcand on 01 Apr 13 - No Cached
  • The researchers found these bacterial molecules in brain samples from people with HIV, as well as people with no known infectious disease but who had undergone brain surgery
    • Tiffany Arcand
      Tiffany Arcand on 01 Apr 13
       
      So in immunocompromised individuals, as well as those whose brains have been exposed to the operating room - which as we learned in class, can still house bacteria despite all precautions taken.
    • Tiffany Arcand
      Tiffany Arcand on 01 Apr 13
       
      Sneaky, sneaky viruses!
  • If living bacteria help to maintain brain health in some way, disruptions to them, for example from antibiotics, could contribute to disease
    • Tiffany Arcand
      Tiffany Arcand on 01 Apr 13
       
      It will be interesting to see what they discover as they research this more. My guess it that the bacteria in the brain are both beneficial and harmful.
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  • Dyes injected into the brain, meanwhile, tended not to appear in the body
    • Tiffany Arcand
      Tiffany Arcand on 01 Apr 13
       
      Wouldn't a shot into the brain kill you, or at least be very painful?
  • Last fall, for instance, researchers found male genetic material in the brains of women (who almost certainly were not born with it). Perhaps during pregnancy, the scientists suggested, cells from male fetuses had crossed the placenta and entered the women’s bodie
  • Scientists have discovered, for instance, that HIV hides inside white blood cells that enter the brain in order to look for pathogens; they call this the Trojan horse strategy
  • a mind-bending concept
  • Tiffany Arcand on 01 Apr 13
     
    Bacteria Can Bypass Blood-Brain Barrier? It's a surprise to researchers who believed the brain-blood barrier created an impenetrable fortress. How are molecules from dirt getting into white matter-and what are they doing up there? 
Katelyn Madigan

Viral reactivation a likely link between stress and heart disease - 1 views

www.sciencedaily.com/...130122162331.htm

Virus Stress Heart Disease

shared by Katelyn Madigan on 24 Jan 13 - No Cached
    • Katelyn Madigan
      Katelyn Madigan on 24 Jan 13
       
      It is important not to exaggerate your findings, so I think it is good that they are honest with areas of the research that are still not definitive.
  • enhanced levels of proinflammatory proteins in the blood of patients with acute coronary events and detectable levels of the EBV-related protein
  • having more of one of these proteins in the blood was linked to the presence of antibodies that signal a latent Epstein-Barr virus
  • ...4 more annotations...
  • looked for antibodies against a protein that can be produced even when only partial or incomplete reactivation of Epstein-Barr EBV occurs
  • EBV, a human herpes virus that causes infectious mononucleosis and several different types of tumors
  • Stress is a known predictor of reactivation of EBV, meaning virus reactivation could be a mechanism by which stress leads to chronic inflammation and eventually cardiovascular diseases.
  • viral proteins can induce inflammation, affecting the lining of blood vessels, so that inflammation is in the right place to function as a significant risk factor for heart disease
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