First thought: eww, but interesting!

Researchers are looking at how biofilms form in order to better understand how to battle their ability to be resistant to many antibiotics

Gonorrhea HO41 was discovered two years ago and is not only a very resistant strain of gonorrhea but it can cause septic shock leading to death all within a couple of days

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!!!

I was briefly shocked about some of the chemicals found in vaccines, which lead to finding the focus paper for our presentation. This article is about aluminum vaccines but this site: http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vac-gen/additives.htm, form the CDC has some other additives and what these additives are used for.

Researchers use a type of bacteria in order to study a protein that they have not been able to crystalize in the brain. This protein was thought to enable behavioral effects of alcohol and they are looking at studying where alcohol binds to this protein and the effects it has.

This complex was tested and found to make resistant bacteria more susceptible to antibiotics!

This technology in new, but researchers are looking to develop it to detect circulating tumor cells in the blood and prevent spread of cancer!

It was found that these newly discovered cells, typically dealing with parasites, may play a role in allerigic skin reactions.

..

Researchers induced four genetic mutations in the Ebola virus, and then infected human dendritic cells. It was found that the mutated virus was unable to stop DC from maturing and presenting antigen to T cells.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/05/130502192226.htm

Researchers use bacteria to deliver radiation to shrink pancreatic tumors in mice. This is really cool because I work with Listeria to form biofilms. It is known for causing food poisoning outbreaks from contaminating ready to eat deli meats or soft cheeses in food processing plants, so it is interesting to see a different take on this bacteria!

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!