News: Organic or Not, Your Produce Is Loaded with Bacteria, Inside & Out
We know that healthcare-related facilities can be fertile ground for antibiotic-resistant bacteria, but recent research suggests your produce aisle might be too.
Researchers Search Results
News: A Protein Found in Ticks Can Help Kill MRSA Infections
As researchers from Yale searched our environment for compounds to aid in the battle against drug-resistant bacteria, they got an unlikely assist from ticks.
News: The Body's Own Cells Can Be Engineered to Protect Against HIV Infection
The problem with HIV is that it attacks and kills the very cells of the immune system that are supposed to protect us from infections — white blood cells. But a new technique, developed by scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) in La Jolla, California, offers a distinct HIV-killing advantage.
News: Ebola Survivor May Hold Key to Curing All Types of Ebola Infections
Even though the Ebola virus was discovered as recently as 1976, over 30,000 people have been infected since, and half have died a horrible death. Since there's no way to cure the infection, the world desperately needs a way to prevent it — and the five similar viruses in its family, the ebolaviruses.
News: Scientists Find an Unusual Reason for Toxic Ocean Contamination
We've worked hard to reduce the flow of toxic chemicals into our waterways, which means no more DDT and other bad actors to pollute or destroy wildlife and our health. But one observation has been plaguing scientists for decades: Why are large quantities of one toxic chemical still found in the world's oceans?
News: Standard Testing Frequently Misses UTIs — But Now We Have a Better Way
Have you ever had a burning sensation when you urinate? Low fever, back pain, and maybe cloudy urine? Male or female, it could have been a urinary tract infection. If it lasted long enough, the chances are good you went to the doctor for help. For about 20% of women, standard testing for a UTI does not reveal the presence of infection-causing bacteria, even though bacteria may be causing their symptoms. Well, a new test may provide better answers.
News: Glowing Bacteria Can Help Locate Devastating Hidden Land Mines
Devastating and deadly, land mines are a persistent threat in many areas of the world. Funding to clear regions of land mines has been decreasing, but new research may offer a less dangerous method of locating hidden, underground explosives by using glowing bacteria.
News: Microbe That Causes Sepsis & Meningitis Has Mutated into a New Sexually Transmitted Disease
The ability of one microbe to adapt is giving it a whole new career as a sexually transmitted disease. Usually content with the back of the throat and nose of those who carry it, the dangerous pathogen Neisseria meningitidis has adapted to cause an illness that looks a lot like gonorrhea.
News: Step Aside Penicillin — A Deep Dive into Fungus Genes Reveals Over 1,300 Potential Antibiotics Waiting to Be Discovered
On October 17, 1943, a story in the New York Herald Tribune read "Many laymen — husbands, wives, parents, brothers, sisters, friends — beg Dr. Keefer for penicillin," according to the American Chemical Society. Dr. Chester Keefer of Boston was responsible for rationing the new miracle drug, penicillin.
News: Compound in a Frog's Defensive Slime May Treat Your Next Flu Infection
Our quest to find novel compounds in nature that we can use against human diseases —a process called bioprospecting — has led a research team to a small frog found in India. From the skin slime of the colorful Hydrophylax bahuvistara, researchers reported finding a peptide — a small piece of protein — that can destroy many strains of human flu and can even protect mice against the flu.
News: MRIs Spot Sneaky Dementia-Causing HIV Brain Infections, Even in Patients on Effective Treatments
In the past, infection with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) commonly led to dementia as the virus made its way to the brain. Even in effectively treated people, HIV can hide out and replicate in places like the brain, where it's tough to detect. That's why it's very concerning that half of all HIV-infected patients still report cognitive problems.
News: Doctors Are Wrong to Call Zika Mild
Even as health authorities describe the symptoms of Zika infection in the general population as mild, a new surveillance study finds serious side effects are more common, and serious, than previously thought.
News: Hospital Floors May Look Clean, but They're Teeming with Deadly Superbugs—Including MRSA, VRE & C. Diff
Hospitals are places we go to get well, and we don't expect to get sick or sicker there. But a study from researchers at the Cleveland Clinic, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, and Cleveland VA Medical Center in Ohio found that hospital floors in patient rooms were frequently contaminated with healthcare-associated pathogens—often dangerous multi-drug resistant bacteria.
News: Scientists Are Flabbergasted to Discover Asthma Drugs May Stop Viral Pneumonia
By looking for the mechanism that allows influenza A to invade lung cells, scientists also discovered a treatment that might block the virus from taking hold there.
News: Bye Bye, French Bread & Pasta—There's a Fungal Outbreak Killing Europe's Wheat Crops
We may not fully appreciate all the important roles wheat plays in our lives until it's gone—or at least, when it's in very short supply. What would a world be like without bread, cakes, cereal, pasta, or wheat beer? If the dire warnings about an impending stem rust fungus come to pass, we may know all too soon.
News: Cats May Drive You Crazy, but They Won't Make You Mentally Ill
Even if your cat drives you a little nuts, don't worry, because a new study says that cats pose no risk to your mental health.
News: HIV Co-Opts the Body's First Line of Defense—Using It as a Shuttle to Take Over
A new study just out reveals that HIV takes hold in the human body with the help of cells that usually work to heal, not kill.
News: 14 Types of Bacteria & 10 Strains of Fungus Are Responsible for All the Delicious Flavors of Cheese
If you want to appreciate the value of microbes, look no further than a chunk of cheese. Because cheese roughly traces back to the Neolithic Era, we might say the earliest cheesemakers were the first humans to manipulate microbes—without even knowing it. Now, thanks to microbiologists and the long tradition of cheesemaking, we know a lot more about the microbes that make our favorite types of cheese possible.
News: New Study Says Stopping Slimy Biofilms Could Save Thousands a Year from Legionnaires' Disease
In the summer of 1976, 4,000 American Legionnaires descended upon the Bellevue-Stratford Hotel in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, for a four-day convention. Several days later, many of the attendees experienced symptoms of severe pneumonia. By the beginning of August, 22 people had died. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimate that about 180 people were sickened and 29 people died before this mysterious outbreak burnt out.
News: How Your Diet & Gut Bacteria Work Together to Reduce Risk of Colon Cancer
We all know you are what you eat—or so the expression goes—but it's good to remember that what you are (at least intestinally) is mainly bacteria. A new study has shown that what you eat, and how your gut microbiome reacts to that food, might be a key player in your risk of developing a certain type of colon cancer—and changing your diet can help decrease your risk.
News: We've Found the Back Door HIV Uses to Hide in the Brain—& It Could Help Us Take the Virus Down
Over 1.2 million people in the US are infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)—and one out of eight of them don't know it. Even after decades of intense research into the virus, there's still no cure for it. One of the big problems is that the virus hides out in certain cells of the body, resisting treatments that kill it.
News: We've Known About Zika for 70 Years — & Finally Figured Out Why It's Just Becoming a Problem
The year was 1947. Scientists had isolated a virus from a pyrexial rhesus monkey in Uganda and named it after the forest where the monkey lived — Zika.
News: Extreme Cave-Dwelling Bacteria Found to Be Resistant to Antibiotics
One thousand feet under the ground, extremophile microbes that have not seen the light of day for four million years are giving up some fascinating facts to scientists who go the distance.
News: Even Without Symptoms, Men Could Suffer Lasting Fertility Impacts from Zika
Findings from a mouse study suggest that the Zika virus infection may have serious reproductive consequences for men.
News: 'Vampire' Bacteria May Lead Fight Against Antibiotic Resistance
New weapons are needed to combat antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Instead of drugs, scientists have discovered in an animal study that they may be able to harness vampire bacteria to vanquish pneumonia.
How To: Improve Your Memory by Daydreaming
When you're trapped at your desk before a jumble of data just waiting to be categorized, or zoning out during an important meeting, your mind wanders and, chances are, you feel a little guilty because of it. Yet you shouldn't try to reign in that distracted thinking. Instead, let your brain get distracted, and you'll unconsciously strengthen your memory.
How To: Become a Better Worker by Taking More Breaks
I'll admit it: I've spent many eight-hour workdays stuck at my desk, staring at my computer as my breaks slip past unnoticed. I frequently tell myself I'll take one in a few more minutes—but somehow, the entire day will pass and I won't have taken a single break.
How To: 4 Reasons Why Talking to Yourself Is Anything but Crazy
Admit it: you've been caught muttering to yourself under your breath in very public places. Maybe you've gotten stares while wandering the grocery store talking to yourself out loud. If you're like me, you might even talk yourself through various tasks, giving the atmosphere a little background noise.
Vision Hack: How Video Games Can Help Improve Poor Eyesight
If you're one of the lucky people who received the gift of terrible eyesight from your parents at a young age, chances are you ate an awful lot of carrots growing up. Though carrots are one of the top vision-boosting foods, they don't offer fast results.
News: Coming Soon to a Smartphone Near You: 3D Navigation for Buildings!
Now that everyone has an Android or iPhone in their pocket, there's no excuse for being late to an appointment or job interview. Thanks to that GPS receiver in your smartphone, navigating your way through city streets and highways is a cinch, in or outside of your vehicle. But once you get inside a building, that fancy GPS feature doesn't know what to do. Which direction is the elevator? How do you get to room 819? Where's the nearest fire exit? The bathroom?
Survival of the Fittest: Athletes' Gut Microbes Are Tailored to Help Them Compete
The bacteria in our gut — a community called the gut microbiome — have been in the spotlight a lot lately. What we're learning about how our intestinal bacteria adapt and grow with our bodies could help athletes perform better, according to researchers starting a company focused on creating probiotics that mimic athletes' microbiomes.
News: Rising Tide of Dust in the US Could Mean Public Health Menace
Blowing dust and fungal spores are creating a public health problem that could be just a slice of what's to come with climate change.
News: Ancient Fungus Gives Trees a Better Chance at Surviving Hotter Temperatures
A 6,000-year-old forest inhabitant awakens to find life in the forest around it in crisis. Plants, trees, animals, and birds are moving north to escape increasingly heated air, even as mass extinctions take place around the world. The inhabitant stirs and remembers it has lived this before and knows what to do.
News: Skip the Antibacterial Soap — It Isn't Helping & It Could Cause Problems
The best go-to method for reducing your risk of infection is to wash your hands. Next time you reach for the soap, here is some news you can use.
News: How to Get Rid of Bed Bugs Using Less Pesticide
Bed bugs are parasites not yet known to spread disease — but they cause plenty of irritation. As scientists and landlords search for new ways to deal with the pests, a new study examines how we can deter bed bugs without so many chemicals.
News: Bats & Viruses — Friend or Foe?
Tell the truth. The bat picture creeps you out. You are not alone. But in reality, bats truly are some of our best friends. They gobble thousands of disease-spreading bugs a night. But they also carry viruses that can be deadly to humans. So, bats — friend or foe?
News: Malaria Eliminated in the US, but Causing a World of Hurt — Know What You Can Do to Protect Yourself When Traveling
While no longer native to the United States, hospitalization from malaria occurs in this country more than most would believe. Why is that, and what can you do to protect yourself when you travel abroad to regions where malaria is active?
News: How Livestock Farts Lead to a Warmer Climate
When it comes to global warming, most of us think of carbon dioxide emissions. While carbon dioxide is the most important greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide emissions have stayed constant for the last three years. On the other hand, methane, the second most important gas, has been steadily rising since 2007.
News: How Gut Bacteria Can Make Chemo More Effective
We can add one more health effect of our gut bacteria to the growing list. Researchers from the UK have just reported that the gut microbiota plays a role, both directly and indirectly, on the toxicity and efficacy of chemotherapy. Their findings are published online in the journal Nature Reviews Gastroenterology & Hepatology.
News: Antibiotics Could Be Contributing to Dramatic Drop in Bee Populations
Add antibiotics to the possible list of culprits responsible for honeybee decline around the world. While it may come as a surprise, antibiotics are commonly mixed into feed used by commercial beekeepers to maintain their hives. In a recent study published in PLOS Biology, researchers from the University of Texas at Austin found antibiotics used to treat honeybees may be a contributing factor in individual bee death and colony collapse.