Covid-resistant bats could be key to fighting the next pandemic
The only mammals that fly are not affected by coronaviruses. Scientists are trying to work out whyWidely depicted as evil spirits or blood-sucking demons, bats have had a poor press over the years. No vampire film, from Dracula to Buffy, has been complete without an entrance of one of these harbingers of death.But these grim portrayals demean the bat. We have much to learn from them, insist researchers who now believe bats could be crucial in helping us cope with future pandemics.Continue reading... (Source: Guardian Unlimited Science)
Source: Guardian Unlimited Science - May 20, 2023 Category: Science Authors: Robin McKie Tags: Infectious diseases Coronavirus Mammals Medical research Microbiology Science World news Source Type: news
Toddlers ’ gut bacteria may predict future obesity, study suggests
Researchers identify differences in bacteria that colonise the gut in adults living with obesityThe gut bacteria of a toddler can predict whether they will be overweight later in life, research suggests.The study, led by Ga ël Toubon from the Université Sorbonne Paris, looked at the data from 512 infants who were part of a study that tracked the lives of 18,000 children born in France.Continue reading... (Source: Guardian Unlimited Science)
Source: Guardian Unlimited Science - May 19, 2023 Category: Science Authors: Tobi Thomas Tags: Obesity Microbiology Children Science Medical research Society World news Health & wellbeing Source Type: news
Committee of MPs, former judges to examine firing of 2 National Microbiology Lab scientists
Members from all official parties in the House of Commons and three former judges will sit on a new ad hoc committee to look into the controversial firing of two scientists from Canada's top virology lab in Winnipeg. (Source: CBC | Health)
Source: CBC | Health - May 17, 2023 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: News/Politics Source Type: news
BD Gains 510(k) Clearance of Artificial Intelligence Software for MRSA Diagnostics
BD Kiestra MRSA Imaging Application Helps Enhance Microbiology Laboratory Efficiency and Workflow
FRANKLIN LAKES, N.J., May 16, 2023 -- (Healthcare Sales & Marketing Network) -- BD (Becton, Dickinson and Company) (NYSE: BDX), a leading global medical ... Diagnostics, FDA BD , BD Kiestra, artificial intelligence, MRSA (Source: HSMN NewsFeed)
Source: HSMN NewsFeed - May 16, 2023 Category: Pharmaceuticals Source Type: news
Bone flap infections after craniotomy: a review of 63 cases and the implications for definitions, classification and surveillance methodologies
Conclusion: Greater clarity on how to define BFI is required to enable better classification and the carrying out of appropriate surveillance. This will inform preventative strategies and more effective patient management. (Source: Current Awareness Service for Health (CASH))
Source: Current Awareness Service for Health (CASH) - May 16, 2023 Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news
Privacy concerns sparked by human DNA accidentally collected in studies of other species
Everywhere they go, humans leave stray DNA. Police have used genetic sequences retrieved from cigarette butts and coffee cups to identify suspects; archaeologists have sifted DNA from cave dirt to identify ancient humans. But for scientists aiming to capture genetic information not about people, but about animals, plants, and microbes, the ubiquity of human DNA and the ability of even partial sequences to reveal information most people would want to keep private is a growing problem, researchers from two disparate fields warn this week. Both groups are calling for safeguards to prevent misuse of such human genomic “bycat...
Source: ScienceNOW - May 15, 2023 Category: Science Source Type: news
Join NCBI at ASM Microbe 2023
Houston, TX, June 15-19, 2023 NCBI is looking forward to seeing you in person at the American Society for Microbiology Annual Meeting (ASM Microbe 2023). NCBI staff will participate in a variety of activities and events and will also be available at our booth (#2410) to address your questions. We’re especially excited to share our … Continue reading Join NCBI at ASM Microbe 2023 → (Source: NCBI Insights)
Source: NCBI Insights - May 15, 2023 Category: Databases & Libraries Authors: NCBI Staff Tags: What's New NCBI Pathogen Detection NCBI Taxonomy Source Type: news
Simon Schama on the broken relationship between humans and nature: ‘The joke’s on us. Things are amiss’
More than ever, the relationship between our two worlds has been disrupted, says the historian. If we don ’t mend our ways, will we face even deadlier threats than Covid, Sars and Mpox?In March 2021, the 13th month of the Covid confinement, thepeepers, in their vast multitudes, sang out again. Down in the swampy wetlands below our house in Hudson Valley, New York, millions ofPseudacris crucifer ( “cross-bearing false locusts” but actually minute frogs) puffed up their air sacs and warbled for a mate. That’s spring for you. The peepers are so tiny – an inch or so long – that you’ll never see one, no matter how...
Source: Guardian Unlimited Science - May 13, 2023 Category: Science Authors: Simon Schama Tags: Epidemics Coronavirus Animals World Health Organization Simon Schama Culture Infectious diseases Science Illegal wildlife trade Environment Vaccines and immunisation Society Microbiology Source Type: news
When stem cells can ’t roll on a bumpy road, muscles break down
Key takeawaysStem cells travel along a collagen network to reach damaged muscle tissue and heal it.In Duchenne muscular dystrophy, stiff, scarred collagen prevents stem cells from reaching their target.A protein called sarcospan lessens this scarring and allows stem cells to do their job more successfully, pointing toward potential new treatments for the disorder.Muscles that ache after a hard workout usually don ’t hurt for long, thanks to stem cells that rush to the injured site along “collagen highways” within the muscle and repair the damaged tissue. But if the cells can’t reach their destinat...
Source: UCLA Newsroom: Health Sciences - May 12, 2023 Category: Universities & Medical Training Source Type: news
Nigeria: 46% of Nigerian Adults Abuse Antibiotics - Microbiologists
[Leadership] Microbiologists have disclosed that over 46 percent of Nigerian adults abuse antibiotics, a set of medicines that fight infections caused by bacteria in humans and animals by either killing the bacteria or making it difficult for the bacteria to grow and multiply. (Source: AllAfrica News: Health and Medicine)
Source: AllAfrica News: Health and Medicine - May 10, 2023 Category: African Health Source Type: news
Microbes discovered that can digest plastics at low temperatures
Scientists have found microbes that can do this at 15C, in a potential breakthrough for recyclingMicrobes that can digest plastics at low temperatures have been discovered by scientists in the Alps and the Arctic, which could be a valuable tool in recycling.Many microorganisms that can do this have already been found, but they can usually only work at temperatures above 30C (86F). This means that using them in industrial practice is prohibitively expensive because of the heating required. It also means using them is not carbon neutral.Continue reading... (Source: Guardian Unlimited Science)
Source: Guardian Unlimited Science - May 10, 2023 Category: Science Authors: Helena Horton Environment reporter Tags: Microbiology Recycling Climate crisis Waste Environment Ethical and green living Science UK news Switzerland Source Type: news
NIH restarts bat virus grant suspended 3 years ago by Trump
Three years after then-President Donald Trump pressured the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to suspend a research grant to a U.S. group studying bat coronaviruses with partners in China, the agency has restarted the award.
The new 4-year grant is a stripped-down version of the original grant to the EcoHealth Alliance, a nonprofit research organization in New York City, providing $576,000 per year. That 2014 award included funding for controversial experiments that mixed parts of different bat viruses related to severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), the coronavirus that sparked a global outbreak in 2002–04, ...
Source: ScienceNOW - May 8, 2023 Category: Science Source Type: news
Is Covid really over? WHO ’s announcement sounds more like surrender than victory
Although the acute phase of the pandemic may have passed, experts agree that the virus ’s effects will remain profoundThe global public emergency caused by Covid-19 may be officially over but the pandemic will still be with us for many years. Nor is it clear that governments have learned sufficiently from the outbreak to be ready to fight off new emerging microbes that could trigger worse calamities.These are the stark conclusions of scientists reacting tolast week ’s news that the World Health Organization (WHO) no longer considers Covid-19 – which has killed more than 7 million people over the past three years – ...
Source: Guardian Unlimited Science - May 7, 2023 Category: Science Authors: Robin McKie Observer science editor Tags: Coronavirus Infectious diseases Science Microbiology World news World Health Organization Epidemics Society Source Type: news
‘Lost’ microbial genes found in dental plaque of ancient humans
About 19,000 years ago, a woman died in northern Spain. Her body was deliberately buried with pieces of the natural pigment ochre and placed behind a block of limestone in a cave known as El Mirón. When her ochre-dyed bones were unearthed in 2010, archaeologists dubbed her the Red Lady. The careful treatment of her body provided scientists with insights into how people from the time buried their dead.
Now, thanks to the poor oral hygiene of that period, her teeth are helping illuminate a vanished world of bacteria and their chemical creations. From dental calculus, the rock-hard plaque that accumulates on teet...
Source: ScienceNOW - May 4, 2023 Category: Science Source Type: news
Why It Took So Long to Finally Get an RSV Vaccine
Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) can dangerously compromise breathing, especially for infants and the elderly. But there has been no vaccine to prevent it—until today. On May 3, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the first vaccine against RSV, from GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), to prevent respiratory disease in people ages 60 and older. The Centers for Disease Control’s vaccine committee will make formal recommendations in June about who should receive the vaccine, but GSK says it currently has enough doses to vaccinate eligible people beginning this fall.
In studies involving 25,000 people that GSK...
Source: TIME: Health - May 3, 2023 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Alice Park Tags: Uncategorized Drugs healthscienceclimate Source Type: news
