Chemists convert electricity into the fuel that powers the body ’s cells
Power plants incessantly burn fossil fuels to convert the solar energy stored by plants eons ago into electricity. But going the other direction—converting electricity into a biologically useful form of energy—has been much more difficult. Now, however, a simple chemical scheme can convert electrical energy into adenosine triphosphate (ATP), the chemical fuel used by all cells, a research team reports. With the process, electricity from renewable sources might someday power biofactories to make everything from protein supplements to medicines.
“This is really exciting,” says Michael Jewett, a bioengineer at S...
Source: ScienceNOW - August 22, 2023 Category: Science Source Type: news
What is legionella and what damage can it cause?
We look at the health hazard of the bacteria discovered on the Bibby Stockholm barge and who is most at riskLegionella discovery forces asylum seekers off bargeWithlegionella bacteria having been discovered in the water supply on the Bibby Stockholm barge just days after asylum seekers were moved onboard, we take a look at the health hazard.Continue reading... (Source: Guardian Unlimited Science)
Source: Guardian Unlimited Science - August 11, 2023 Category: Science Authors: Nicola Davis Science correspondent Tags: Legionnaires' disease Health Society Bibby Stockholm Immigration and asylum Infectious diseases Microbiology UK news Science Source Type: news
News at a glance: A win for obesity drugs, NIH unionization roadblocks, and Mexican fireflies under threat
CONSERVATION
Researchers raise alarm over threat to Mexican fireflies
Scientists from the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) last week delivered a letter to the Mexican government requesting it regulate tourism centered on the threatened firefly species
Photinus palaciosi
. Endemic to Mexico’s Tlaxcala forests,
P. palaciosi
is one of the few species that glow in synchrony, offering an annual spectacle that attracts thousands of visitors during summer mating season. The letter describes how littering, artificial light, and noise interfere with the insects’ ...
Source: ScienceNOW - August 10, 2023 Category: Science Source Type: news
WHO declares ‘Eris’ Covid strain a variant of interest as UK cases rise
Health risk of EG.5, which is related to Omicron subvariant, judged to be low but may drive larger wave of infectionsA new strain of Covid-19 that is circulating in the UK has been designated as a variant of interest by the World Health Organization, although the public health risk has been judged as low.The variant, known as EG.5 or “Eris”, is related to an Omicron subvariant called XBB.1.9.2, and is growing in prevalence globally, with countries including the UK, China, and US among those affected.Continue reading... (Source: Guardian Unlimited Science)
Source: Guardian Unlimited Science - August 9, 2023 Category: Science Authors: Nicola Davis Science correspondent Tags: Coronavirus World Health Organization Infectious diseases Science World news Microbiology UK news Source Type: news
WHO declares ‘Eris’ Covid strain a variant of interest as cases rise globally
Health risk of EG.5, which is related to Omicron subvariant, judged to be low but may drive larger wave of infectionsA new strain of Covid-19 has been designated as a variant of interest by the World Health Organization, although the public health risk has been judged as low.The variant, known as EG.5 or “Eris”, is related to an Omicron subvariant called XBB.1.9.2, and is growing in prevalence globally, with countries including the UK, China and US among those affected.Continue reading... (Source: Guardian Unlimited Science)
Source: Guardian Unlimited Science - August 9, 2023 Category: Science Authors: Nicola Davis Science correspondent Tags: Coronavirus World Health Organization Infectious diseases Science World news Microbiology UK news Source Type: news
Genetic Testing of Wastewater Now Common in Detecting New Strains of COVID-19 and Other Infectious Diseases
Advances in genome sequencing give virologists and microbiologists new tools for tracking SARS-CoV-2 variants to their sources Wastewater surveillance has emerged as an essential tool in the detection and tracking of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus within communities. Though COVID-19 infections are decreasing in the United States—and clinical laboratories are performing fewer diagnostic tests for the disease—researchers […]
The post Genetic Testing of Wastewater Now Common in Detecting New Strains of COVID-19 and Other Infectious Diseases appeared first on Dark Daily. (Source: Dark Daily)
Source: Dark Daily - August 9, 2023 Category: Laboratory Medicine Authors: swallask Tags: Laboratory News Laboratory Pathology Laboratory Resources Laboratory Testing Molecular Diagnostics, Genetic Testing, Whole Gene Sequencing Source Type: news
Burkholderia pseudomallei Laboratory Exposure, Arizona, USA Burkholderia pseudomallei Laboratory Exposure, Arizona, USA
In this report, employees of a microbiology lab were exposed to B pseudomallei from specimens, showing the increased risk for occupational exposure among laboratory staff.Emerging Infectious Diseases (Source: Medscape Today Headlines)
Source: Medscape Today Headlines - August 8, 2023 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Infectious Diseases Journal Article Source Type: news
More than half of Earth ’s species live in the soil, study finds
Soil estimated to be home to 90% of world ’s fungi, 85% of plants and more than 50% of bacteria, making it the world’s most species-rich habitatMore than half of all species live in the soil, according to a study that has found it is the single most species-rich habitat on Earth.Soil was known to hold a wealth of life, but this new figure doubles what scientistsestimated in 2006, when they suggested 25% of life was soil-based.Continue reading... (Source: Guardian Unlimited Science)
Source: Guardian Unlimited Science - August 7, 2023 Category: Science Authors: Phoebe Weston Tags: Soil Environment Wildlife Insects Animals Plants Fungi Biology Microbiology World news Source Type: news
Michael W. Fanger, Renowned Immunologist Who Paved the Way to Cancer Immunotherapy, Dies
Michael W. Fanger, PhD, professor emeritus, former chair of the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at Geisel School of Medicine, and entrepreneur died Tuesday, August 1. He was 83 years old. (Source: News at Dartmouth Medical School)
Source: News at Dartmouth Medical School - August 3, 2023 Category: Hospital Management Authors: Susan Green Tags: News Michael Fanger Source Type: news
University of Alabama HIV researcher will head NIH ’s infectious disease institute
The infectious disease institute at the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) will soon have its first new chief in nearly 4 decades. Jeanne Marrazzo, an expert on sexually transmitted infections, will become director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) in the fall. She will succeed Anthony Fauci, who
stepped down
in December 2022 after 38 years at NIAID’s helm.
Marrazzo, 61, currently directs the Division of Infectious Diseases at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). A physician and epidemiologist, she has expertise in HIV prevention, vaginal infection...
Source: ScienceNOW - August 2, 2023 Category: Science Source Type: news
HIV researcher will head NIH ’s infectious disease institute
The infectious disease institute at the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) will soon have its first new chief in nearly 4 decades. Jeanne Marrazzo, an expert on sexually transmitted infections, will become director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) in the fall. She will succeed Anthony Fauci, who
stepped down
in December 2022 after 38 years at NIAID’s helm.
Marrazzo, 61, currently directs the Division of Infectious Diseases at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). A physician and epidemiologist, she has expertise in HIV prevention, vaginal infection...
Source: ScienceNOW - August 2, 2023 Category: Science Source Type: news
Nose-picking healthcare workers more likely to catch Covid, data suggests
Rhinotillexis may be underestimated cause of transmission between staff, say researchersNose-picking should be given greater consideration as a potential health hazard, researchers have said, after finding healthcare workers who engaged in rhinotillexis were more likely to catch Covid than those who refrained.Scientists in the Netherlands say research has previously found healthcare workers who had direct contact with Covid patients were more likely to catch Covid than those who did not.Continue reading... (Source: Guardian Unlimited Science)
Source: Guardian Unlimited Science - August 2, 2023 Category: Science Authors: Nicola Davis Science correspondent Tags: Coronavirus Infectious diseases World news Science Microbiology Medical research UK news Hospitals NHS Society Health Source Type: news
With new flurry of clinical trials, NIH finally seeks treatments for Long Covid
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) yesterday announced
new clinical trials to test a diverse array of treatment strategies
—from an intravenous immune drug to light therapy and a dietary supplement—in people with Long Covid, the disabling syndrome that can follow infection with the pandemic coronavirus. The focus is on mitigating some of the most common and debilitating symptoms including brain fog and sleep troubles.
Most of the trials will include 100 to 300 people with Long Covid and will start to enroll this year, officials said. One, a multiweek study of the antiviral Paxlovid, has started to ...
Source: ScienceNOW - August 1, 2023 Category: Science Source Type: news
San Francisco International Airport First in the Nation to Test Wastewater for SARS-CoV-2 Coronavirus
In partnership with the CDC, the collected samples will be sent to approved clinical laboratories for testing as a way to monitor for traces of the SARS-CoV-2 virus Microbiologists and virologists engaged in tracing sources of viral infections will be interested to learn that the San Francisco International Airport (SFO), in partnership with the Centers […]
The post San Francisco International Airport First in the Nation to Test Wastewater for SARS-CoV-2 Coronavirus appeared first on Dark Daily. (Source: Dark Daily)
Source: Dark Daily - July 28, 2023 Category: Laboratory Medicine Authors: swallask Tags: Laboratory News Laboratory Resources Laboratory Testing Molecular Diagnostics, Genetic Testing, Whole Gene Sequencing Source Type: news
This fish delivers a nasty sting. Could it also save lives?
Ocean-goers along the Pacific Northwest’s rugged shorelines know to give the prickly Korean rockfish a wide berth. A type of scorpionfish, it can deliver a toxic strike with its spines. But according to a new study, the fish may possess the ability to heal as well as harm. A protein it produces can kill drug-resistant bacteria, the authors say, and could one day be used to treat infections in people with cystic fibrosis.
The discovery “sets the stage” for scientists to develop better tools to combat antibiotic resistance, says Nicole Iovine, an infectious disease expert at the University of Florida who was not ...
Source: ScienceNOW - July 24, 2023 Category: Science Source Type: news
