Tag Archives: bacteria

Synchrotron Infrared Unveils a Mysterious Microbial Community

By Guest PostJanuary 31, 2013Science16s rrna gene, acid mine runoff, advanced light source, alexander probst, als, ancient things, another amazing lifestyle, archaea, bacteria, barbs, berkeley lab, biochemistry, biofilm, black smokers, boiling hot springs, bsisb, carbon, christine moissl eichinger, common hydrocarbon, deep sea, deepwater horizon, dna microarray, extremophiles, fatty acids, fourier transform, functional groups, giovanni birarda, gulf of mexico, hami, hami protein, hoi-ying Holman, hooks, hydrogen atoms, infrared spectromicroscopy, inhospitable environments, jet propulsion laboratory, kasthuri venkateswaran, latin, long alkylic chains, lovers, membrane lipids, microbe samples, muehlbacher schwefelquelle, mysterious microbial community, NASA, oil plume, oil spill research, phylochip, protein strands, second genome, sippenauer moor, sm1 euryarchaeon, sm1 research team, southern germany, sr ftir, strings of pearls, sulfur springs, synchrotron ftir, synchrotron infrared, synchrotron radiation, syntrophic, todd desantis, university of regensburg

Berkeley Lab scientists join an international collaboration to understand how archaea and bacteria work together deep in a cold sulfur spring

In the fall of 2010, Hoi-Ying Holman of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) was approached by an international team researching a mysterious microbial community discovered deep in cold sulfur springs in southern Germany.

“They told me what they were doing and said, ‘We know what you contributed to the oil-spill research,’” recalls Holman, who heads the Chemical Ecology group in Berkeley Lab’s Earth Sciences Division. “They wondered if I could help them determine the biochemistry of their microbe samples.” (more…)

UMass Amherst Biochemists Trap a Chaperone Machine in Action, Opening Pathway to Possible New Cancer Treatment

By Guest PostJanuary 2, 2013Scienceadp, amino acid chains, anastasia zhuravleva, atp, bacteria, cancer cell, chemical environments, cycle, dnak, drug target, e coli bacteria, Environment, eugenia clerico, folding of proteins, heat shock protein, holding pattern, hsp, hsp70, humans, key step, lila gierasch, massachusetts amherst, mechanism, molecular chaperones, molecular machine, nanofactories, neurodegenerative diseases, nmr methods, nuclear magnetic resonance, origami like, ribosomes, stress, uncontrolled growth, university

AMHERST, Mass. – Molecular chaperones have emerged as exciting new potential drug targets, because scientists want to learn how to stop cancer cells, for example, from using chaperones to enable their uncontrolled growth. Now a team of biochemists at the University of Massachusetts Amherst led by Lila Gierasch have deciphered key steps in the mechanism of the Hsp70 molecular machine by “trapping” this chaperone in action, providing a dynamic snapshot of its mechanism.

She and colleagues describe this work in the current issue of Cell. Gierasch’s research on Hsp70 chaperones is supported by a long-running grant to her lab from NIH’s National Institute for General Medical Sciences. (more…)

Battling Tuberculosis through Microsoft Technology

By Guest PostDecember 3, 2012Health, Technologyaakar gupta, abhishek sinha, aids, anti viral drugs, bacille calmette guerin, bacteria, bangalore, battling tuberculosis, bcg, bill thies, biometric monitoring system, computer, fingerprint, giri prasad, great killer, gsm modem, hiv, mdr tb, medicine, michal paik, microsoft research india, microsoft technology, multidrug resistant tuberculosis, navkar samdaria, nupur bhatnagar, operation asha, shelly batra, software, sql server database, tb, treatment, tuberculosis, uganda health ministry, vaccine

Microsoft Research develops biometric monitoring system to help patients complete tuberculosis treatment programs.

BANGALORE, India — Dec. 3, 2012 — Giri Prasad, a 33-year-old tailor who lives in Delhi, first noticed the pain below his ribs. He went to see a doctor, but when it didn’t subside, he traveled to the hospital where he eventually learned he had tuberculosis.

“There were many problems because first and foremost, I am the bread earner for the family,” he says. “If the bread earner falls ill, it is a real problem for those who are dependent on him. Here in the city the biggest problem is that if one falls sick, there is no other person who will come help.” (more…)

Degraded Military Lands To Get Ecological Boost From CU-led Effort

By Guest PostNovember 16, 2012Environmentamerican west, arid ecosystem, arid land, atmospheric dust, bacteria, biocrusts, biological soil crust, boulder, central america, China, colorado, cyanobacteria, degraded, desert environment, dugway proving ground, erosion, extreme environment, ferran garcia pichel, fort bliss, fungi, general george patton, hawaii, inoculation, jayne belnap, lichens, metropolitan area, michael duniway, microbial communities, military activity, military exercises, military installation, military vehicles, modeling, mojave desert, mosses, new mexico, nichole barger, northwest utah, pollutant, polyacrylamide, probability, restore, sasha reed, soil erosion, soil fertility, soil surface, South Africa, south america, survival, texas, university, water retention, word war

Some arid lands in the American West degraded by military exercises that date back to General George Patton’s Word War II maneuvers in the Mojave Desert should get a boost from an innovative research project led by the University of Colorado Boulder.

Headed up by CU-Boulder Assistant Professor Nichole Barger, the research team is focused on developing methods to restore biological soil crusts — microbial communities primarily concentrated on soil surfaces critical to decreasing erosion and increasing water retention and soil fertility. Such biological soil crusts, known as “biocrusts,” can cover up to 70 percent of the ground in some arid ecosystems and are dominated by cyanobacteria, lichens, mosses, fungi and bacteria, she said. (more…)

How Butterfly Wings Can Inspire New High-Tech Surfaces

By Guest PostNovember 11, 2012Nature, Scienceaircraft, bacteria, bharat bhushan, butterfly, butterfly wings, catheter, coated, crude oil, electron microscope, fluid flow, giant blue, gregory bixler, high tech surfaces, iconic butterfly, industrial powder, jo mcculty, medical equipment, micrometer scale feature, microscopic texture, morpho butterfly, morpho didius, nano channel, Nanotechnology, Nature, ohio, ohio state university, oriza sativa, pipelines, plastic surface, rice leaves, silicon carbide powder, south american, watercraft, wings

COLUMBUS, Ohio – A South American butterfly flapped its wings, and caused a flurry of nanotechnology research to happen in Ohio.

Researchers here have taken a new look at butterfly wings and rice leaves, and learned things about their microscopic texture that could improve a variety of products.

For example, the researchers were able to clean up to 85 percent of dust off a coated plastic surface that mimicked the texture of a butterfly wing, compared to only 70 percent off a flat surface. (more…)

Common Food Preservative May Slow, Even Stop Tumor Growth

By Guest PostOctober 30, 2012Healthanti tumor, antibacterial agent, antimicrobial, bacteria, bad cell, calcium, cancer fighting, cancer medicine, cancerous tumor, cell carcinoma, cell death, cell head, cell membrane, chac1, fda, food preservative, good cell, human consumption, key regulator, michigan, neck cancer, nisin, nisin treatment, oral cancer, potential, properties, protein, squamous, therapy, tumor, university, yvonne kapila

ANN ARBOR — Nisin, a common food preservative, may slow or stop squamous cell head and neck cancers, a University of Michigan study found.

What makes this particularly good news is that the Food and Drug Administration and the World Health Organization approved nisin as safe for human consumption decades ago, says Yvonne Kapila, the study’s principal investigator and professor at the University of Michigan School of Dentistry. (more…)

Analysis of Bacterial Genes May Help ID Cause of Dog Brain Disease, Say UF Researchers

By Guest PostOctober 2, 2012Health, Nature, Scienceanalysis, autoimmune, bacteria, balance, brain damage, brain disorder, brain inflammation, brain syndrome, brain tissue, cell, central, chihuahuas, christopher mariani, daniel brown, decreased alertness, dina michaels, disease, dog, florida, gene, genetic makeup, genital tract, gme, granulomatous meningoencephalomyelitis, immune system, karen vernau, macrophages, malteses, mycoplasma canis, necrotizing meningoencephalitis, nervous system, nme, pomeranians, pugs, renee barber, response, scott schatzberg, seizures, small breed, symptom, throat, university, viral agent, virus, yorkshire terriers

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — By analyzing the genes of bacteria, University of Florida researchers have moved a step closer to pinpointing how two brain disorders common in small-breed dogs occur.

The researchers found that the bacteria, known as Mycoplasma canis, invade dog’s cells and suppress their immune system responses. (more…)

5 Myths About the Bird Flu

By Guest PostSeptember 29, 2012Healthabout, antibiotics, asia, bacteria, bird feces, bird flu, blog, chicken, cooked poultry, detective, false myths, jack meyer, myths, origin, poultry, vaccination, virus

With all of the information floating around regarding the bird flu epidemic it can be hard to discern what you should really be concerned about and what is nothing more than a rumor. Here are five myths regarding the bird flu that aren’t as factual as they first may seem:

Any ingestion of infected poultry can be deadly: If the poultry is cooked thoroughly enough, even if it was infected prior to cooking, then it can be safe to eat. The virus cannot live through the extreme heat required for cooking, and will die off. Just make sure to cook your poultry thoroughly before consuming it to err on the side of safety. (more…)