MicrobeWorld

On the issue of antibiotic-resistant bacteria and animals, the first thing that comes to mind is livestock and other farm-based animals that are regularly fed antibiotics as growth promoters, but they are not the only source of resistance. Participants discuss studies showing that non-farm anim... Read More

This episode: Bacterial enzymes are good for making nanomagnets for computers!

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A future weapon in the battle against obesity and diabetes could come in the form of an oil derived from the seeds of wild almond trees, according to researchers at Missouri University of Science and Technology.
The key to the oil's potential lies in its ability to affect certain microorganisms... Read More

Scientists have discovered when a cancer-killing virus is injected in the bloodstream it hitches a ride on blood cells and evades attack from the immune system, allowing it to reach cancer tumors, and start destroying cancer cells. They suggest this means it may be possible to use promising "vir... Read More

A newly added session at the 2012 General Meeting of the American Society for Microbiology will focus on the latest data release by the NIH Human Microbiome Project (HMP).

The HMP has been a five-year endeavor to produce community resources to support the human microbiome field. These activit... Read More

Antibiotics accounted for about a quarter of all pediatric prescriptions; amoxicillin leads the list.

Overall, 263.6 million prescriptions were written for patients 17 and under in 2010, down 7% from 2002, finds the analysis of prescription claims databases by Food and Drug Administration res... Read More

Researchers at Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children's Hospital have identified commensal bacteria in the human intestine that produce a neurotransmitter that may play a role in preventing or treating inflammatory bowel diseases such as Crohn's disease.

We identified, to our knowledge... Read More

Next time you enter a new hotel room, you might think twice before touching the light switch or reaching for the remote.

Those are two of the top surfaces most likely to be contaminated with potentially sickening bacteria, according to a small new study aimed at boosting cleaning practices at... Read More

The human microbiome consists of thousands of viral and microbial species which inhabit the human body and have co-evolved with us to protect against pathogens, regulate organ function and supply nutrients and other factors essential for health. When these members fall out of balance, it can le... Read More

A survey of surfaces in hotel rooms finds television remotes to be among the most heavily contaminated with bacteria and items on housekeeping carts carry the potential to cross-contaminate rooms. Participants will discuss the results of this survey, the first step in to objectively assess sani... Read More

Traditionally, colonization of a host has been described in terms of a microbial community that does not affect the host, but recent research (such as the Human Microbiome Project) suggests that colonizing microbes are having an effect not only on the host, but on each other. Participants discu... Read More

University of Oregon scientists have discovered how the bacterium Helicobacter pylori navigates through the acidic stomach, opening up new possibilities to inactivate its disease-causing ability without using current strategies that often fail or are discontinued because of side effects.

Thei... Read More

They live on your skin, up your nose, in your gut - enough bacteria, fungi and other microbes that collected together could weigh, amazingly, a few pounds.

Now scientists have mapped just which critters normally live in or on us and where, calculating that healthy people can share their bodi... Read More

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Mass... Read More

Judi writes:

To our TWIV leaders!

If you have a mac with Apps, please go to the app store and download cell images.... I think you'll have a great time going through them.

One other thing - I listened to your show on science reform with interest but I ... Read More

Personally, I would have been perfectly happy to have been one of the volunteers for the Human Microbiome Project, in which researchers took a detailed census of all the bacteria, fungi and other microscopic life within us.

Nor would I care if the contents of my innards were published for all... Read More

An I Can Haz Cheezburger meme for ASM's General Meeting in San Francisco created by artist Michele Banks. Read More

The risk of death from methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) bacteremia increased significantly with age, nursing home residence, and organ impairment, according to a retrospective review of 699 episodes of MRSA.

Severe bacteremia also predicted an increased mortality risk, but t... Read More

One thing that becomes more clear with each piece of research is that the human body is a hive of mostly harmless bacteria that live in any crevice they can reach while affecting their human host as little as possible. In some cases these bacteria can be very beneficial – preventing more dangero... Read More

A new combination vaccine that protects infants from two deadly infections that can cause meningitis, meningococcal disease and Hib disease, was approved Thursday by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

The vaccine, called Menhibrix, has been approved for children ages 6 weeks through 18 mo... Read More