MicrobeWorld

SciAm is reporting that indigenous populations who live in relative isolation may be at more risk from Swine Flu/H1N1 infection than your average person.

"Swine flu has been reported for the first time in Amazonian Indians, raising fears that the virus will cause more contagion and potential ... Read More

The Netherlands is again facing a sharp increase in Q fever notifications, after the unprecedented outbreaks of 2007 and 2008.
The most affected province of Noord Brabant has a high density of large dairy goat farms, and farms with abortion waves have
been incriminated. Mandatory vaccination o... Read More

File this under cool gadgets.

"A Japanese company called esupply is selling a cool little microscope [JP] that can be hooked to computers via a microUSB port (Windows only). The device boasts a 2MP CMOS sensor made by Sanyo and features 5x to 150x zoom. Not powerful enough to be used on a pr... Read More

A commonly held belief that severe influenza pandemics are preceded by a milder wave of illness arose because some accounts of the devastating flu pandemic of 1918-19 suggested that it may have followed such a pattern. But two scientists from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Dise... Read More

Dr. Ralf Bartenschlager, Director of the Department of Molecular Virology at the Hygiene Institute of Heidelberg University Hospital, has identified a protein in infected liver cells that is essential for hepatitis C virus replication. Inhibiting this protein is highly efficient in blocking viru... Read More

The smallest organisms to use a biological compass are magnetotactic bacteria, however mysteries remain about exactly how these bacteria create their cellular magnets. In a study published online in Genome Research, scientists have used genome sequencing to unlock new secrets about these magneti... Read More

A study in the September issue of The American Naturalist describes new details about a fungal parasite that coerces ants into dying in just the right spot—one that is ideal for the fungus to grow and reproduce. The study, led David P. Hughes of Harvard University, shows just how precisely the f... Read More

A recent article in The Examiner, an online and print paper from the DC area, asks if monolaurin, a food supplement extracted from lauric acid in coconut oil (that you can buy online or in a health food store) can keep the H1N1 flu virus as well as herpes simplex (facial herpes virus) from repr... Read More

A team of researchers from Boston University, Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts Institute of Technology recently made a discovery that changes a long held paradigm about how bacteria move through soft gels. They showed that the bacterium, Helicobacter pylori, that causes human stomach ... Read More

A new study by researchers at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health's Center for Infection and Immunity indicates that pediatric obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), Tourette syndrome and/or tic disorder may develop from an inappropriate immune response to the bacteria causing comm... Read More

It’s been called the “vine that ate the south.” Kudzu grows so fast it can completely cover a cabin in the woods in a couple of days. The invasive plant takes over another 150,000 acres every year. Which costs another $6 million to control.

But plant pathologists with the U.S. Department of A... Read More

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BP is ponying up $10 million for a partnership with Martek Biosciences to study the use of algae to convert sugar into biodiesel. BP isn’t the only oil major — or government agency — to show an interest in the prospect of commercially viable algal-based fuels. Just last month ExxonMobil committe... Read More

A new study by researchers at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health's Center for Infection and Immunity indicates that pediatric obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), Tourette syndrome and/or tic disorder may develop from an inappropriate immune response to the bacteria causing comm... Read More

The smallest organisms to use a biological compass are magnetotactic bacteria, however mysteries remain about exactly how these bacteria create their cellular magnets. In a study published online in Genome Research, scientists have used genome sequencing to unlock new secrets about these magneti... Read More

Peter Kareiva, chief scientist at The Nature Conservancy, has authored a post on Cool Green Science, "the conservation blog of The Nature Conservancy," that looks at the current state of scientific illiteracy in the wake of Chris Mooney's new book "Unscientific America."

Interestingly, Karevi... Read More

An opinion piece published in the Wall Street Journal written by Dr. Mitchell J. Schwaber,director of the National Center for Infection Control of the Israel Ministry of Health and Dr. Yehuda Carmeli, director of the Division of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine at Tel Aviv Medical Center,... Read More

The brute force of Bacillus anthracis, the ancient scourge that causes anthrax, can sweep through and overpower a two-ton animal in under 72 hours. But when it isn't busy claiming livestock and humans throughout the world -- up to 100,000 annually -- it resides ominously in the soil as a spore w... Read More

Dolphins are swimming in waters tainted with germ-killing soaps, but they aren't winding up squeaky clean.

Triclosan, an antibacterial chemical found in everyday bathroom and kitchen products, is accumulating in dolphins at concentrations known to disrupt the growth and development of other a... Read More

Patients with potentially deadly drug-resistant bacteria that they pick up in the hospital often carry the infection to home health care settings after hospital discharge, and transmission occurs in about one fifth of household contacts, according to a report published today.

Methicillin-resi... Read More