MicrobeWorld

This is a great look at how traditional media and new media have impacted the public perception of swine flu/H1N1. Well worth watching. Read More

A goal in fighting influenza is a universal vaccine, one that works on many strains of the pathogen [see “Beating the Flu in a Single Shot”; Scientific American, June 2008]. But the virus’s outer coat, consisting mainly of proteins called hemagglutinin and neuraminidase, frequently mutate, forci... Read More

An ingenious new method of obtaining marine microbe samples while preserving the microbes' natural gene expression has yielded an unexpected boon: the presence of many varieties of small RNAs — snippets of RNA that act as switches to regulate gene expression in these single-celled creatures.

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Put your tinfoil hat on people! Virologist Adrian Gibbs, a developer of Tamiflu, suspects swine flu may have escaped from a lab. His effort to trace the virus's origins by decoding its genetic blueprint has led him to consider the possibility. In fact, the World Health Organization is taking his... Read More

Scientists at Edinburgh University have found a "strong" suggestion the bacteria is able to hamper the body's fight against bowel cancer.

They now hope the findings from their pilot study will lead to more research into the causes of the disease.

"Our laboratory work does strongly suggest... Read More

Pregnant women who get swine flu are at such high risk of complications like pneumonia, dehydration and premature labor that they should be treated at once with the antiviral drug Tamiflu — even though it is not normally recommended in pregnancy, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention sa... Read More

Contrary to the prevailing view, cereal crops derive the majority of their nitrogen from the soil, not fertilizer. Soils differ considerably in microbial activities that determine nitrogen-supplying power, and these differences must be taken into account if nitrogen fertilizers are to be used ef... Read More

A team of Princeton University scientists may have found a better way to make a vaccine against the flu virus.

Though theoretical, the work points to the critical importance of what has been a poorly appreciated aspect of the interaction between a virus and those naturally produced defensive ... Read More

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Many people suffering from swine influenza, even those who are severely ill, do not have fever, an odd feature of the new virus that could increase the difficulty of controlling the epidemic, said a leading American infectious disease expert who examined cases in Mexico last week.

Fever is a ... Read More

NASA is applying space technology to a decidedly down-to-earth effort that links the production of algae-based fuel with an inexpensive method of sewage treatment.

The space agency is growing algae for biofuel in plastic bags of sewage floating in the ocean.

The effort has three goals: Pro... Read More

Here's an interesting article about biohackers, people who create homemade labs and tinker with microbes, and the national security issues these endeavors inevitably bring up. What's also of note is that it seems the Dept. of Homeland defense is monitoring this activity closely.

In Massachuse... Read More

Do you know where your cell phone has been? Probably in your lint covered pocket, after being handled by fingers that have eaten food and touched many surfaces, and covered in your own spittle after your last call. Hey can I borrow your phone? No.

In a March 2009 study published in the Annals... Read More

University of Florida researchers have learned more about how smallpox conducts its deadly business — discoveries that may reveal as much about the human immune system as they do about one of the world's most feared pathogens.

In findings to be published this week in the online early edition ... Read More

Once Upon a Time there was a little flu virus. It was probably born in Kansas in late 1917 or 1918, although nobody is really sure. Its name was H1N1. It grew up to be very wicked.

The story of the new strain of swine influenza now circling the world actually starts a lot farther back than t... Read More

From the NYTimes - The first case of swine flu in China was confirmed yesterday as the epidemic continued moving around the world, with the World Health Organization reporting about 4,700 laboratory-confirmed cases in 30 countries.

Health authorities are carefully watching the Southern Hemisp... Read More

Childhood vaccinations can be a painful experience, especially for toddlers. Researchers from the University of Toronto decided to see if the order of receiving vaccinations could help alleviate their suffering:

"Typically, infants receive DPTaP-Hib (for diphtheria, polio, pertussis, tetanus ... Read More

Just as the media chatter about H1N1 influenza reached a fever pitch, traders were expressing a more sober outlook.

At least that's the word from the Iowa Electronic Health Markets, which opened H1N1 futures contracts on April 28th to assess the breadth, speed and severity of the outbreak. "O... Read More

HIV co-discoverers Drs. Robert C. Gallo, director of the Institute of Human Virology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, and Luc A. Montagnier, president of the World Foundation for AIDS Research and Prevention, called on international organizations and governments to immediately i... Read More

H1N1 swine flu is spreading fast enough to justify the preparations for a pandemic, say epidemiologists who've analysed the pattern of spread so far.

"The message is that the epidemic is spreading very much as expected based on past flu epidemics," says Christophe Fraser of Imperial College L... Read More