MicrobeWorld

The CDC has released new guidelines for moms concerned abouth whether they should breast feed their children if they have H1N1 or Swine Flu.

"Infants are thought to be at higher risk for severe illness from novel influenza A (H1N1) infection and very little is known about prevention of novel ... Read More

New research published in PLoS Medecine from the NIAID-funded Center for HIV/AIDS Vaccine Immunology suggests that HIV-1 moves at breathtaking speed in destroying and de-regulating the body's gut-based B-cell antibody-producing system, resulting in a sober reality for hopeful vaccine hunters.

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This is an interesting documentary about superbugs, such as MRSA, antibiotic resistance and Russia's research into bacteriophage (viruses that attack bacteria) as a treatment for people with bacterial-related diseases. This video was produced in 1997 by the BBC, but despite the air date, ther... Read More

Bioinformatics, the application of computer analysis to molecular biology, is a fundamental corollary to biodefense research. As we face new security threats involving pathogens and infectious disease, bioinformatics databases must be improved and a plan must be made for integrating biodefense r... Read More

Virginia Campbell,MD, host of the Brain Science Podcast, has published a very interesting interview with Dr. Paul Offit, author of the book Autism’s False Prophets. In the interview, Campbell and Offit explore "the scientific evidence that vaccines DO NOT cause autism, but also examine why the c... Read More

While this instructional video is good, the narrator's "dracula" accent is downright silly. Click source to learn how to successfully streak a plate and to watch out for common problems associated with the technique. Read More

23andme, "the world's trusted source of personal genetic information", has produced a great animation series about genes and genetics. The films will be aired during Gene Screen, a night of film on health and genetics in Washington, D.C. on July 16. Watch an animated guide to your genes, SNPs, p... Read More

A paper published in PubMed that appeared in the July 1967 edition of Applied Microbiology reports that men with beards who work in microbiology labs may be a public health hazard. The authors conclude that although lab personnel who wash their beards reduced the amount of virus or toxin, a suff... Read More

The science of metagenomics has uncovered that viruses are the most abundant and genetically diverse organisms on earth. In an article published in Microbiology Today, Peter Simmons from the Centre for Infectious Diseases, University of Edinburgh, discusses how discoveries of new viruses are pro... Read More

This article looks at key challenges when using agricultural waste as a sustainable source for biofuels to meet worldwide energy needs. Subjects include dealing with diverse cellulosic sugars and finding ways to recycle carbon dioxide back into useful biomass.
Why plants such as sugar cane and ... Read More

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Dr. Carl Winter, a food toxicologist at University of California, Davis, sings this parody of The Eagles' "Heartache Tonight." Read More

Vincent Racaniello from This Week in Virology has a great post on his site about what happens to the immune system during the initial infection of an influenza virus:

During the earliest stages of a virus infection, cytokines are produced when innate immune defenses are activated. The rapid ... Read More

While estimates of the number of genes in the human genome is said to be around 20,000, new research estimates that if you take into account our microbiota there may be as many as 9 million genes in the human gut.

"A new concept is to consider human as a super-organism containing those microb... Read More

The CDC report on the direct costs of nosocomial infections and costs of prevention. The last report was published in 1992 based.

From the Summary:

This report uses results from the published medical and economic literature to provide a range of estimates for the annual direct hospital co... Read More

Koi herpesvirus (KHV) is a highly contagious viral disease that may cause significant morbidity and mortality in common carp (Cyprinus carpio) (Hedrick et al. 2000; OATA 2001). Common carp is raised as a foodfish in many countries and has also been selectively bred for the ornamental fish indust... Read More

An Emergency Use Authorization online course developed by the Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to provide public health officials, emergency managers, or Strategic National Stockpile coordinators with an introduction to the Emergency Use Authorization o... Read More

Beginning in 2010, undergraduate students from colleges and universities with limited resources will be offered research experience at research-intensive, resource-rich host institutions under the guidance of members from the American Society for Microbiology. This paper (click "source") explain... Read More

A new paper submitted to PLoS One shows histamine plays a critical role in the pathogenesis of experimental cerebral malaria (CM) in mice infected with Plasmodium berghei ANKA. Histamine exerts its biological effects through four different receptors designated H1R, H2R, H3R, and H4R. In humans, ... Read More

The Public Library of Science's open access journals just release its 2009 June Progress Report in which they project "a publishing business model projected to be 100% self-sufficient in 2010."

"PLoS journals use a business model that recovers expenses — including administration of peer revie... Read More