http://phys.org/ en-us Phys.org internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. E Pluribus Unum, the motto of the United States, could just as well apply to biofilm-forming bacteria. Bacterial biofilms are far more resistant than individual bacteria to the armories of antibiotics we have devised to combat them. Now Tim Holm Jakobsen and Michael Givskov of the University of Copenhagen, and their many collaborators have pinpointed a constituent of garlic that attacks a key step in the development of biofilms, in an effort they hope may offer help in particular for patients with cystic fibrosis. The research is published in the May 2012 issue of Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy. http://phys.org/news256889823.html Biology Tue, 22 May 2012 07:18:06 EST news256889823 (PhysOrg.com) -- New research suggests that cholesterol boosts resistance in Helicobacter pylori both to many antibiotics and to the endogenous antimicrobial peptide, LL-37. A complete understanding of the pathway of cholesterol uptake might lead to novel strategies thwarting H. pylori by blocking that pathway, says corresponding author David McGee of Louisiana State University. The research is published in the June 2011 issue of the journal Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy. http://phys.org/news227517160.html Biology Fri, 17 Jun 2011 08:14:42 EST news227517160 In the absence of early antibiotic treatment, respiratory anthrax is fatal. The 2001 bioterrorism attacks in the US killed four people, out of 22 infected (10 of them with respiratory anthrax), despite massive antibiotic administration, probably because therapy did not begin until the disease had reached the fulminant stage. But a multi-agent prophylaxis initiated within 24 hours post-infection prevented development of fatal anthrax respiratory disease, and treatment combining antibiotics with immunization with a protective antigen-based vaccine conferred long-term protective immunity against reestablishment of the disease, according to a study in the April 2011 issue of the journal Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy. This study is the first to characterize the severity of respiratory anthrax that can be cured. http://phys.org/news222509800.html Medicine & Health Wed, 20 Apr 2011 09:17:20 EST news222509800 (PhysOrg.com) -- Humans carry several pounds of microbes in our gastro-intestinal tracts. Recent research suggests that this microbial ecosystem plays a variety of critical roles in our health. Now, working in a mouse model, researchers from Canada describe many of the interactions between the intestinal microbiota and host, and show that antibiotics profoundly disrupt intestinal homeostasis. The research is published in the April 2011 issue of the journal Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy. http://phys.org/news222509699.html Medicine & Health Wed, 20 Apr 2011 09:15:36 EST news222509699 Providing long-term HIV treatment for over 33 million infected individuals worldwide requires the continuous development of new HIV therapies. Virologists at the Helmholtz Zentrum Munchen have developed a cell-based assay system for easy, reliable identification of HIV inhibitors. This new technology can be used to screen large collections of well-characterized reagents as well as raw extracts of biological specimens. The assay system is described in detail in the current issue of Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy. http://phys.org/news210427603.html Chemistry Wed, 01 Dec 2010 12:40:01 EST news210427603 (PhysOrg.com) -- In recent years, scientists have isolated two potent natural antibiotics — platensimycin and platencin — that are highly effective against bacterial infection, including those caused by the most dreaded drug-resistant microbes. http://phys.org/news154193863.html Chemistry Wed, 18 Feb 2009 15:38:29 EST news154193863 University of Michigan scientists report highly encouraging evidence that a super-fine oil-and-water emulsion, already shown to kill many other microbes, may be able to quell the ravaging, often drug-resistant infections that cause nearly all cystic fibrosis deaths. http://phys.org/news152968889.html Nanotechnology Wed, 04 Feb 2009 11:22:14 EST news152968889