News tagged with human pathogen

Viral phenomenon: Ancient microbe invaded human DNA

Humans carry in their genome the relics of an animal virus that infected their forerunners at least 40 million years ago, according to research published Wednesday by the British science journal Nature.

Medicine & Health / Genetics

created Jan 06, 2010 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (21) | comments 10

Why sex with a partner is better (w/ Video)

(PhysOrg.com) -- OK, it takes two for human reproduction, and now it seems that plants and animals that can rely on either a partner or go alone by self-fertilization give their offspring a better chance for ...

Biology / Evolution

created Oct 21, 2009 | popularity 3.4 / 5 (18) | comments 1

Human nose too cold for bird flu, says new study

(PhysOrg.com) -- Avian influenza viruses do not thrive in humans because the temperature inside a person's nose is too low, according to research published today in the journal PLoS Pathogens. The authors of the ...

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created May 15, 2009 | popularity 4.4 / 5 (11) | comments 3

Study points to disruption of copper regulation as key to prion diseases

(PhysOrg.com) -- An investigation of a rare, inherited form of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease suggests that disrupted regulation of copper ions in the brain may be a key factor in this and other prion diseases.

Chemistry / Biochemistry

created Apr 17, 2009 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (8) | comments 1

Raw sewage: Home to millions of undescribed viruses

Biologists have described only a few thousand different viruses so far, but a new study reveals a vast world of unseen viral diversity that exists right under our noses. A paper to be published Tuesday, October 4 in the online ...

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Oct 03, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (6) | comments 3

Women have a more powerful immune system than men

When it comes to immunity, men may not have been dealt an equal hand. The latest study by Dr. Maya Saleh, of the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre and McGill University, shows that women have a more ...

Medicine & Health / Health

created May 12, 2009 | popularity 3.1 / 5 (9) | comments 8

Researchers demonstrate new DNA detection technique

A team of researchers from the University of Notre Dame have demonstrated a novel DNA detection method that could prove suitable for many real-world applications.

Biology / Biotechnology

created Dec 16, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (5) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

New research illustrates how genome adapts to transposon invasion

Small, mobile sequences of DNA left over from viruses, called transposons or "jumping genes" because of their ability to move around the genome, pose a significant threat to the genetic integrity and stability of an organism. ...

Biology / Biotechnology

created Dec 22, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (5) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

'Vietnam time bomb' defused: Scientists find key mechanism by which bacterial pathogen causes melioidosis

A key mechanism by which a bacterial pathogen causes the deadly tropical disease melioidosis has been discovered by an international team of scientists.

Biology / Biotechnology

created Nov 10, 2011 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (5) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Findings uncover new details about mysterious virus

(PhysOrg.com) -- An international team of researchers has determined key structural features of the largest known virus, findings that could help scientists studying how the simplest life evolved and whether the unusual virus ...

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Apr 28, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (4) | comments 3

Study finds a weak spot on deadly ebolavirus

Scientists from The Scripps Research Institute and the US Army's Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases have isolated and analyzed an antibody that neutralizes Sudan virus, a major species of ebolavirus ...

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Nov 21, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (4) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Natural born killers -- how the body's frontline immune cells decide which cells to destroy

(PhysOrg.com) -- The mechanism used by 'Natural Killer' immune cells in the human body to distinguish between diseased cells, which they are meant to destroy, and normal cells, which they are meant to leave ...

Medicine & Health / Medical research

created Jul 28, 2009 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (4) | comments 0

Reclaimed Riddle

(PhysOrg.com) -- It was the "yuck factor" of reclaimed water that got Karyna Rosario thinking. As communities increasingly turn to reclaimed water as a source for irrigation - and some communities consider ...

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Sep 28, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (3) | comments 0

Polar growth at the bacterial scale reveals potential new targets for antibiotic therapy

(PhysOrg.com) -- An international team of microbiologists led by Indiana University researchers has identified a new bacterial growth process -- one that occurs at a single end or pole of the cell instead ...

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Jan 17, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (3) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Cholera's nano-dagger: Researchers observe how pathogen decimates competing bacteria and human cells

Bacteria live in a state of perpetual warfare, with different species battling for dominion over their competitors and when pathogen, over their infected host. New research suggests that the human pathogen Vibrio cholerae, which ...

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Feb 29, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (3) | comments 4 | with audio podcast