When an infected tsetse fly bites humans or other mammals to feed on their blood, microscopic parasites (African trypanosomes) in the fly's saliva are transferred. The unfortunate recipient of the bite, once infected, often ...
Cell & Microbiology
Jan 31, 2020
0
171
Scientists in the US have developed a novel vaccination method that uses tiny gold particles to mimic a virus and carry specific proteins to the body's specialist immune cells.
Bio & Medicine
Jun 25, 2013
0
0
Cytomegalovirus – or CMV - is the most complex virus known to man. Most people will in their lives become infected by CMV and, because it is a herpes virus, infection lasts a lifetime. CMV can cause severe disease in immunosuppressed ...
Cell & Microbiology
Jun 12, 2014
0
0
Molecular biology's central dogma posits a simple recipe for the construction of the human body: a DNA blueprint is transcribed into an RNA message, and the RNA message is translated into the proteins that make you. Translating ...
Cell & Microbiology
Jan 12, 2024
0
51
This story begins several billion years ago. There's only chemistry, no biology—that is, plenty of chemical compounds exist on Earth, but life hasn't yet emerged. Then, among myriads of randomly self-assembled chemical ...
Evolution
Sep 14, 2022
1
832
Although gluten-free foods are trendy among the health-conscious, they are necessary for those with celiac disease. But gluten, the primary trigger for health problems in these patients, may not be the only culprit. Scientists ...
Biochemistry
Nov 5, 2014
0
2
Vaccines usually consist of inactivated viruses that prompt the immune system to remember the invader and launch a strong defense if it later encounters the real thing. However, this approach can be too risky with certain ...
Polymers
Jan 28, 2013
0
0
Infections with Salmonella bacteria, often caused by eating or handling undercooked meat or eggs, affect about 100 million people a year worldwide. The suffering the infection causes—abdominal cramps, fever and diarrhea—is ...
Biochemistry
Sep 29, 2018
0
324
The parasite Toxoplasma gondii is a silent success. It infects up to 95% of people in many regions of the world, and most of them never know it, due to the parasite's artful manipulation of its host's immune response. Toxoplasma ...
Biotechnology
Nov 24, 2016
2
469
In a study recently published in Nature Chemical Biology, researchers focused on para-nitro-L-phenylalanine (pN-Phe), a non-standard amino acid that is neither one of the twenty standard amino acids nor observed in nature. ...
Cell & Microbiology
May 23, 2023
0
16
