Breakthrough allows fast, reliable pathogen identification

Life-threatening bacterial infections cause tens of thousands of deaths every year in North America. Increasingly, many infections are resistant to first-line antibiotics. Unfortunately, current methods of culturing bacteria ...

Spain's typhus epidemic revealed by 18th century skeletons

By studying the dental pulp of skeletons buried in Douai (northern France), French researchers from CNRS and the Universite de la Mediterranee have identified the pathogenic agents responsible for trench fever and typhus. ...

Malaria: A vector infecting both apes and humans

In 2010, a study revealed that the main agent of malaria in humans, called Plasmodium falciparum, arose from the gorilla. Today, the vector which transmitted the parasite from apes to humans has just been identified. A Franco-Gabonese ...

New insights into mosquitoes' role as involuntary bioterrorists

For many years scientists thought that mosquitoes provided the disease organisms which they spread with a relatively free ride because the insects didn't have much in the way of natural defenses to fight off these microscopic ...

Researching new detectors for chemical, biological threats

Sandia National Laboratories scientists are thinking small, building on decades of sensor work to invent tiny detectors that can sniff out everything from explosives and biotoxins to smuggled humans.

Scientists grow plants with friendly fungi

Dr. Chris Thornton and colleagues at the University of Exeter are examining whether adding a safe and harmless fungus to compost boosts the growth and proliferation of crops' roots, helping them grow with less water. Not ...

Delivering a virus that gets rid of house flies

The house fly is often considered merely a nuisance. But these flies are capable of transmitting animal and human pathogens that can lead to foodborne diseases, including Escherichia coli, Salmonella, and Shigella bacteria.

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