Summaries | Headlines

Plant Viruses From Past Provide Ecological Clues (October 11, 2007) -- Taking the medical history of a grassland may seem a bit esoteric. However, scientists have discovered plant viruses from as early as 1917 containing information crucial not only for plant ... > full story

Avian Flu -- 1918 and Today -- Protein Enhances Lethality Of Virus (October 11, 2007) -- The 1918 influenza virus pandemic was responsible for more than 40 million deaths across the globe. The incredible lethality of the 1918 flu strain is not well understood, despite having been under ... > full story

New Hope For Horse Lovers As Effective Control For Killer Ragwort Is Proposed (October 11, 2007) -- An effective natural control alternative for ragwort -- a weed that the British Horse Society has warned "poses a real threat to the horse population in the UK" -- is being proposed. It is estimated ... > full story

Green Algae -- The Nexus Of Plant/animal Ancestry (October 11, 2007) -- Genes of a tiny, single-celled green alga called Chlamydomonas reinhardtii may contain scores more data about the common ancestry of plants and animals than the richest paleontological dig. This work ... > full story

New Technique Identifies Adenoviruses Quickly (October 11, 2007) -- A rapid and accurate new molecular typing strategy has been used to conduct one of the most comprehensive studies of adenoviruses ever performed in the United States. Adenoviruses commonly cause ... > full story

New Mathematical Model Unravels The Mechanics Of Microbe Reproduction (October 11, 2007) -- In process that is shrouded in mystery, rod-shaped bacteria reproduce by splitting themselves in two. By applying advanced mathematics to laboratory data, scientists have solved a small but important ... > full story

Red Wine And Grape Juice Help Defend Against Food-borne Diseases, Study Suggests (October 11, 2007) -- Red wine is known to have multiple health benefits. Red wine may also protect humans from common food-borne diseases. They found that red wines – Cabernet, Zinfandel and Merlot in particular – have ... > full story

Influenza: Insights Into Cell Specificity Of Human Vs. Avian Viruses (October 10, 2007) -- Researchers have identified which sites and cell types within the respiratory tract are targeted by human vs. avian influenza viruses, providing valuable insights into the pathogenesis of these ... > full story

An AIDS-related Virus Reveals More Ways To Cause Cancer (October 10, 2007) -- Researchers have shed new light on how Kaposi's Sarcoma-associated Herpes Virus subverts normal cell machinery to cause cancer. A KSHV protein called latency-associated nuclear antigen (LANA) helps ... > full story

Why Are Huge Numbers Of Camels Dying In Africa And Saudi Arabia? (October 10, 2007) -- Why are so many Arabian camels dying? Analyses are being conducted to confirm or rule out the hypothesis of food intoxication in the countries concerned. Poisoning caused by the ingestion of toxic ... > full story

Feline Virus, Antiviral Drug Studied To Understand Drug Resistance (October 10, 2007) -- Researchers will spend the next two years testing their theories about just how an AIDS-like virus in cats is able to resist the powerful medicines that are thrown against it. It's one of the latest ... > full story

Grid Computing Offers New Hope In Race Against Bird Flu (October 9, 2007) -- A new attack against the deadly bird flu virus, harnessing the combined power of more than 40,000 computers across 45 countries to boost the pace of anti-viral drug discovery, has just been launched. ... > full story

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Pathogen -- A pathogen or infectious agent is a biological agent that causes disease or illness to its host. The term is most often used for agents that disrupt the normal physiology of a multicellular animal or ... > full article

Prion -- A prion (short for proteinaceous infectious particle) is a unique type of infectious agent, as it is made only of protein. It is now commonly accepted that prions are responsible for a number of ... > full article

Microorganism -- A microorganism or microbe is an organism that is so small that it is microscopic (invisible to the naked eye). Microorganisms are often illustrated using single-celled, or unicellular organisms; ... > full article

Bovine spongiform encephalopathy -- Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), commonly known as mad cow disease, is a fatal, neurodegenerative disease of cattle. BSE has attracted wide attention because it seems that people can contract ... > full article

Spore -- In biology, a spore is a reproductive structure that is adapted for dispersion and surviving for extended periods of time in unfavorable conditions. Spores form part of the life cycles of many ... > full article

Phytopathology -- Phytopathology or plant pathology is the science of diagnosing and managing plant diseases. It covers all infectious agents that attack plants and abiotic disorders, but does not include herbivory by ... > full article

Antibiotic resistance -- Antibiotic resistance is the ability of a microorganism to withstand the effects of an antibiotic. Antibiotic resistance is a consequence of evolution via natural selection. The antibiotic action is ... > full article

Vector (biology) -- Traditionally in medicine, a vector is an organism that does not cause disease itself but which spreads infection by conveying pathogens from one host to another. Species of mosquito, for example, ... > full article

Transmission (medicine) -- In medicine, transmission is the passing of a disease from an infected individual or group to a previously uninfected individual or group. In order to survive, microorganisms that require human hosts ... > full article

Anthrax -- Anthrax, also referred to as splenic fever, is an acute infectious disease caused by the bacteria Bacillus anthracis and is highly lethal in some forms. Anthrax most commonly occurs in wild and ... > full article

Bacteria -- Bacteria (singular: bacterium) are a major group of living organisms. Most are microscopic and unicellular, with a relatively simple cell structure lacking a cell nucleus, and organelles such as ... > full article

Microorganism --

A microorganism (also spelled as microrganism) or microbe is an organism that is microscopic (too small to be seen by the human eye). The study of microorganisms is called microbiology. ... > full article

Endospore -- An endospore is a dormant, tough, non-reproductive structure produced by a small number of bacteria from the Firmicute family. The primary function of most endospores is to ensure the survival of a ... > full article

Salmonella infection -- Salmonellosis is an infection with Salmonella bacteria. Most people infected with Salmonella develop diarrhea, fever, and abdominal cramps 6 to 72 hours after infection. In most cases, the illness ... > full article

Escherichia coli -- Escherichia coli, usually abbreviated to E. coli, is one of the main species of bacteria that live in the lower intestines of warm-blooded animals, including birds and mammals. They are necessary for ... > full article

Penicillin-like antibiotics -- Beta-lactam antibiotics are a broad class of antibiotics which include penicillin derivatives, cephalosporins, monobactams, carbapenems and Beta-lactamase inhibitors; basically any antibiotic agent ... > full article

Immune system -- The immune system is the system of specialized cells and organs that protect an organism from outside biological influences. (Though in a broad sense, almost every organ has a protective function - ... > full article

Soil life -- Soil life is a collective term for all the organisms living within the soil. In a balanced soil, plants grow in an active and vibrant environment. Without the activities of soil organisms, dead ... > full article

Upper respiratory tract infection -- Upper respiratory infections, commonly referred to the acronym URI, is the illness caused by an acute infection which involves the upper respiratory tract: nose, sinuses, pharynx, larynx, or bronchi. ... > full article

Prokaryote -- Prokaryotes are organisms without a cell nucleus, or indeed any other membrane-bound organelles, in most cases unicellular (in rare cases, multicellular). This set of characteristics is distinct from ... > full article