The late Edward Leadbetter had a huge impact on my life as an academic, and a microbiologist. In this post, I try to give some appreciation to what he meant to me. Read More
DURHAM, N.C. -- Many bugs that make us sick -- bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites -- hide out in our cells in protective little bubbles called vacuoles. To clear an infection, the immune system must recognize and destroy these vacuoles while leaving the rest of the living cell intact. Read More
Plague infections were common in humans 3,300 years earlier than the historical record suggests, reports a study published October 22 in Cell. By sequencing the DNA of tooth samples from Bronze Age individuals from Europe and Asia, the researchers discovered evidence of plague infections roughly... Read More
The common waterborne bacterium Caulobacter crescentus reproduces asymmetrically. When a cell divides, one of its daughter cells is a free-swimming “swarmer,” powered by a hairlike flagellum. The other, “stalk” daughter cell is immobile, anchoring itself to a surface with one of nature’s stronge... Read More
The campaign is called "Kick Back Ebola." But the posters pack a punch.
Sierra Leone has reported over 700 suspected Ebola cases, more than any other country this year. To help stop the outbreak, health workers have put up Ebola awareness signs all over Sierra Leone's seaside capital of Freet... Read More
Testing thousands of approved drugs, EPFL scientists have identified an unlikely anti-tuberculosis drug: the over-the-counter antacid lansoprazole (Prevacid®). Read More
Scientists at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have created a protein that awakens resting immune cells infected with HIV and facilitates their destruction in laboratory studies. The protein potentially could contribute to a cure for HIV infection by helping deplete the reservoir of long-... Read More
Basidiobolus haptosporus. Hypha in subcutaneous phycomycosis granuloma. Read More
This strain of Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolated from wound make a green pigment: pyoverdine. Pyoverdine is a fluorescent siderophores for to acquire iron.
Pyoverdine biosynthesis in Pseudomonas aeruginosa and fluorescent Pseudomonads is a complex process.
Credits: dr. Francesco d'Aleo & Robe... Read More
This confocal micrograph, taken as part of a synthetic biology project, shows Bacillus subtilis, a Gram-positive, rod-shaped bacterium that is commonly found in soil. Distinct lineages of bacteria expressing different fluorescent proteins were initially mixed randomly on a petri dish. As the bac... Read More
Athens, Ga. - Lax state vaccination laws contribute to lower immunization rates and increased outbreaks of preventable diseases--like whooping cough and measles--according to a new study from the University of Georgia. Read More
Click source to view photos of the development of a smallpox immunization lesion on a listener of This Week in Virology's arm. Read More
For the first time in more than a year, Guinea passed a week without a new lab-confirmed Ebola case, but the news out of West Africa last week was tempered by a flare-up of activity in Sierra Leone, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported today in its latest update. Read More
Disease-causing viruses engage their hosts in ongoing arms races: positive selection for antiviral genes increases host fitness and survival, and viruses in turn select for mutations that counteract the antiviral host factors. Studying such adaptive mutations can provide insights into the distan... Read More