Tag: "defence" at biology news

Revealed -- Mosquito genes that could be controlling the spread of killer viruses

...ly discovered genes in Aedes may provide a similar defence mechanism that can fight the disease viruses. Dr George Christophides of Imperial’s Division of Cell and Molecular Biology, senior author on the paper explains: “Our study has revealed the genetic ‘landscape’ made by parts of this mosquito’s ne...

HIV and malaria combine to adversely affect pregnant women and their infants

...hemselves against malaria and how HIV impairs this defence have been unknown, but a paper published in PLoS Medicine (Public Library of Science) pinpoints how the virus targets the immune response in pregnant women. "PAM can be a deadly condition that leaves mothers and their children particularly vulnerable...

Mule deer moms rescue other fawns

...e, kin selection or reciprocity play a part in the defence of fawns other than their own. But while the study...sound of a fawn distress call may ensure effective defence of a female's own offspring, even though this means the female invests time and energy and puts hers...

New findings could lead to vaccine for severe malaria

...ed several times can become partly immune as their defence system gradually starts to recognise the parasite's proteins. When the placenta is formed, however, a new environment is introduced with a different set of receptors. This means that a new growth niche is made available to a subpopulation of the para...

Discovery in the evolution of the immune system absorbing cells

...osis an evolutionary advantage to B cells in their defence against pathogens. One cannot forget that fish have had a significant evolutionary success, since nearly 50% of vertebrate species belong to this group and they are constantly in contact with a vast multitude of microorganisms in the water. According...

Using nature's most primitive anti-viral defense system to find new approaches to cancer research

... cancer cells. He explains: "Long ago a cellular defence system evolved in our single-celled ancestors to protect them from viruses. This system, called RNAi, is still present today in humans, plants and animals. Recently, we have learnt how to harness this anti-viral system, so that we can use it to silen...

Funding to tackle hospital superbugs

...ified new pathways that enhance the bodies natural defence mechanisms to promote the clearance of infection. The new approach has been named "Resolution Therapeutics" by the Cardiff researchers. It is hoped that research in the School of Medicine will lead to the development of other drugs that modify ho...

Singing for survival

...Thailand have developed a unique song as a natural defence to predators. Literally singing for survival, the gibbons appear to use the song not just to warn their own group members but those in neighbouring areas. They said, "We are interested in gibbon songs because, apart from human speech, these vocali...

New bird flu drug promises to beat the problem of resistance

...e. "Tamiflu and Relenza remain our best lines of defence against a flu pandemic, but we need to be working ...everity and duration of flu so that the body's own defence mechanisms, together with other medical interventions, can help aid recovery. However, the influen...

Outsmarting the smartie bug

...ture of the capsule can help it to fool our immune defence systems ?like a Smartie changing its colour. "The bug has a polysaccharide coat which can take any one of 90 different forms, known as serotypes," said Stephen Bentley, leader of the project at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute. "The coat is essen...

Sun protection for plants

...ia to start to work out how their knowledge of the defence mechanisms in model plants such as Arabidopsis could be used to improve the photosynthesis rates of staple crops such as rice and the common bean. Professor Julia Goodfellow, BBSRC Chief Executive, commented, "This demonstrates how research into f...

Attractive birds more immune against bird flu

...flycatcher's forehead reflects how well the immune defence system combats viruses such as avian influenza. Th...hiest males but also the ones with the best immune defence against future virus infections." The study also shows that the male collared flycatcher can change...

New possibilities to fight pests with biological means

...entists in Neuchatel and Jena showed that indirect defence functions not only above ground, but also below the earth's surface [1]. To understand the biochemistry behind this plant defence, biologists of the Max Planck institute studied corn plants, caterpillars of the species Spodoptera littoralis (Egyptia...

Preclinical study of a new brain tumor therapy

...mpound that could bind to EGFR. As a result of the defence mechanisms that have evolved to protect mammalian cells from viruses, cells are programmed to die once they take up this particular nucleic acid. The treatment therefore eliminates the tumor cells but avoids damage to the normal brain tissue. The r...

Plants have a double line of defence

... in Cologne, Germany demonstrate that a multi-step defence system underlies the durable resistance of plants ...of nonhost resistance and described this system of defence in the current edition of the journal Science (November 18, 2005). In their findings, they draw para...

Dangerous tricksters: Some bacterie use immune cells to reproduce

...ntruders. Some bacteria, however, can subvert this defence mechanism and even multiply within the macrophages...come specialised in tricking this very part of the defence mechanism and survive or even multiply in these macrophages which are actually supposed to kill them...

UQ scientists break new ground in fight against infection & chronic disease

... Science. It involves cells in the front line of defence against infection, called macrophages, releasing messengers to fight and kill disease-causing microbes. IMB researchers Professor Jennifer Stow, Dr Rachael Murray, Mr Jason Kay and Mr Daniele Sangermani discovered macrophages use a single pathway t...

South Africa still debating how to tackle HIV/AIDS when 5 million are infected

...legates at the 4,000-strong conference came to the defence of ARV drugs. Fatima Hassan of the AIDS law project at the University of Witwatersrand, was very critical of the govenment and said she thought there was "deliberate campaign against evidence-based medicine." Hassan said that ARVs are saving people'...

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