Tag: "poisoning" at biology news

Use of Insecticides Linked to Lasting Neurological Problems for Farmers

...nt from previous studies that focused on pesticide poisoning or high dose exposures, for example when large amo...ave never been previously diagnosed with pesticide poisoning or medically treated for any exposure to any pesticide, we are led to conclude that their symptoms a...

Mutation in clams protects against paralytic shellfish poisoning but raises human health risk

...ected by the toxins that cause paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP), but scientists have now identified a mutation in clams that gives some protection. PSP toxins interfere with nerve function, and the mutation, which changes a single amino acid in a sodium channel, makes nerves less sensitive to those toxins. ...

Scientists find viruses can't stick to sea bugs in the dark

... sunny days algae can cause massive, toxic blooms, poisoning huge areas of the sea with their waste products and killing fish, sea mammals such as whales, dolphins and seals, and even humans. Control of these blooms is vital to the health of the seas. "Research using cyanophages to control blooms of cyanobact...

Molecular miners find pain relief drugs from the sea

...snail envenomation report that death by cone snail poisoning is seemingly painless." It is this special pain-reducing component that the researchers have been interested in. The Melbourne team, which includes Associate Professors Bruce Livett and Ken Gayler and Dr John Down from the Department of Biochemistr...

Ants, not evil spirits, create devil's gardens in the Amazon rainforest, study finds

...ts in D. hirsuta stems, creates devil's gardens by poisoning all plants except its hosts with formic acid. By killing other plants, M. schumanni provides its colonies with abundant nest sites--a long-lasting benefit, as colonies can live for 800 years." Devilish ants Most tropical rainforests are densely p...

Global warming increases oyster sensitivity to pollution

...th Carolina, USA, will present her work on cadmium poisoning in eastern oysters (Crassostrea virginica) on Monday 11th July at the Society for Experimental Biology Annual Main Meeting in Barcelona [session C2]. Oysters are cold-blooded organisms so their body temperature changes with environmental temperature...

Toxic flood lifts lid on common urban pollution problem

...plants and dead bodies are all likely to blame for poisoning the waters being drained from New Orleans. But the water - and the muck it is leaving behind -- also owes its contamination to a source as mundane as it is unexpected: Toxins common in most urban environments that made their way en masse into the wa...

Hurricane aftermath: Infectious disease threats from common, not exotic, diseases

...rious infections, either wound infections or blood poisoning (septicemia); V. vulnificus is a bacterium that is normally present in Gulf Coast waters and is usually contracted by eating tainted seafood. It is primarily a threat to people with weakened immune systems or liver dysfunction. The CDC has confirmed...

Fluoride poisoning in China due to clay, not coal

...t China suffer from potentially-crippling fluoride poisoning because they burn a mixture of clay and coal, say ...titutes for clay ?to solve the problem of fluoride poisoning in southwestern China. But Zheng admits this will be very difficult, as any available substitute wo...

Does manganese inhaled from the shower represent a public health threat?

...ity. Some of these groups have developed manganese poisoning even at fairly low doses in their water supplies, Spangler said. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has set 0.5 milligrams/liter as the upper limit of manganese advisable in water supplies. The limit, however, is based on odor and taste of th...

Emerging staph strains found to be increasingly deadly and deceptive

...reat, affecting vital organs and leading to toxins poisoning the blood and infection overwhelming the heart. One of the most severe types of disease is necrotizing pneumonia, where bacteria destroy lung tissue. "The reason that some mild infections become severe or fatal is not well understood, but virulence ...

Worms know bad food when they smell it

... said. "If you eat something and it gives you food poisoning ?especially if it's a flavor that you haven't experienced before, and especially if it's associated with vomiting, you form a very robust memory of that flavor and won't eat food with that flavor in the future. The smell elicits an instant wave of na...

Argonne researchers confirm lead in Beethoven's illness

...e occurrence. There is no solid evidence that lead poisoning was a cause of Beethoven's deafness, Walsh said. "Beethoven saw physician after physician in search of a cure for his physical ailments," said Walsh. In fact, in a letter to a friend, he expressed the wish that after his death, researchers would use...

Human trial proves ricin vaccine safe, induces neutralizing antibodies; further tests planned

... is currently no approved vaccine to prevent ricin poisoning in humans, and the biological agent has a long history of use in espionage. Participants in the study, however, reported only mild side effects that were consistent with any intramuscular vaccine injection, such as a sore arm or mild headache that m...

Marine mammals are on the frontline of failing ocean health

...ed by specific algal blooms. Neurotoxic shellfish poisoning and other acute effects of consuming brevetoxins are not new to scientists. But Bossart and his colleagues' work on manatee die-offs associated with red tides shows that inhalation of the toxin is also a primary route of exposure. Recent lab work a...

Invasive species harms native hardwoods by killing soil fungus

...ustard invades the understory of mature forests by poisoning the allies of its main competitors," Stinson says. "By killing off native soil fungi, the appearance of this weed in an intact forest could stifle the next generation of dominant canopy trees. It could also invite other native and nonnative weedy pla...

MIT research holds promise for Huntington's treatment

...al proteasome, those cellular proteins accumulate, poisoning brain cells and impairing patients' motor and cognitive function. Until now, most researchers looking for Huntington's treatments have focused on compounds that prevent or reverse the aggregation of huntingtin proteins. However, recent evidence sugg...

The diversity of marine life in the Gulf of Maine region is much greater than previously thought

...rium and are the source of the paralytic shellfish poisoning known as "red tide." A major red tide swept the New England coast in 2005, shutting down the clamming industry for weeks. What New Englanders call the "steamer, "long-neck," squirt clam," or "belly clam" ?or simply "the clam" -- is a species f...

Dogs keep dying: Many owners unaware of toxic dog food

...one used in humans, to accurately assess aflatoxin poisoning in dogs ( see companion story ). Currently, about ...devastating to dog owners who feel responsible for poisoning their beloved dogs," said Bischoff. Although only about two dozen animal deaths have been officia...

Mayo Clinic researchers challenge sepsis theory

...ething else driving sepsis, other than the classic poisoning explanation?'" Mayo Discovers Key Piece of the Puzzle Dr. Platt and colleagues discovered several years ago that certain naturally-occurring molecules can stimulate receptors once thought to be exclusive for the bacterial poisons (endotoxins). On...

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