viruses 2 8

Tag: "viruses" at biology news

Mouse study reveals human X-SCID gene therapy poses substantial cancer risk

...ells. These immune system cells that kill invading viruses and bacteria, produce antibodies as well as help regulate the entire immune system. Without the common gamma chain, these cells cannot develop normally, and are unable to protect the body. Researchers who also contributed to this paper include Virgi...

Common bacteria pirate natural mechanism to get inside cells

Bacteria and viruses utilize a natural mechanism to get inside cells an...esurface to be activated once again. Bacteria and viruses also want inside cells and out of the direct line of fire of the immune system or treatments such as...

Scientists discover interplay between genes and viruses in tiny ocean plankton

...the scientists suspect, are the massive numbers of viruses also known to exist in seawater. Some of them are adept at infecting ocean microbes like Prochlorococcus, the sea's most abundant plankton species. The ocean viruses, which carry their own genes as well as transport others, provide a way of transferr...

Boosting newborns' immune responses

... TLRs detect the presence of invading bacteria and viruses and trigger production of "danger signals" ?proteins known as cytokines that trigger other immune cells to mount a defense against the infection. People have 10 different kinds of TLRs, and Levy's team decided to examine how well they function in new...

Ocean virus identified in human blood samples

...chers said in their study. History suggests these viruses have rarely been confined to the ocean. A costly Vesivirus epidemic in hogs first was identified in 1932, and was found to be linked to uncooked fish and pork scraps fed to hogs. It's now known that that the same types of Vesiviruses ?named in part f...

Immune system response to viral DNA is unique

...ystem response to foreign DNA, suggesting that DNA viruses and RNA viruses are detected by different mechanisms, Yale School of Medicine researchers report this week in Immuni...

Mice studies illustrate potential of chimp/human antibodies to protect against smallpox

... inhibited the spread of both vaccinia and variola viruses in test tube experiments. Moreover, the hybrid antibodies proved more effective than VIG when tested in mice infected with vaccinia virus, even when given two days after virus exposure. "This is an important finding in the race to develop effective ...

Infections could contribute to adult brain tumours

...ons, adding weight to the theory that outbreaks of viruses are a potential contributory cause of brain tumours. Diseases caused by more constant environmental factors, such as pollution, produce clusters of cases in one place over a much longer time period. However, the research team stresses it is too ear...

MIT: Oceans are a major gene swap-meet for plankton

...ew genes, they suspect, are the massive numbers of viruses also known to exist in seawater, some of which are adept at infecting ocean microbes such as Prochlorococcus. Such viruses, which carry genes of their own and sometimes transport odd genes picked up from an earlier host, are the most likely means of ...

Cell barrier shows why bird flu not so easily spread among humans

...ndings provide a rational explanation for why H5N1 viruses rarely infect and spread from human to human, alth...e upper portion of the respiratory system. For the viruses to be transmitted efficiently, they have to multiply in the upper portion of the respiratory system ...

Waking a sleeping virus

...e, whereas all others are necessary to produce new viruses and to infect new host cells. Those have to be swi...o make new viruses. "A good strategy in fighting viruses is to block the activation of viral genes," says Patrice Morand, a physician at the University hospi...

New hybrid virus provides targeted molecular imaging of cancer

...l." The team created and characterized the hybrid viruses by combining genetic elements and biological attri... those of a bacterial virus (phage). Unlike animal viruses that infect mammalian cells, bacterial viruses have evolved to infect only bacterial hosts. The pape...

Newly discovered protein kills anthrax bacteria by exploding their cell walls

...ve natural predators called bacteriophage. Just as viruses infect people, bacteriophage infect bacteria, reproduce, and then kill their host cell by bursting out to find their next target. The bacteriophage use special proteins, called lysins, to bore holes in the bacteria, causing them to literally explode....

Viral protein helps infected T cells stick to uninfected cells

...ave far greater adherence than cells infected with viruses that lacked p12 in a standardized adherence test. In addition, they showed that the greater adherence did not occur because the infected cells made more of the LFA-1 protein, but rather because already existing LFA-1 protein molecules gathered into...

Faster immune system testing set to improve poultry quality

...worldwide. The major cause is viral infection. All viruses can cause immunosuppression to varying degrees but Marek's disease, infectious bursal disease and chicken anaemia are particular concerns. A simple test to identify flocks that have been immunosuppressed by non-apparent infections was needed. The new...

Animals can change genes quickly to keep up with viral ingenuity

...g up in the ongoing evolutionary arms race between viruses and their hosts. Studying a special class of genes...of different locks and codes that help to keep the viruses out, but viruses are capable of evolving new ways of breaking the codes extremely quickly. The new r...

Study outlines genetic differences between potential pandemic influenza strains

...er of 2005. They correlated the genetic makeup of viruses to the physical characteristics of viruses, includ...be placed on the H5N1 family tree. Not all H5N1 viruses are genetically the same. Over the years researchers have identified different genetic groups calle...

Attractive birds more immune against bird flu

...eflects how well the immune defence system combats viruses such as avian influenza. The white spot is also attractive to female birds searching for a mate. Evolutionary biologists have long attempted to explain why individuals of a species differ in appearance and why the choice of a mate is influenced by ...

Wisconsin scientists find a way to make human collagen in the lab

...n the body and provide instant warning of invading viruses or bacteria. "We can have total control of what goes on these very thin extended fibers," says Raines. "We are able to build these molecules up one atom at a time and we can manipulate them in very precise ways." The new Wisconsin study, which was ...

Minor mutations in avian flu virus increase chances of human infection

...203/2004 (Viet04), one of the most pathogenic H5N1 viruses studied so far. The virus was originally isolated ...ted, were already "known in [some human influenza] viruses to increase binding for these receptors." The study was published on March 16, 2006 by ScienceXpres...

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