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How herpesvirus invades nervous system

Northwestern Medicine scientists have identified a component of the herpesvirus that “hijacks” machinery inside human cells, allowing the virus to rapidly and successfully invade the nervous system upon initial exposure. Led by Gregory Smith, associate professor in immunology and microbiology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, researchers found that viral protein 1-2, or VP1/2, allows the herpesvirus to interac Read more...

Posted
March 29th, 2013

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Resurrection of 3-billion-year-old antibiotic-resistance proteins

Scientists are reporting “laboratory resurrections” of several 2-3-billion-year-old proteins that are ancient ancestors of the enzymes that enable today’s antibiotic-resistant bacteria to shrug off huge doses of penicillins, cephalosporins and other modern drugs. The achievement, reported in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, opens the door to a scientific “replay” of the evolution of antibiotic resistanc Read more...

Posted
February 28th, 2013

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Mount Sinai researchers discover how the flu virus tells time

Scientists have discovered that that the flu virus can essentially tell time, thereby giving scientists the ability to reset the virus’ clock and combat it in more effective ways. According to researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, the flu knows how much time it has to multiply, infect other cells, and spread to another human being. If it leaves a cell too soon, the virus is too weak. If it leaves too late, the immune Read more...

Posted
January 19th, 2013

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Deciphering bacterial doomsday decisions

Like a homeowner prepping for a hurricane, the bacterium Bacillus subtilis uses a long checklist to prepare for survival in hard times. In a new study, scientists at Rice University and the University of Houston uncovered an elaborate mechanism that allows B. subtilis to begin preparing for survival, even as it delays the ultimate decision of whether to “hunker down” and withdraw into a hardened spore. The new study by computationa Read more...

Posted
November 27th, 2012

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New insights into a virus proteome

This is a detailed 3D-structure of the herpes virus: the capsid or protein shell, which contains the virus DNA, is surrounded by several envelope layers. The genome encodes the complete information needed by an organism, including that required for protein production. Viruses, which are up to a thousand times smaller than human cells, have considerably smaller genomes. Using a type of herpesvirus as a model system, the scientists of the Max Plan Read more...

Posted
November 26th, 2012

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Study reveals the proteins expressed by human cytomegalovirus

New findings reveal the surprisingly complex protein-coding capacity of the human cytomegalovirus, or HCMV, and provide the first steps toward understanding how the virus manipulates human cells during infection. The genome of the HCMV was first sequenced over 20 years ago, but researchers have now investigated the proteome—the complete set of expressed proteins—of this common pathogen as well. HCMV is an incredibly successful virus, an Read more...

Posted
November 23rd, 2012

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Study reveals the proteins expressed by human cytomegalovirus

New findings reveal the surprisingly complex protein-coding capacity of the human cytomegalovirus, or HCMV, and provide the first steps toward understanding how the virus manipulates human cells during infection. The genome of the HCMV was first sequenced over 20 years ago, but researchers have now investigated the proteome—the complete set of expressed proteins—of this common pathogen as well. HCMV is an incredibly successful virus, an Read more...

Posted
November 23rd, 2012

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Study reveals the proteins expressed by human cytomegalovirus

New findings reveal the surprisingly complex protein-coding capacity of the human cytomegalovirus, or HCMV, and provide the first steps toward understanding how the virus manipulates human cells during infection. The genome of the HCMV was first sequenced over 20 years ago, but researchers have now investigated the proteome—the complete set of expressed proteins—of this common pathogen as well. HCMV is an incredibly successful virus, an Read more...

Posted
November 23rd, 2012

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Bacterial DNA sequence used to map an infection outbreak

For the first time, researchers have used DNA sequencing to help bring an infectious disease outbreak in a hospital to a close. Researchers from the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, the University of Cambridge and Cambridge University Hospitals used advanced DNA sequencing technologies to confirm the presence of an ongoing outbreak of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in a Special Care Baby Unit in real time. This assisted in Read more...

Posted
November 15th, 2012

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Viruses act like ‘self-packing suitcases’

Researchers at the University of Leeds have identified a crucial stage in the lifecycle of simple viruses like polio and the common cold that could open a new front in the war on viral disease. The team are the first to observe at a single-molecule level how the genetic material (genome) that forms the core of a single-strand RNA virus particle packs itself into its outer shell of proteins. Lead researcher Professor Peter Stockley said their r Read more...

Posted
October 19th, 2012

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