pathogens - search results

Immunity can be defined as the ability of an organism to defend itself against invading microbes (bacteria, fungi and viruses) and the cells of its own origin which show abnormalities (e.g. cancerous cells).

Dr. Sherilee Harper and Dr. Ashlee Cunsolo look at the need for integrated environment and health surveillance for foodborne, waterborne, and zoonotic disease in the Canadian North

Antibiotic resistance and super bugs are growing global problems. Kari Soljamo and Anne Laitine from Isku Interior look at how to prevent the infections, and how to minimise the risk of healthcare associated infections Common and life-threatening infections are increasingly becoming untreatable. At the United Nations (UN), for the first...

Raymond J. Turner, PhD, and Natalie Gugala, PhD Graduate student, University of Calgary discuss the increasing use of metal antimicrobials and the importance of research into mechanisms of resistance and toxicity... The overuse of antimicrobial agents in agriculture is considered one of the key contributors to antimicrobial resistance worldwide. A number of strategies...

Professor Guy Joos, President of the European Respiratory Society and Dan Smyth, Chair of the European Lung Foundation, look at the importance of healthy lungs and how air pollution can affect them… Regular exposure to air pollution is linked to the development of certain lung conditions, such as chronic obstructive...

James R Steadman, Professor and Head of Plant Pathology Department and Carlos Urrea Florez, Associate Professor, University of Nebraska-Lincoln discuss root and crown rot, a disease of the common bean... A complex disease known as root and crown rot (RCR) has become a yield- limiting disease of common beans ( Phaseolus vulgaris L.), reaching...

Scientists funded by the EU have found new ways of detecting infectious pathogens, which can be used to prevent pandemics… In a bid to understand the spread of diseases, researchers have been investigating how pathogens can lead to pandemics such as those seen in 2014 with the deadly Ebola virus,...

Neurodegenerative diseases are a growing global challenge as medical advances ensures more individuals live longer. By 2020 there will be more than 40 million individuals in the world with Alzheimer’s disease and by 2040, without the development of truly disease modifying drugs this will be more than 80 million.

AG Editor, Laura Evans speaks to Rachel Steele, National Climate Hub Coordinator at the U.S Department of Agriculture about how they are helping to reduce the impacts of climate change for farmers and foresters… Agriculture plays a key role in society worldwide. Seen as the backbone of the economic systems...

Professor Duncan McHale, Head Global Exploratory Development, UCB discusses reclassifying neurodegenerative diseases to enable drug development and to help patients... Neurodegenerative diseases are a growing global challenge as medical advances ensures more individuals live longer.  By 2020 there will be more than 40 million individuals in the world with Alzheimer’s disease and...

Guadalupe Rojas, Juan. A. Morales-Ramos, Jian Chen, Michael Grodowitz, and Margaret Allen discuss the hurdles of Biological Control to control the Red Imported Fire Ant. The red imported fire ant, Solenopsis invicta, is one of the most successful invasive ants and it is regarded as one of the world’s worst invasive...

The chicken industry has become one of the fastest growing livestock industries around the world due to the demand for high-quality protein by consumers. Today, modern-day broiler chickens can reach a body weight of 2 kilograms by 35 days, which represents an increase of an astonishing 5000% of their...

A view from one of the drug discovery teams at the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, Scotland Earlier this year I completed a three-year term as a ‘Public Partner’ on the Scottish Medicines. Consortium (SMC), which is the body that advises the National Health Service in Scotland on the cost-effectiveness of medicines....

Infectious diseases are a major cause for animal suffering and production losses in livestock and at the same time, often being zoonotic, represent a serious hazard for food safety. Combating infectious diseases of livestock is, therefore, a top priority on the veterinary and public health agenda. Mass use of...

A new dressing that changes colour when an infection is present could reduce the amount of antibiotics used unnecessarily… Researchers have created a bandage that changes colour when toxins are present in a wound. Using fluorescent dye the dressing is able to detect bacteria and gives doctors an indication that...

Nobel Prizes are normally awarded to scientists whose fundamental discoveries have had a major impact over a number of years in the particular field of scientific research. Just occasionally a Nobel Prize recognizes a discovery that has come directly to the consumer. From the point of view of a...

At the beginning of 2014 the UK Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) established thirteen Networks in Industrial Biotechnology and Bioenergy. 1 An aim of these networks is to reduce the barriers for initiating collaborations between the academic and business communities, especially in the arena of Industrial Biotechnology....

At the heart of almost everything we do in chemistry is analysis, measurements that show us what we have made, how pure it is, what is happening in a reaction, or what is present in a particular sample. The use of the word ‘see’ is not just a journalistic...

Andrew Miller MP, Chair of the Science and Technology Committee sheds light on why the next government must make tackling antibiotic resistance a public health priority Medicine could be ‘cast back into the dark ages’ by growing antibiotic resistance, David Cameron grimly warned last year. To see off the ‘superbugs’...

A new blood test that can determine whether an infection is caused by a bacteria or a virus within two hours could stop patients receiving unnecessary antibiotics... Research published in PLOS One has revealed that a new blood test can help doctors establish whether an infection requires antibiotic treatment. Antibiotics are...