|  Author | Topic: MedTech IV: R & D (Read 7,614 times) |
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|  | Re: MedTech IV: R & D
« Reply #15 on Nov 29, 2009, 7:46pm » | |
CJD blood filter call for under-13s
Matthew Hill
BBC West Health Correspondent
Children under 13 undergoing a blood transfusion should be given specially filtered blood to cut the risk of fatal new variant Creutzfeldt-Jacob Disease (CJD), say government scientists.
![[image]](http://img44.imageshack.us/img44/3069/46805045blooddevice1842.jpg "[image]")
The Advisory Committee on the Safety of Blood, Tissues and Organs (SaBTO) has been looking at a new type of filter which removes CJD agents - called prions - from donated blood.
There is still real uncertainty over how many people are infected with CJD.
One estimate claims it is between one in 4,000 and one in 20,000.
But there have only been five known cases of transmission of CJD through contaminated blood and blood products.
'Somewhat perplexed'
The recommendation, which is being considered by the Department of Health (DoH), only applies to children because they were not exposed to contaminated meat.
That follows the decision in January 1996 to remove tissue from beef, such as the spinal chord, which may have carried the agent that causes CJD.
Derek Kenny from Portsmouth died of new variant CJD six years ago after being given a contaminated blood transfusion.
His widow Judy said: "The idea of a filtration system is excellent.
"If it was proven to be effective then we ought to use it because that way we can be sure that the blood pool is safe and that everybody is receiving safe blood."
The scheme will cost the NHS about £70m a year.
The company ProMetic, which makes the filter, says filtered blood should be offered to everyone, irrespective of their age.
Managing director Dr Steve Burton said: "We are somewhat perplexed that this recommendation is being made for children because CJD is an issue for everybody who might receive a blood transfusion."
The committee will continue to evaluate the device, which is still part of a clinical trial.
A DoH spokesman said: "The SaBTO recommendations are just recommendations at present and they are subject to satisfactory completion of existing clinical studies.
"Their advice is being considered by the Department of Health."
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/uk_news/england/8379879.stm
Published: 2009/11/26 08:32:43 GMT
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"All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed, second it is violently opposed, and third, it is accepted as self-evident."
Arthur Schopenhauer, Philosopher, 1788-1860
"In the final analysis, our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this small planet, breathe the same air, and we all cherish our children’s future."
John F. Kennedy |
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Big Bunny
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| | Re: MedTech IV: R & D
« Reply #16 on Dec 12, 2009, 8:28am » | |
Cataloging All That Goes Wrong in a Cancer Cell
ScienceDaily (Dec. 11, 2009) — A team of Princeton University scientists has produced a systematic listing of the ways a particular cancerous cell has "gone wrong," giving researchers a powerful tool that eventually could make possible new, more targeted therapies for patients.
"For a very long time, cancer therapies have been developed by trial and error to essentially kill a broad variety of rapidly dividing cells, good and bad -- that's why they have massive side effects," said Saeed Tavazoie, a professor in the Department of Molecular Biology and the Lewis-Sigler Institute for Integrative Genomics, who led the research. "The goal of cancer biology is to come up with therapies that are much more rational in terms of attacking the pathways that have been co-opted by cancer cells. The big challenge is to discover these pathways so that we can restore them to their normal state."
Writing in the Dec. 11 issue of Molecular Cell, Tavazoie, along with his colleagues Hani Goodarzi, a graduate student in molecular biology, and Olivier Elemento, a former postdoctoral researcher in the department, found they were able to systematically categorize and pinpoint the alterations in cancer pathways and to reveal the underlying regulatory code in DNA. Elemento is now on the faculty of Weill Cornell Medical College in New York.
"We are discovering that there are many components inside the cell that can get mutated and give rise to cancer," Tavazoie said. "Future cancer therapies have to take into account these specific pathways that have been mutated in individual cancers and treat patients specifically for that."
The researchers developed an algorithm, a problem-solving computer program that sorts through the behavior of each of 20,000 genes operating in a tumor cell. When genes are turned "on," they activate or "express" proteins that serve as signals, creating different pathways of action. Cancer cells often act in aberrant ways, and the algorithm can detect these subtle changes and track all of them.
"At the present moment, we lump a lot of cancers together and use the same therapy," Tavazoie said. "In the future, we are aiming to be much more precise about treating the exact processes that were perturbed by the mutations."
Pathologists presently examining the tumors of sick patients analyze a small set of tumor characteristics in order to determine the diagnostic and prognostic class to which the cells belong. This new method could give practitioners an encyclopedic accounting of the alterations in problem cells, spelling out the nature of the disease in much greater detail.
The algorithm devised by the group scans the DNA sequence of a given cell -- its genome -- and deciphers which sequences are controlling what pathways and whether any are acting differently from the norm. By deciphering the patterns, the scientists can conjure up the genetic regulatory code that is underlying a particular cancer.
The scientists developed the technique by employing modern methods of systems biology, where researchers seek to understand how components of living systems like cells work together to orchestrate processes, using powerful computers to sort vast arrays of data.
"Part of the promise of genomics and systems biology is the discovery of specific pathways of disease and finding ways to target them precisely," Tavazoie said. "We have focused on revealing what these pathways are."
The challenge for others, he said, will be to design specific therapies for such diseases, a process that could take many years. "This is an important first step," Tavazoie added.
The method ultimately could work for any type of cancer and paves the way for rational approaches to treating a host of other diseases from diabetes to neurological disorders, the scientists said.
The research was funded by the National Human Genome Research Institute of the National Institutes of Health.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/12/091210162226.htm
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"All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed, second it is violently opposed, and third, it is accepted as self-evident."
Arthur Schopenhauer, Philosopher, 1788-1860
"In the final analysis, our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this small planet, breathe the same air, and we all cherish our children’s future."
John F. Kennedy |
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Big Bunny
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| | Re: MedTech IV: R & D
« Reply #17 on Dec 12, 2009, 8:29am » | |
Pathological Gambling May Be Successfully Treated With Medications for Substance Addiction
ScienceDaily (Dec. 11, 2009) — Pathological gambling can be successfully treated with medications that decrease urges and increase inhibitions, according to researchers at the annual meeting of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ACNP). Researchers found positive outcomes in gamblers treated with medications often used for substance addictions.
People with pathological gambling disorder will continue their gambling behavior in the face of damaging consequences to themselves and their families. Dr. Jon Grant and his team at the University of Minnesota used tasks that measure cognition to identify what motivates this extreme type of gambling behavior. They enrolled men and women with a primary diagnosis of pathological gambling in one of three medication studies. Study sites varied in size from 70 to 100 participants.
Researchers sought to understand how gamblers decide whether or not to bet by focusing on two brain processes: urge and inhibition. In order to group individuals into categories that address differences in their biology, Grant separated pathological gamblers into two major subtypes: gamblers who are driven by urge (i.e., individuals who report gambling when the desire becomes too strong to control), and those who do not show normal inhibition of impulsive behaviors (i.e., individuals who report being unable to restrict behaviors even when urges are minimal or virtually non-existent).
In the first subtype, gamblers who are driven by urge responded well to treatment with medications that block the brain opioid system (e.g., naltrexone) or certain receptors for the neurotransmitter glutamate (e.g., memantine). Grant also found that family history plays an important role in refining this group even further. People with a family history of addiction responded even better to the opioid blocker, which has been shown in other studies to decrease the urge to use substances such as alcohol.
The second subtype, gamblers who have difficulty inhibiting their behaviors and react to the smallest desires, respond well to medications that act on a specific enzyme, catechol-O-methyl-transferase (COMT), which plays a major role in the function of the prefrontal cortex. Researchers found that decreasing the function of COMT can increase one's ability to inhibit their desire to gamble.
"By understanding these different subtypes, we are able to target the core biology of the illness with individualized treatment," said Jon Grant, MD, JD, MPH, Associate Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Minnesota and ACNP member. "When we look at pathological gambling as an addiction and try to understand the sense of urges and inhibitions, we are able to target the treatment with medication more effectively."
Grant cautioned that while these results are exciting and a majority of people respond to these medications, there are still some for whom these medications do not work. Additional research is needed to further refine the subtypes.
Pathological gambling affects approximately one to two percent of the population. Currently available treatments are associated with extremely high relapse rates.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/12/091210101412.htm
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"All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed, second it is violently opposed, and third, it is accepted as self-evident."
Arthur Schopenhauer, Philosopher, 1788-1860
"In the final analysis, our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this small planet, breathe the same air, and we all cherish our children’s future."
John F. Kennedy |
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Big Bunny
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| | Re: MedTech IV: R & D
« Reply #18 on Dec 12, 2009, 8:31am » | |
RXR Activation: Hope for New Parkinson's Disease Treatment
ScienceDaily (Dec. 11, 2009) — Following up on their previous work showing the rescue of dopamine neurons by chemicals that interact with the retinoid X receptor (RXR), researchers have now investigated the potential of these chemicals, known as RXR ligands, for the treatment of Parkinson's disease. Writing in the open access journal BMC Neuroscience the scientists describe the use of two cellular models of Parkinsonian damage to explore the neuroprotective function of the two RXR ligands LG268 and XCT.
Susanna Kjellander worked with a team of researchers from the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, Sweden, to test both the ligands and a novel neuronal platform. She said, "Nuclear hormone receptors like RXR and the Nurr1-RXR receptor heterodimer are emerging as interesting factors in Parkinson's research. It is unclear exactly how neurons are damaged in Parkinson's disease, but it is suggested that oxidative damage and energy depletion in the brain are involved. By activating RXR, neurons can be rescued from this degeneration."
The researchers used two different dopaminergic cell systems as models of Parkinson's disease. First, they were able to mimic some of the conditions that may be present in people with the disease by applying a neurotoxin to primary neurons derived from the rat ventral midbrain. They found that the two RXR-activating ligands studied were able to selectively protect dopaminergic neurons from the stress induced in this model. The results were then confirmed in a novel system in which dopaminergic neurons generated from mouse embryonic stem cells were treated with the neurotoxin.
They conclude, "The regulation of RXR activity holds promise to contribute to a novel, alternative strategy to treat Parkinson's disease."
Journal Reference:
1. Stina Friling, Maria Bergsland and Susanna Kjellander. Activation of Retinoid X Receptor increases dopamine cell survival in models for Parkinson's disease. BMC Neuroscience, 2009; (in press) [link]
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/12/091210193158.htm
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"All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed, second it is violently opposed, and third, it is accepted as self-evident."
Arthur Schopenhauer, Philosopher, 1788-1860
"In the final analysis, our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this small planet, breathe the same air, and we all cherish our children’s future."
John F. Kennedy |
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Big Bunny
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| | Re: MedTech IV: R & D
« Reply #19 on Dec 12, 2009, 8:33am » | |
Astronaut Balancing Act: Training to Help Explorers Adapt to a Return to Gravity
![[image]](http://img696.imageshack.us/img696/4282/0912091346404670865.jpg "[image]")
National Space Biomedical Research Institute (NSBRI) and NASA researchers are developing techniques to help astronauts adapt quickly to a new gravity environment and to overcome balance disturbances. They are using an Adaptability Training System that induces balance disturbances through support surface movement and changes in visual information. The system consists of a treadmill mounted on a base that can be actively moved in different directions paired with a virtual scene projected in front of the subject providing a variety of balance challenges as the user walks. (Credit: Photo by NASA)
ScienceDaily (Dec. 11, 2009) — Astronauts returning from challenging long-duration missions face one more challenge when they get back to Earth -- standing up and walking.
Upon returning to normal gravity, astronauts often suffer from balance problems that lead to dizziness and difficulty standing, walking and turning corners. Dr. Jacob Bloomberg is leading a group of National Space Biomedical Research Institute (NSBRI) scientists in a project to develop techniques to help astronauts adapt quickly to a new gravity environment and to overcome balance disturbances. This concept will also have benefits for non-astronaut populations such as the elderly or people with balance disorders.
Bloomberg of NASA Johnson Space Center Neurosciences Laboratory and his colleagues use a system that consists of a treadmill mounted on a base that can be actively moved in different directions to simulate balance disturbances. Called an Adaptability Training System, the treadmill has a projection screen in front of it that shows an image of a room or hallway that moves as the user walks. Disturbances are simulated by tilting the treadmill in one direction as the image is tilted in another.
"At first, people find it difficult to walk on the treadmill since its movement and images are out of sync. But over time, they learn to walk on it efficiently. We call this concept 'learning to learn,'" said Bloomberg, who is the associate team leader of NSBRI's Sensorimotor Adaptation Team and a senior research scientist at NASA.
In order to perform everyday activities, the brain interprets information provided by the body's sensory systems: the eyes, the inner ear balance organs, the skin and muscle movement receptors. Bloomberg said the problems for astronauts occur during the transition period in which the brain is trying to adapt to a new gravity environment -- either returning to Earth or in the future adjusting to lunar or martian gravity.
"In space, information from the sensory systems is different, particularly when you take away gravity. The brain reinterprets that information, makes adjustments and allows you to do the activities you need to do in space," Bloomberg said. "The down side to that is when you return to Earth, the sensory systems are not used to a normal gravity environment."
Former NASA astronaut Dr. Leroy Chiao experienced balance disturbances following his four spaceflights, one of which was a six-month stay on the International Space Station (ISS). He compared the effects to those experienced after stepping off a fast-spinning playground merry-go-round. "After a merry-go-round ride, the effects go away pretty quickly," Chiao said. "But after a spaceflight, they linger."
Post-flight data collected indicates a correlation between the length of the mission and how long effects linger. Bloomberg said if an astronaut has been in space on a typical two-week shuttle mission, it may take several days to recover. For six-month stays aboard the ISS, it could take at least several weeks to return to normal.
In addition to maximizing training efficiency, Bloomberg is looking at how long the benefit of the adaptability training lasts. Once subjects master the treadmill, they come back periodically for testing to see how well they perform. He is investigating if subjects can retain the training for up to six months, which would allow the training to take place before a long space mission.
Another goal of the researchers is to integrate a version of the system into the treadmill on a spacecraft, allowing astronauts to perform adaptability training on long missions. Integration would save space and power, both precious commodities on a spacecraft.
Chiao, who is the chairman of NSBRI's User Panel, said the research could provide insight about much longer missions. "On a flight to Mars, astronauts will be in zero-gravity for six months or more. When they get to Mars, they will experience one-third gravity," Chiao said. "Will systems like this allow them to go to work right away? Or will there need to be a recovery period or procedures before exploration can begin? These are important questions that this research is addressing."
Project co-investigator Dr. Helen Cohen, professor of otolaryngology at Baylor College of Medicine, said, "It will not be a good situation if an astronaut lands on a new planet and has problems maintaining balance. The training could help maintain astronaut safety and help them accomplish mission objectives."
Sensorimotor disturbances are not limited to standing up and walking. "Some people with inner ear trouble don't steer a vehicle well," said Cohen, associate director of the Center for Balance Disorders at BCM. "Adaptability training could also help people to perform these types of tasks better."
Even though the cause of the sensorimotor problems is different, Bloomberg said the adaptability training concept could help prevent falls in the elderly.
"For astronauts, the sensory systems are working just fine but the information is being interpreted differently. For the elderly, it could be a combination of issues: the sensory systems may be deteriorated or the information may not be integrated by the brain as well as before," he said. "We might use this training to improve some of the deficits that the elderly might experience. There are definitely applications in the clinical world in terms of fall prevention with the elderly population."
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/12/091209134640.htm
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"All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed, second it is violently opposed, and third, it is accepted as self-evident."
Arthur Schopenhauer, Philosopher, 1788-1860
"In the final analysis, our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this small planet, breathe the same air, and we all cherish our children’s future."
John F. Kennedy |
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Big Bunny
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| | Re: MedTech IV: R & D
« Reply #20 on Dec 22, 2009, 10:25am » | |
Faster, Cheaper DNA Sequencing Method Devised
![[image]](http://img192.imageshack.us/img192/2592/0912201439235356621.jpg "[image]")
A team of researchers led by Boston University biomedical engineer Amit Meller is using electrical fields to efficiently draw long strands of DNA through nanopore sensors, drastically reducing the number of DNA copies required for a high throughput analysis. (Credit: Figure copyright, Nature Nanotechnology, 2009)
ScienceDaily (Dec. 22, 2009) — Boston University biomedical engineers have devised a method for making future genome sequencing faster and cheaper by dramatically reducing the amount of DNA required, thus eliminating the expensive, time-consuming and error-prone step of DNA amplification.
In a study published in the Dec. 20 online edition of Nature Nanotechnology, a team led by Boston University Biomedical Engineering Associate Professor Amit Meller details pioneering work in detecting DNA molecules as they pass through silicon nanopores. The technique uses electrical fields to feed long strands of DNA through four-nanometer-wide pores, much like threading a needle. The method uses sensitive electrical current measurements to detect single DNA molecules as they pass through the nanopores.
"The current study shows that we can detect a much smaller amount of DNA sample than previously reported," said Meller. "When people start to implement genome sequencing or genome profiling using nanopores, they could use our nanopore capture approach to greatly reduce the number of copies used in those measurements."
Currently, genome sequencing utilizes DNA amplification to make billions of molecular copies in order to produce a sample large enough to be analyzed. In addition to the time and cost DNA amplification entails, some of the molecules -- like photocopies of photocopies -- come out less than perfect. Meller and his colleagues at BU, New York University and Bar-Ilan University in Israel have harnessed electrical fields surrounding the mouths of the nanopores to attract long, negatively charged strands of DNA and slide them through the nanopore where the DNA sequence can be detected. Since the DNA is drawn to the nanopores from a distance, far fewer copies of the molecule are needed.
Before creating this new method, the team had to develop an understanding of electro-physics at the nanoscale, where the rules that govern the larger world don't necessarily apply. They made a counterintuitive discovery: the longer the DNA strand, the more quickly it found the pore opening.
"That's really surprising," Meller said. "You'd expect that if you have a longer 'spaghetti,' then finding the end would be much harder. At the same time this discovery means that the nanopore system is optimized for the detection of long DNA strands -- tens of thousands basepairs, or even more. This could dramatically speed future genomic sequencing by allowing analysis of a long DNA strand in one swipe, rather than having to assemble results from many short snippets.
"DNA amplification technologies limit DNA molecule length to under a thousand basepairs," Meller added. "Because our method avoids amplification, it not only reduces the cost, time and error rate of DNA replication techniques, but also enables the analysis of very long strands of DNA, much longer than current limitations."
With this knowledge in hand, Meller and his team set out to optimize the effect. They used salt gradients to alter the electrical field around the pores, which increased the rate at which DNA molecules were captured and shortened the lag time between molecules, thus reducing the quantity of DNA needed for accurate measurements. Rather than floating around until they happened upon a nanopore, DNA strands were funneled into the openings.
By boosting capture rates by a few orders of magnitude, and reducing the volume of the sample chamber the researchers reduced the number of DNA molecules required by a factor of 10,000 -- from about 1 billion sample molecules to 100,000.
The research was funded by the National Human Genome Research Institute of the Institutes of Health and by the National Science Foundation.
Journal Reference:
1. . Electrostatic Focusing of Unlabelled DNA into Nanoscale Pores Using a Salt Gradient. Nature Nanotechnology, Online December 21, 2009 DOI: 10.1038/natureNNANO.2009.379
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/12/091220143923.htm
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"All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed, second it is violently opposed, and third, it is accepted as self-evident."
Arthur Schopenhauer, Philosopher, 1788-1860
"In the final analysis, our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this small planet, breathe the same air, and we all cherish our children’s future."
John F. Kennedy |
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Big Bunny
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| | Re: MedTech IV: R & D
« Reply #21 on Dec 25, 2009, 11:42pm » | |
'Switch' could block Huntington's
![[image]](http://img254.imageshack.us/img254/3250/46984036003615501123756.jpg "[image]")
A "molecular switch" that can prevent Huntington's disease from developing has been found in mice.
A US study concluded the mutated huntingtin protein, which causes the disease, could be stopped in its tracks by a subtle chemical modification.
It is hoped the work could lead to much-needed treatments for the inherited disorder.
The study, by the University of California, Los Angeles, is published in the journal Neuron.
It is thought between 6,000 and 8,500 people in the UK have Huntington's disease - a neurological condition that starts to show in mid-life and slowly impairs a person's ability to walk, talk and reason.
Children who have one parent with the condition have a 50% chance of developing it themselves and often it is passed on before people are aware that they have it.
There is no cure for the illness and treatment focuses on managing the symptoms.
Although it is known that a protein mutation underpins the disease, it is not exactly clear how that mutation causes the damage seen in those with the condition.
In the latest study, researchers found a small section of the mutated protein that can be modified by phosphorylation - a chemical process in the body that alters how proteins function.
In mice they found blocking this phosphorylation caused the animals to develop disease symptoms.
But when they tried to mimic the process the disorder did not develop.
It follows previous work showing phosphorylation reduced the tendency of the mutant huntingtin protein to form clumps and another study showing it could help cells get rid of the toxic version of the protein.
Study leader Dr William Yang said together the studies suggested a new direction of research into the formation and clearance of the huntingtin protein in the disease process.
"We were surprised to find that subtle modification of only two amino acids in this very large protein can prevent the onset of disease.
"This finding suggests an exciting new avenue to develop therapeutics for Huntington's disease."
Huntington's Disease Association head of care services Cath Stanley said: "Although in the very early stages, this research offers an exciting avenue of exploration in the quest to prevent or slow down the disease process."
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/health/8428051.stm
Published: 2009/12/24 23:59:56 GMT
|
"All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed, second it is violently opposed, and third, it is accepted as self-evident."
Arthur Schopenhauer, Philosopher, 1788-1860
"In the final analysis, our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this small planet, breathe the same air, and we all cherish our children’s future."
John F. Kennedy |
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Big Bunny
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| | Re: MedTech IV: R & D
« Reply #22 on Dec 27, 2009, 12:31am » | |
Further Progress Toward AIDS Vaccine: Rabies-Virus Vaccine Protects Monkeys
ScienceDaily (Dec. 26, 2009) — Researchers from Thomas Jefferson University are one step closer to developing a vaccine against the AIDS disease.
Led by Matthias J. Schnell, Ph.D., director of the Jefferson Vaccine Center, the researchers found that a rabies virus-based vaccine administered to monkeys protected against the simian equivalent of the HIV virus (SIV). The data were published in the journal Vaccine.
The researchers previously showed that a rabies-based vaccine expressing HIV and SIV antigens protective against a chimeric HIV/SIV virus in monkeys. In this study, they used highly attenuated rabies virus vaccine vectors to protect against challenge with the highly pathogenic SIVmac251. This type of SIV virus causes a more similar disease in monkeys compared to human infection with HIV-1. In addition, it is difficult to protect monkeys against AIDS-like disease after challenge with SIVmac251.
Two vaccine strategies were used: immunization with a recombinant rabies virus expressing SIVmac239GagPol, or a combination of that and a rabies virus expressing SIVmac239Env. Both strategies induced neutralizing antibody production, CD8+ T cell responses, and increased protection. Although the combination with Env helped immediately following the infection, the long-term benefits were minimal. However, it was surprising that the rabies-based vaccine was able to induce such potent anti-SIV humoral responses.
"Although we can't yet block the infection, we showed that we can protect against disease," said Dr. Schnell. "We also saw significant antibody activity against the virus, which is promising. In addition, this is a very simple approach that only took two immunizations."
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/12/091214121527.htm
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"All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed, second it is violently opposed, and third, it is accepted as self-evident."
Arthur Schopenhauer, Philosopher, 1788-1860
"In the final analysis, our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this small planet, breathe the same air, and we all cherish our children’s future."
John F. Kennedy |
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Big Bunny
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| | Re: MedTech IV: R & D
« Reply #23 on Jan 1, 2010, 7:24am » | |
Researchers Demonstrate Nanoscale X-Ray Imaging of Bacterial Cells
![[image]](http://img199.imageshack.us/img199/5079/091207151234large532958.jpg "[image]")
Deinococcus radiodurans in x-ray-light. Blue colors indicate areas with low density, red areas mark highest density. These are the regions carrying the compressed DNA-molecules. (Credit: Image courtesy of Tim Salditt, University of Goettingen)
ScienceDaily (Dec. 30, 2009) — An ultra-high-resolution imaging technique using X-ray diffraction is a step closer to fulfilling its promise as a window on nanometer-scale structures in biological samples. In the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers report progress in applying an approach to "lensless" X-ray microscopy that they introduced one year ago.
They have produced the first images, using this technique, of biological cells -- specifically the intriguing polyextremophile Deinococcus radiodurans.
Better ability to see nanoscale structures in cells could yield important insights for evolutionary biology and biotechnology. In the case of D. radiodurans, for example, it could help to settle questions about whether -- or how -- the structure of this organism's DNA-bearing nucleoid region accounts for its hardiness against ionizing radiation. Having demonstrated the resolution, reliability, and reproducibility of their technique, the researchers are now working to extend it to three-dimensional imaging of biological cells.
X-ray imaging is best known for its medical applications, such as traditional radiographs and CT scans. Yet the use of X-rays goes far beyond routine imaging. In particular, the very short wavelength of X-ray radiation allows various modes of microscopy that can reach the nanometer resolution. One of the main hurdles to high-resolution X-ray microscopy is the difficulty of producing high-quality X-ray lenses. To overcome these difficulties, so-called "lensless" microscopy methods have emerged in the last decade. A technique developed by researchers now in the biomedical physics group at Technische Universitaet Muenchen (TUM) has shown great promise for ultra-high resolution imaging of materials and life science samples.
This imaging technique, called ptychography, was first introduced in the 1970s for electron diffraction. It consists in measuring full far-field diffraction patterns as a small illumination is scanned on a sample. While its use in electron microscopy is still limited, ptychography has gained tremendous popularity in the X-ray imaging community in the last few years, thanks to the development by Franz Pfeiffer, now chair of the biomedical physics group at TUM, and his team. A critical step in the development of ptychography was published by the team one year ago in Science. The super-resolution capability of the imaging method was successfully demonstrated with a gold test structure.
Now a collaboration of the Pfeiffer group, together with researchers at University of Goettingen and at the Swiss Light Source (Villigen, Switzerland), has gone a step further and produced the first images of biological cells with the same technique.
These results, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, show that lensless X-ray imaging, in particular ptychography, can be used to obtain accurate maps of the electron density forming a biological sample. This type of quantitative measurement is extremely difficult with most other high-resolution techniques currently available. Moreover, biological samples are very fragile and nearly transparent to X-rays, making this type of accurate measurement even more challenging.
The Pfeiffer group is now moving beyond this success and looking into ways of improving the technique further. In particular, the team is aiming at the next milestone: three-dimensional imaging of biological samples.
This research is supported by the German Research Foundation (DFG), the Helmholtz Society, and the German Ministry of Education and Research.
Journal References:
1. K. Giewekemeyer, P. Thibault, S. Kalbfleisch, A. Beerlink, C. M. Kewish, M. Dierolf, F. Pfeiffer, T. Salditt. Quantitative biological imaging by ptychographic x-ray diffraction microscopy. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2009; DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0905846107
2. P. Thibault, M. Dierolf, A. Menzel, O. Bunk, C. David, F. Pfeiffer. High-resolution scanning x-ray diffraction microscopy. Science, 2008; 321 (5887): 379-381 DOI: 10.1126/science.1158573
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/12/091207151234.htm
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"All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed, second it is violently opposed, and third, it is accepted as self-evident."
Arthur Schopenhauer, Philosopher, 1788-1860
"In the final analysis, our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this small planet, breathe the same air, and we all cherish our children’s future."
John F. Kennedy |
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Big Bunny
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| | Re: MedTech IV: R & D
« Reply #24 on Jan 1, 2010, 8:11am » | |
Biofilms: Researchers Discover New Ways to Treat Chronic Infections
![[image]](http://img96.imageshack.us/img96/1715/091218151327large131299.jpg "[image]")
Inactivation of the expression of three key regulators bfiS, bfmR, and mifR in mature biofilms results in biofilm architectural collapse and biomass loss. P. aeruginosa mutants complemented with plasmid-borne copies of the respective genes placed under the regulation of the arabinose-inducible PBAD were grown under continuous flow conditions in glutamate minimal medium in the presence of 0.1% arabinose for 144 hr after which time the biofilms were visualized by confocal microscopy (0 hr). Then, arabinose was eliminated from the growth medium and the biofilm architecture monitored post arabinose removal at the times indicated. PAO1 strain harboring the empty pJN105 vector was used as control. White bars = 100 ¼m. (Credit: Karin Sauer)
ScienceDaily (Jan. 1, 2010) — Researchers at Binghamton University, State University of New York, have identified three key regulators required for the formation and development of biofilms. The discovery could lead to new ways of treating chronic infections.
Biofilms -- communities of bacteria in self-produced slime -- may be found almost anywhere that solids and liquids meet, whether in nature, in hospitals or in industrial settings. Biofilms are implicated in more than 80 percent of chronic inflammatory and infectious diseases caused by bacteria, including ear infections, gastrointestinal ulcers, urinary tract infections and pulmonary infections in cystic fibrosis patients, according to the Centers for Disease Control.
Biofilms are difficult to eradicate with conventional antimicrobial treatments since they can be nearly 1,500-fold more resistant to antibiotics than planktonic, free-floating cells. Biofilms also pose a persistent problem in many industrial processes, including drinking water distribution networks and manufacturing.
Karin Sauer, associate professor of biology at Binghamton University, and graduate student Olga Petrova published their findings of key regulatory events required for the formation and development of Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilms in PLoS Pathogens, a peer-reviewed, open-access journal published online by the Public Library of Science.
"We have found a pathway of how the formation of biofilms is controlled," Sauer said. "If we can figure out how to make use of this newly discovered genetic program, we can interfere with the formation of biofilms and either prevent or treat biofilm infections more successfully."
Pseudomonas aeruginosa, an opportunistic pathogenic bacterium, is considered one of the primary causes of death in patients with cystic fibrosis, a common and life-threatening hereditary disease.
Petrova documented a previously unknown genetic program composed of several regulators by looking for changes in phosphorylation patterns in Pseudomonas aeruginosa. These regulators cannot only be used to stop the development of biofilms at various stages in their growth but also to revert established biofilms to an earlier developmental stage.
"The problem you have when you have a chronic infection is that your immune system is trying to clear the infection but is unable to," Sauer said. "And the longer the chronic infection goes on, the more damage there will be to tissue at the site of the infection. That's because the immune response often involves the release of toxic compounds that have no effect on biofilms but can damage the surrounding tissues."
Sauer's research is driven by several key questions, she said: "Can we outsmart the biofilms? Can we interfere with biofilm antibiotic resistance? Can we figure out how to prevent biofilms from forming and becoming resistant to antibiotics?"
Some recent findings seem to offer a resounding yes to these questions. In addition to regulators required for biofilm formation, Sauer and her team recently identified a regulator that is only expressed in biofilms and which seems to be responsible for regulating antibiotic resistance.
"We can modulate the resistance of biofilms now by over-expressing or inactivating this particular regulator," she said. "We hope to use these discoveries to treat infections by interfering with the way biofilms are growing and by reverting biofilms back to a state where they're more easily treatable."
Sauer's research is supported by the National Institutes of Health, which has awarded her more than $3 million, and the Army Research Office. Her two major NIH-funded projects, which began this fall, look at different aspects of biofilms. One focuses on antibiotic resistance and the mechanism behind it; the other centers on dispersion, the process by which a biofilm breaks down into individual bacterial cells.
"Dispersed cells -- or planktonic cells -- are way easier to treat," Sauer said. "We want to understand how bacteria decide when to leave the biofilm. We can use that as a way to treat chronic infections."
Journal Reference:
1. Olga E. Petrova, Karin Sauer. A Novel Signaling Network Essential for Regulating Pseudomonas aeruginosa Biofilm Development. PLoS Pathogens, 2009; 5 (11): e1000668 DOI: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1000668
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/12/091218151327.htm
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"All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed, second it is violently opposed, and third, it is accepted as self-evident."
Arthur Schopenhauer, Philosopher, 1788-1860
"In the final analysis, our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this small planet, breathe the same air, and we all cherish our children’s future."
John F. Kennedy |
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Big Bunny
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| | Re: MedTech IV: R & D
« Reply #25 on Jan 1, 2010, 8:13am » | |
Keeping Hepatitis C Virus at Bay After a Liver Transplant
ScienceDaily (Jan. 1, 2010) — One of the most common reasons for needing a liver transplant is liver failure or liver cancer caused by liver cell infection with hepatitis C virus (HCV). However, in nearly all patients the new liver becomes infected with HCV almost immediately.
But now, Hideki Ohdan, Kazuaki Chayama, and colleagues, at Hiroshima University, Japan, have developed an approach that transiently keeps HCV levels down in most treated HCV-infected patients receiving a new liver. The researchers report their findings in the Journal of Clinical Investigation.
Specifically, the team took immune cells known as lymphocytes from the donor livers before they were transplanted into the HCV-infected patients, activated them in vitro, and then injected them into the patients three days after they had received their liver transplants.
Importantly, these infused cells were able to keep the HCV at bay even though the patients were taking immunosuppressive drugs to prevent their immune systems from rejecting the new livers. Despite showing clear clinical effects, the authors are planning further studies in which they will modify the protocol in an attempt to find a way to keep HCV levels down for longer and in all patients.
Journal Reference:
1. Masahiro Ohira, Kohei Ishiyama, Yuka Tanaka, Marlen Doskali, Yuka Igarashi, Hirotaka Tashiro, Nobuhiko Hiraga, Michio Imamura, Naoya Sakamoto, Toshimasa Asahara, Kazuaki Chayama, Hideki Ohdan. Adoptive immunotherapy with liver allograft%u2013derived lymphocytes induces anti-HCV activity after liver transplantation in humans and humanized mice. J. Clin. Invest., 2009; DOI: 10.1172/JCI38374
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091001181043.htm
|
"All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed, second it is violently opposed, and third, it is accepted as self-evident."
Arthur Schopenhauer, Philosopher, 1788-1860
"In the final analysis, our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this small planet, breathe the same air, and we all cherish our children’s future."
John F. Kennedy |
|
Big Bunny
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| | Re: MedTech IV: R & D
« Reply #26 on Jan 9, 2010, 11:26am » | |
Coloured lasers may curb epilepsy
![[image]](http://img442.imageshack.us/img442/6237/47039507c0028452laserbe.jpg "[image]")
Coloured lights could be used to find treatments for brain disorders such as epilepsy, a study has suggested.
A Massachusetts Institute of Technology team discovered a way to shut down brain activity using flashes of yellow and blue lasers.
They hope to adjust this to switch off neurons that generate an electrical impulse abnormally, causing seizures.
This could help experts understand how the brain works and, ultimately, offer treatment targets, Nature reports.
The work relies on two genes found in natural organisms like algae that need light to make energy.
Illuminating
These genes, known as Arch and Mac, contain the genetic code for light-activated proteins.
The MIT team engineered brain neurons to express Arch and Mac.
By doing this, they were able to control the brain cells of mice and monkeys using light.
Light activates proteins which, in turn, lowers the voltage in the neurons and prevents them from generating an electrical signal, known as firing.
Arch responds to blue light, Mac to yellow, and both recover afterwards.
Now the researchers plan to closely examine the neural circuits of the brain in the lab to find targets that, when shut down, could treat epilepsy as well as other conditions including Parkinson's disease and chronic pain.
Ed Boyden, who led the research, said: "Silencing different sets of neurons with different colours of light allows us to understand how they work together to implement brain functions.
"These tools will help us understand how to control neural circuits, leading to new understandings and treatments for brain disorders."
Although the work has involved animals, it should shed light on what is happening in humans, he said.
Professor Gero Miesenbock of Oxford University has been using the same technology in his research, which has included studying memory formation in fruit flies.
He has said the technology is "beginning to yield previously unattainable insight" into the organisation and regulation of the neural circuits of the brain, and the link between patterns of cellular activity and behaviour.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/health/8441983.stm
Published: 2010/01/09 00:24:03 GMT
|
"All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed, second it is violently opposed, and third, it is accepted as self-evident."
Arthur Schopenhauer, Philosopher, 1788-1860
"In the final analysis, our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this small planet, breathe the same air, and we all cherish our children’s future."
John F. Kennedy |
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Big Bunny
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| | Re: MedTech IV: R & D
« Reply #27 on Jan 24, 2010, 1:13am » | |
Technique 'tracks' spread of MRSA
![[image]](http://img6.imageshack.us/img6/552/47152251b234068mrsaresi.jpg "[image]")
Researchers have developed a technique for precisely tracking the spread of the superbug MRSA in hospitals.
The team from the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute in Cambridge looked at the genomes of MRSA strains from across the globe and at one hospital in Thailand.
They were able to spot small changes that allowed them to track the strain back to an individual patient.
They say this adds to the understanding of how MRSA can spread so rapidly and should lead to better treatments.
DNA sequencing
The research, which is published in the journal Science, involved teams in the UK, in Bath, Oxford and London, and Thailand, Portugal and the United States.
Scientists used new high-throughput DNA sequencing technologies to compare MRSA samples from patients to show how they were genetically related.
They were able to spot single-letter differences in the genetic code.
They looked at two different sets of samples: one set taken from people across the globe and another from a single hospital in Thailand.
They sequenced the entire genomes of each sample.
In the hospital setting it revealed single letter genetic changes in the samples showing that no two infections were caused by entirely identical bacteria.
This allowed them to discover whether one patient had infected another or whether the infection had come in from another source.
They found that the MRSA strain studied acquired about one single-letter change in its genetic code every six weeks.
Worldwide search
They also looked at samples from hospitals in several parts of the world collected over more than 20 years.
The rate of mutation apparently supports the theory that MRSA emerged in the 1960s at the time of widespread antibiotic use.
Professor Sharon Peacock, a microbiologist at the University of Cambridge said: "The implications for public health are clear. This technology represents the potential to trace transmission pathways of MRSA more definitively so that interventions or treatments can be targeted with precision and according to need."
Researchers say it would be too expensive to use the technology widely at present but the cost should fall in the next few years.
Professor Mark Enright, an expert in molecular epidemiology at Imperial College, London, said the work gave researchers "a good idea as to how this particular type of MRSA has evolved and how it behaves in and out of hospitals".
"This work is a great demonstration of new, rapid DNA sequencing that in the near future will be how important pathogens such as MRSA will be identified," he said.
"Such unambiguous identification will form the basis for rapid diagnostics of microbial infection and will tell us how they spread in hospitals identifying each human host and surface in chains of transmission between patients."
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/health/8471137.stm
Published: 2010/01/21 19:16:41 GMT
|
"All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed, second it is violently opposed, and third, it is accepted as self-evident."
Arthur Schopenhauer, Philosopher, 1788-1860
"In the final analysis, our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this small planet, breathe the same air, and we all cherish our children’s future."
John F. Kennedy |
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Big Bunny
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| | Re: MedTech IV: R & D
« Reply #28 on Jan 24, 2010, 1:26am » | |
Simple scan spots stress disorder
By Jason Palmer
Science and technology reporter, BBC News
A one-minute test appears to diagnose post-traumatic stress disorder with an accuracy of 90%.
The test measures the tiny magnetic fluctuations that occur as groups of neurons fire in synchrony, even when subjects are not thinking of anything.
These "synchronous neural interactions" have already been shown to distinguish signals from subjects with a range of disorders including Alzheimer's.
The latest work is reported in the Journal of Neural Engineering.
The brain's signals are effectively a symphony of electrical impulses, which in turn drive tiny magnetic fields.
Researchers have measured and mapped these fields, in a pursuit known as magnetoencephalography, since the late 1960s. It has already been used to diagnose tinnitus, and can even predict when people will make mistakes.
Apostolos Georgopoulos, at the University of Minnesota in the US, developed the synchronous neural interactions (SNI) approach as a means to mathematically untangle the myriad signals that magnetoencephalography produces.
In 2007, he led a group that showed that SNI signals can distinguish between subjects with multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer's disease, schizophrenia, Sjögren's syndrome, and chronic alcoholism.
One to watch
Professor Georgopoulos and his colleagues have now used the approach to assess its accuracy in diagnosing post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
The team recruited 74 military veterans who had already been diagnosed with PTSD alongside 250 members of the public.
The subjects were asked simply to stare at a dot for up to a minute while the magnetic signals were collected - a measure of the brain "at rest".
This is in contrast to preliminary results reported in 2009 that functional magnetic resonance imaging, or fMRI, may be useful in diagnosing post-traumatic stress disorder.
In that work, subjects were exposed to images of combat situations.
The SNI approach proved 90% accurate in discerning which subjects had PTSD.
"The excellent results obtained offer major promise for the usefulness of the SNI test for differential diagnosis," the team wrote, "as well as for monitoring disease progression and for evaluating the effects of psychological and/or drug treatment."
Dr Neil Greenberg, a researcher in military psychiatry at King's College London, expressed doubt that a clinical test of this sort solves the principal challenge in diagnosis.
"The main challenge with PTSD - with the military, emergency services, or journalists - isn't diagnosing it," he told BBC News.
"It's with getting people who might have the condition to come forward and have an assessment and treatment.
"If someone could go out and point a device at a hundred people and tell which of them would actually benefit from treatment but aren't going to come forward and get help, that would be useful."
He added that, in current practice, a treatment programme would in any case be decided through the same lengthy behavioural questionnaires that are used to diagnose the disorder.
Rajendra Morey of Duke University, a researcher into the neurological basis of PTSD and other disorders, said that such reluctance to come forward is endemic across medicine, adding that the SNI approach "has a lot of merit" in the formal study of brain disorders.
"We already have behavioural measures to diagnose PTSD, but I think the strength here is that it can be done very rapidly and objectively," he told BBC News.
"The sort of stigma that PTSD is some kind of weakness may be overcome to some extent by establishing, by further confirming, that it's really changes in the brain and that we have objective measures of these changes.
"I think it's something that the scientific community, especially in PTSD and mental health research, will watch closely."
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/science/nature/8470258.stm
Published: 2010/01/21 13:54:33 GMT
|
"All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed, second it is violently opposed, and third, it is accepted as self-evident."
Arthur Schopenhauer, Philosopher, 1788-1860
"In the final analysis, our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this small planet, breathe the same air, and we all cherish our children’s future."
John F. Kennedy |
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Big Bunny
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| | Re: MedTech IV: R & D
« Reply #29 on Jan 24, 2010, 2:25am » | |
High-resolution gene technique zooms in on superbug
By Kate Kelland
Posted 2010/01/21 at 2:25 pm EST
LONDON, Jan. 21, 2010 (Reuters) — Scientists have found a way to track minutely-differing strains of the "superbug" MRSA as they spread between people and across the globe, a finding that could aid efforts to control the deadly bacteria.
![[image]](http://img36.imageshack.us/img36/875/20100121t192526z01btre6.jpg "[image]")
Methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA)in an undated image courtesy of the CDC. REUTERS/CDC/Janice Carr
An international team lead by researchers from Britain's Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute used very high-throughput gene sequencing machines to compare individual MRSA bugs from patients and show precisely how they were genetically related.
Methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) causes infections such as blood poisoning and pneumonia and can kill. It is one of a group of drug resistant bacteria, or "superbugs" that are a major problems in hospitals around the world.
Stephen Bentley, who led the study published by the Science journal, said the new technology had allowed scientists for the first time to find precise differences in strains of the bug -- a "fundamentally important" step to tackling infection.
"It allows researchers and public health officials to see how infections are spread, from person to person, from hospital to hospital, from country to country," he said.
Until now, even the best methods for identifying genetic differences between bacteria have been unable to pick up tiny differences -- leaving uncertainty about how infections spread.
The success of the new method relies on comparing whole genetic codes, the scientists said. The ability to track strains in this way will help researchers understand how strains can spread so rapidly, and should lead to new control strategies, not only for MRSA but also for other emerging superbugs.
The researchers looked at 62 MRSA samples. One set of 42 was taken from hospitals in North and South America, Europe, Australia and Asia from patients who became infected with MRSA between 1982 and 2003, and 20 were from a hospital in Thailand, from patients who developed MRSA within 7 months of each other.
"We wanted to test whether our method could successfully zoom in and out to allow us to track infection on a global scale - from continent-to-continent, and also on the smallest scale - from person-to-person," Simon Harris of the Sanger Institute told reporters at a briefing.
The team sequenced the whole genomes of all the samples and were able to spot single-letter changes in the genetic code and identify differences between even the most closely related bugs.
From the results they created "evolutionary tree" which showed that MRSA infections are often clustered in locations, but can be spread across borders by patients traveling between place and another and visiting different hospitals.
Drug-resistant bacteria kill about 25,000 people a year in Europe and about 19,000 in the United States. The European Center for Disease Prevention and Control says superbug infections cost 900 million euros ($1.31 bln) a year in extra hospital time and 600 million euros a year in lost productivity.
Sharon Peacock of Britain's Cambridge University who also worked on the study, told reporters the work could "flag up hotspots for MRSA transmission ... and these could then be examined to improve infection control strategies."
Dutch researchers said this month that all hospital patients should be screened for MRSA to try to halt its spread.
http://www.newsdaily.com/stories/tre60k5ds-us-superbug-mrsa/
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"All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed, second it is violently opposed, and third, it is accepted as self-evident."
Arthur Schopenhauer, Philosopher, 1788-1860
"In the final analysis, our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this small planet, breathe the same air, and we all cherish our children’s future."
John F. Kennedy |
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