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Human cells showing cell nuclei (cyan), mitochondria (magenta), and the Coxiella burnetii protein MceF (yellow). The figure evidences the co-location of MceF with cellular mitochondria. Credit: Robson Kriiger Loterio Researchers have discovered a previously unidentified protein with antioxidant properties produced by Coxiella burnetii, a Gram-negative intracellular bacterium. This breakthrough suggests potential new treatments for autoimmune diseases and cancer. Researchers at the University of São Paulo, in collaboration with Australian colleagues, have discovered a unique bacterial protein capable of keeping human cells healthy even when the cells have a heavy bacterial burden. This breakthrough holds the potential for developing new treatments...

Tragedy continues to strike the Tampa Bay area as health officials confirm five fatalities resulting from an insidious flesh-eating bacterium that has been identified to frequent the region’s beaches. The State of Florida’s Health Department has shared that the microorganism in question, known as vibrio vulnificus, is naturally inclined to thrive in warm and brackish seawater, necessitating a saline environment for its survival. The bacterium tends to proliferate more aggressively during the warmer months. Health experts emphasize that infections stemming from vibrio vulnificus are rare. However, they caution that individuals with open wounds, cuts, or scrapes must exercise prudence by...

It is estimated that 2 billion people globally suffer from the disease today. But vitamin D can help the immune system fight tuberculosis, a new study concludes. "We have shown that vitamin D improves the immune system's ability to fight the tuberculosis bacterium, Mycobacterium tuberculosis," says Associate Professor Martin Kongsbak-Wismann. Today, tuberculosis is treated with antibiotics, but in the past, many tuberculosis patients were admitted to sanatoriums and made to lie out in the sun. This caused their vitamin D levels to rise. Therefore, researchers have long suspected that vitamin D can help fight tuberculosis. The study showed that the...

Scientists have discovered the world's largest known bacteria, reaching up to one centimetre (0.4-inches) in length. The species, called Thiomargarita magnifica, was discovered on sunken leaves in the waters of a mangrove swamp in Guadeloupe, Lesser Antilles in the Caribbean. It appears as thin white filaments like vermicelli pasta, and contains microscopic sulphur granules that scatter light, giving it a pearly gleam. The 'giant' organism is thousands of times larger than most bacteria and can therefore be seen by the naked eye. Thiomargarita magnifica 'challenges the prevailing view of bacterial cell size' and the assumption that microbes are only visible...

Scientists discovered an absolutely massive bacterium that can be seen without the aid of a microscope and lurks among the mangroves of Grande-Terre in the Caribbean... The single-celled organism can grow up to 0.78 inches (2 centimeters) long and resembles a thin string, according to a report describing the discovery, posted Feb. 18 to the preprint database bioRxiv. The bacterium carries all its DNA inside a membranous pouch, unlike most bacteria, whose genetic material floats, unbound, within their cells. This feature not only sets the newfound microbe apart from other bacteria, but also distinguishes it from other prokaryotes — a...

Mild winters and big deer and mice populations mean more ticks and higher rates of Lyme disease diagnoses. Milder winters, burgeoning mice and deer populations and a bumper acorn crop from two years ago mean this year’s tick season is expected to be bad and more widespread, experts say. With that comes the threat of more tick-borne diseases, including the most common, Lyme disease. States like Connecticut—home to the town of Old Lyme where the disease was first diagnosed—are already reporting a higher number of ticks infected with the Borrelia burgdorferi bacterium, which causes Lyme disease, as well as other...

<p>The specific strain of CRE, known as Klebsiella pneumoniae, was isolated from one of her wounds in August.</p> <p>Tests were negative for the mcr-1 gene—a great concern to health experts because it makes bacteria resistant to the antibiotic of last resort, colistin.</p>

As the sun went down after the 1862 Battle of Shiloh during the Civil War, some soldiers noticed that their wounds were glowing a faint blue. Many men waited on the rainy, muddy Tennessee battlefield for two days that April, until medics could treat them. Once they were taken to field hospitals, the troops with glowing wounds were more likely to survive their injuries — and to get better faster. Thus the mysterious blue light was dubbed “Angel’s Glow.” In 2001, 17-year-old Civil War buff Bill Martin visited the Shiloh battlefield with his family and heard the legend of Angel’s...

When scientists injected spores of a weakened form of the bacterium Clostridium novyi directly into the soft-tissue tumors of dogs and that of a single human subject, the results were not only abscesses, fever and pain at the site--all inflammatory responses that showed the immune system had been drawn to the area. In a matter of hours, the bacterial spores quickly found their way into these tumors' necrotic cores and began replicating madly, in several cases killing the malignant tissue. In three of 16 dogs treated with the C. novyi, tumors disappeared altogether and the animals were cured. In three...

Home> Health Warm Water Sparks Flesh-Eating Disease Warning in Florida Jul 29, 2014, 12:12 PM ET By KATIE MOISSE Katie Moisse More from Katie » Katie Moisse Health Editor via Good Morning America PHOTO: Crescent Beach in Sarasota, Fla. is pictured in this file photo. Florida Officials Warn About Deadly Bacteria in Water Next Video Flesh-Eating Bacteria Survivor Gets Service Dog Auto Start: On | Off Florida health officials are warning beachgoers about a seawater bacterium that can invade cuts and scrapes to cause flesh-eating disease. Vibrio vulnificus –- a cousin of the bacterium that causes Cholera –- thrives in...

Living On 'The Red Edge': Rare Form Of Chlorophyll Discovered In Newly Sequenced BacteriumSea Squirts and sea stars. The Acaryochloris marina lives beneath the sea squirt, which is a marine animal that lives attached to rocks just below the surface of the water. The cyanobacterium absorbs "red edge" light through the tissues of its pal the sea squirt. (Credit: iStockphoto) ScienceDaily (Feb. 11, 2008) — Researchers at Washington University in St. Louis and Arizona State University have sequenced the genome of a rare bacterium that harvests light energy by making an even rarer form of chlorophyll, chlorophyll d. Chlorophyll d...

Surprising New Species Of Light-harvesting Bacterium Discovered In Yellowstone Science Daily — In the hot springs of Yellowstone National Park, a team of researchers has discovered a novel bacterium that transforms light into chemical energy. The researchers also discovered that the new genus and species belongs to a new phylum, Acidobacteria -- only the third time in the past 100 years that a new bacterial phylum has been added to the list of those with chlorophyll-producing members, of which there are now only six...

Scientists successfully store "e=mc2 1905" on DNA of living matterFebruary 27, 2007 (Computerworld) -- A Japanese university announced scientists there have developed a new technology that uses bacteria DNA as a medium for storing data long-term, even for thousands of years. Keio University Institute for Advanced Biosciences and Keio University Shonan Fujisawa Campus announced the development of the new technology, which creates an artificial DNA that carries up to more than 100 bits of data within the genome sequence, according to the JCN Newswire. The universities said they successfully encoded "e= mc2 1905!" -- Einstein's theory of relativity and the...

The Philippines military says it has discovered traces of possible biological weapons in a raid on a suspected hideout of Southeast Asian terror group Jemaah Islamiah in the southern Philippine city of Cotabato. A senior military official says possible residues of a "tetanus virus-carrying chemical was among those found" in Sunday's raid, along with a "bio-terror manual". Bomb-making materials, documents and notes on assembling rocket-propelled grenades were also found during the raid, but no suspects were arrested. Military spokesman Major General Rodolfo Garcia says the documents refer to Jemaah Islamiah, but has refused to elaborate further. Last week authorities arrested...

Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2002 September 30 D. rad Bacteria: Candidate Astronauts Credit: Michael Daly (Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences), DOE Explanation: These bacteria could survive on another planet. In an Earth lab, Deinococcus radiodurans (D. rad) survive extreme levels of radiation, extreme temperatures, dehydration, and exposure to genotoxic chemicals. Amazingly, they even have the ability to repair their own DNA, usually with 48 hours. Known as an extremophile, bacteria...