Free Republic

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...

AMARILLO, Texas State health officials are looking into how a Panhandle man contracted a rare bacterial disease typically tied to the livestock industry. The Texas Department of State Health Services says the Moore County man doesn't work around livestock or in a laboratory or slaughterhouse. Department veterinarian James Alexander also says the man isn't a veterinarian. He says it's possible the man might have caught the disease from contaminated soil. Alexander says the disease can spread from animals to humans. The patient says he has a friend with livestock but that he had no contact with the animals. Common symptoms...

Ptahmes was Mayor of Memphis and high-ranking official under the Pharaohs Sethi I and Ramses II (1290-1213 BC) of the XIX dynasty. His tomb is located in the south of the Causeway of the Pharaoh Unas which yields a number of tombs dated to the New Kingdom. It was rediscovered in 2010 after a part of it was revealed in 1885 and lost under the sands at the end of the 19th century. During the 2013/2014 excavation season, Cairo University archeologists found broken jars at the site. One jar contained a solidified whitish mass, as well as canvas fabric that...

Last month, archaeologists cracked open a tomb excavated in Alexandria, Egypt, revealing three skeletons bathing in an crimson pool of sludgy sewage. In response, tens of thousands around the world immediately petitioned for the right to sip from the freshly uncorked casket of amontillado. (Spoiler: It hasn't worked out.) But fear not, coffin connoisseurs: There's a new artisanal artifact in town -- the world's oldest solid cheese, over 3,000 years in the making. The tomb of Ptahmes, mayor of Memphis, the ancient capital of Egypt during the 13th century BC, contains quite the trove of treasures. First uncovered in 1885,...

Mass cull of goats questioned as researchers race to find strain behind human cases. The chief veterinary officer of the Netherlands has defended the country's decision to cull thousands of goats in an effort to control an unprecedented outbreak of Q fever. The Netherlands "can't take a chance", Christianne Bruschke told Nature after a meeting in Breda — a city near the heart of the outbreak. At the meeting, scientists from other countries questioned the tactic. But Bruschke said that in other countries the authorities have been able to ignore the disease because there have been relatively few cases. In...