All Pharmaceutical Microbiology articles
-
NewsBreakthrough of the Year: A drug that prevents HIV infection, providing six months of protection per shot
As its 2024 Breakthrough of The Year, Science has named the development of lenacapavir – a promising new injectable drug that prevents HIV infection. The award also recognizes related work surrounding gaining a new understanding of the structure and function of HIV’s capsid protein.
-
NewsA new class of antivirals could help prevent future pandemics
A new study introduces a proof-of-concept for a novel class of antivirals that would target a type of enzyme essential not just to SARS, but also many RNA viruses, including Ebola and dengue, as well as cytosolic-replicating DNA viruses, including Pox viruses.
-
News‘Superman’ bacteria offer a sustainable boost to chemical production
A new study is focused on making industrial bacteria more robust and useful by reducing the energy, time, and unwanted chemicals required to maintain bacteria, while also making them reusable so they can work longer before needing to be replaced.
-
NewsTiny dancers: Scientists synchronise bacterial motion
Researchers have discovered that E. coli bacteria can synchronise their movements, creating order in seemingly random biological systems.
-
NewsPeat-bog fungi produce substances that kill tuberculosis-causing bacteria
An analysis of fungi collected from peat bogs has identified several species that produce substances toxic to the bacterium that causes the human disease tuberculosis.
-
NewsBacteria ditch tags to dodge antibiotics
Bacteria modify their ribosomes when exposed to widely used antibiotics, according to new research. The subtle changes might be enough to alter the binding site of drug targets and constitute a possible new mechanism of antibiotic resistance.
-
NewsResearchers develop lysosomal TRAP for clearance of viruses and variants
Researchers have developed a novel lysosomal strategy for clearing viruses and their variants. This lysosomal ‘TRAP’ (lysoTRAP) shows potential for inhibiting infection by viruses and variants in cell, mouse, hamster, and human lung organoid models.
-
NewsParkinson’s drug changes the gut microbiome for the worse due to iron deficiency
Scientists have revealed that the widely prescribed Parkinson’s disease drug entacapone significantly disrupts the human gut microbiome by inducing iron deficiency.
-
NewsProbiotic delivers anticancer drug to the gut
Researchers have engineered a probiotic that delivers immunotherapy directly to the gut to shrink tumors in mice, offering a potentially promising oral drug for hard-to-reach cancers.
-
Careers‘It’s been an eye-opener’: Thomas Thompson on his year as a Junior Editor
One year into our first Junior Editor training programme with Letters in Applied Microbiology, Dr Thomas Thompson of Queen’s University Belfast tells us how he is getting on.
-
NewsWomen’s health company Freya Biosciences announces key $10.4m strategic investment
Freya Biosciences, a transatlantic biotech company specializing in women’s health, has announced a major strategic investment which will be used to develop microbial immunotherapies for the treatment of bacterial vaginosis.
-
NewsResearchers reveal HIV latency reversing properties in African plant
Scientists have uncovered mechanisms of a medicinal plant with anti-HIV potential. Croton oligandrus Pierre & Hutch is a species of tree used in traditional healing in Cameroon to treat a variety of diseases and conditions including cancers and diabetes.
-
NewsTherapeutic proven to reduce advanced-stage influenza viral loads faster, more thoroughly in preclinical studies
Eradivir, a preclinical biotech company, has developed a patent-pending antiviral therapeutic that reduces lung viral loads of advanced-stage influenza in preclinical studies quicker and more effectively than currently available therapies.
-
NewsNew nasal vaccine shows promise in curbing whooping cough spread
As whooping cough cases rise in the U.S., a new nasal vaccine developed by Tulane University may hold the key to reducing the spread of the highly contagious respiratory disease. Source: Medical Illustrator: Dan Higgins Medical illustration of drug-resistant Bordetella pertussis bacteria Current pertussis vaccines are widely ...
-
NewsStudy identifies ‘Achilles heel’ of drug-resistant pathogens
A study has found a highly vulnerable weakness in drug-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis, using a genetic platform to identify biological pathways in a drug-resistant strain of the bacterium that are highly sensitive to inhibition.
-
NewsPotential single-dose smallpox and mpox vaccine moves forward
Scientists report on studies suggesting that the horsepox virus in the experimental vaccine is substantially more attenuated—and less likely to trigger a systemic infection—than the vaccinia virus used in the single-dose vaccine already approved by the FDA.
-
NewsResearchers seek out shorter, simpler TB treatments
Scientists are working to develop treatment options for tuberculosis that require fewer pills, shorter treatment periods (ideally 2-3 months), and consist of 3-4 medications that reduce the risk of resistance while minimizing toxicity.
-
NewsScientists assess efficacy of clinical drugs targeting SARS-CoV-2 main protease
A critical player in the virus’s life cycle is the main protease (Mpro), also known as NSP5 or 3CL protease, which plays a crucial role in the cleavage and maturation of SARS-CoV-2 proteins within the host cells.
-
NewsNew bacterial toxins discovered: A key to fighting infections
Researchers have discovered a new group of bacterial toxins that can kill harmful bacteria and fungi, opening the door to potential new treatments. Found in over 100,000 microbial genomes, they can destroy the cells of bacteria and fungi without harming other organisms.
-
NewsGenetic analysis of bacteria from humans and animals paves the way for new active ingredients
A research team has set itself the goal of finding natural products that can be used to treat non-infectious diseases by directly searching the bacteria that colonize humans and animals and play a role in the development of diseases.
