All USA & Canada articles
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NewsSynthetic biology leads to recyclable textiles: Engineered protein fibers for a cleaner future
Scientists have created protein-based materials, which are produced in bioreactors using genetically engineered microbes. These materials can be readily recycled after use and remade into the same fibers over multiple cycles. In addition, any microparticles, if released from these fibers during washing, would be biodegradable.
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NewsResearchers link human molecular, microbial diversity with geography, ethnicity
Researchers at the Stanford School of Medicine have found that ethnicity and geography may influence human molecular makeup — from metabolism and immunity to gut microbiota and biological aging. The findings, which published in Cell on May 14, illuminate the complex interplay between genetics and the environment, ...
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NewsReview highlights antimicrobial peptides as cross-seeding modulators at the neurodegenerative–infectious interface
In a comprehensive review, researchers synthesize emerging evidence that antimicrobial peptides and disease-related amyloids can influence one another through heterotypic cross-seeding interactions.
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NewsUnderstanding and exploiting tuberculosis superspreading
A new perspective piece introduces the idea of “superspreading niches”, specific parts of community contact networks where highly infectious individuals intersect with highly susceptible contacts, as a key framework for understanding TB superspreading and designing new TB control interventions.
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NewsStudy is first to detect and track multiple cancer-causing viruses in wastewater
A study is the first comprehensive approach to detect all known cancer-causing or oncogenic viruses concurrently by analyzing viral genomes in wastewater. The work shows that it is feasible to monitor the presence and levels of cancer-causing viruses, enabling the possibility of public health interventions in the future.
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NewsNew report charts path for climate-disease preparedness
Changing patterns of temperature and precipitation, along with sea level rise and more extreme weather events, are impacting the ecology, evolution, distribution and prevalence of infectious disease reservoirs, hosts, vectors and pathogens. As a result, new diseases are emerging, and others are reappearing in regions where they were once uncommon.
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NewsBacteria may hold a cancer treatment clue
A review argues that tumors with reproducibly poor prognosis outcomes may share an overlooked feature: bacterial infection within the tumor microenvironment. These bacteria may weaken treatment by altering local immunity, damaging tissue structure, and even inactivating chemotherapeutic drugs.
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NewsMeasuring SARS-CoV-2 diversity in wastewater improves disease surveillance
Tracking the genetic diversity of SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater, rather than just viral abundance, dramatically improves the ability to monitor and predict COVID-19 outbreaks, researchers report.
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NewsTraditional dengue alerts are missing the mark as Vietnam’s climate shifts—researchers propose a one health solution
For decades, Vietnam’s dengue surveillance relied on a straightforward logic: when cases exceed the five-year average by a sufficient margin, sound the alarm. That logic is now breaking down.
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NewsPublic housing mold intervention program reduces asthma-related ED visits
The New York City Housing Authority developed a mold-removal program in response to a 2013 class-action lawsuit filed by residents suffering from asthma due to mold in their apartments. Without Mold Busters, residents would have experienced 25 per cent more asthma-related emergency department (ED) visits.
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NewsResearchers find increased bacteria infection in patients with chronic lung disease
A new study has found that people with bronchiectasis and chronic sinus disease were more likely to have mucus samples that tested positive for Pseudomonas aeruginosa. It suggests that doctors caring for patients with bronchiectasis may need to pay closer attention to sinus disease and bacterial testing.
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NewsDiseases can spread between apartments via shared ventilation, study shows
Airborne diseases like measles, influenza and COVID-19 can easily spread between units in multi-family buildings via a type of bathroom ventilation system commonly used around the world, new research suggests.
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NewsExperts call on WHO to revisit its approach to airborne risk in light of hantavirus outbreak
In light of the hantavirus outbreak, public health experts have called on the World Health Organization (WHO) to shift its default response to emerging respiratory viruses. The starting point should not be to downplay the risk of airborne transmission until it is definitively proven, they warned.
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NewsFlawed but correctable research hindered progress in infection-triggered chronic conditions
Researchers contend that studies of infection-associated chronic illnesses such as Lyme disease and COVID-19 suffer recurring problems such as the failure to prove participants have the relevant pathogen.
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NewsWine’s leftovers could help wean chicken farms off antibiotics
Every year, millions of gallons of wine are pressed, leaving behind a mountain of pulpy residue that wineries struggle to dispose of. Now, researchers say this overlooked byproduct could serve as a replacement for the antibiotics routinely added to chicken feed.
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NewsThe liver’s immune cells might be the key to curing hepatitis B
Researchers investigated why some people with chronic hepatitis B infections went off their medications, only for the virus to start to come back — and then some of the patients were cured. It appears a certain type of T cell, some of which coordinate immune responses, spots the infection in the liver and mobilizes an attack.
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NewsResearchers develop realistic ‘mock’ samples to speed cervical cancer test development
A team of bioengineers has developed a new way to create highly realistic “mock” patient samples that could help accelerate the development of faster, more accessible cervical cancer screening tests for low-resource settings.
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NewsBronchiectasis and NTM Care Center Network expands to 62 centers
The Bronchiectasis and NTM Association has accepted one new Care Center and three new Clinical Associate Center sites into the Bronchiectasis and NTM Care Center Network (CCN). The CCN includes 62 centers across the United States.
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NewsPenn researchers create AI tool to speed antibiotic discovery
Researchers have developed a novel, AI-powered method for turning promising but imperfect antibiotic candidates into more potent ones. ApexGO starts with a small number of imperfect candidates and improves them step by step, using a predictive algorithm to evaluate each modification and guide the next.
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NewsThe fog is alive - with tiny helpers
What if fog isn’t just misty air, but a living ecosystem? This question hung over cloud researcher Thi Thuong Thuong Cao. As a PhD student at Arizona State University, her curiosity led her from knocking on the doors of microbiologists and chemists, to sampling fog before sunrise in Pennsylvania, to ...