Scientists claim they can predict disease outbreaks

Ever so often viruses manage to successfully infect human beings and spread throughout the population. In the past, viral outbreaks could lead to high death tolls, the influenza outbreak of 1918 being a famous example with 500 million infections and between 50 and 100 million deaths. Nowadays, viral outbreaks are less pronounced, but we have to remain cautious, as the 'swine flu' and 'bird flu' have taught us. In order to cope with future viral outbreaks, scientists have developed a model that can predict outbreaks before they occur. The method will mainly be used for viral spread in Africa.

The first documented cure of an HIV infected baby

When AIDS was first discovered it was a disease that eventually kills the patient. With new antiviral therapies, AIDS, and the corresponding HIV infection, is now a disease that is manageable. Nevertheless, HIV remains a big problem because the virus cannot be eradicated completely and it is still readily spreading around the globe, especially because it can be transferred from the mother to the unborn child. But now, for the first time, doctors have reported to have cured a baby infected with HIV, an incredible milestone. The patient was a newborn that was 'aggressively' treated with antiviral drugs.

Bacteria help to prevent diabetes

It is true that micro-organisms such as bacteria have a bad image, as they are the cause of various nasty diseases and discomfort. On the other hand, we have discovered that bacteria play an important role in the body: we have more of these microbes than cells in our body, and scientists previously discovered that they help to fight off all kinds of infections, as well as help us with digestion. Now, a study revealed that bacteria that populate our intestine help to prevent diabetes, a rather interesting finding.

Engineered bacteria to produce fuel and plastics

For those materials that we cannot find or produce from natural resources, we use chemistry. Chemical reactions in the lab cane take place under a variety of circumstances, which helps us create a large number of artificial compounds with properties that we desire. A while back, scientists discovered that bacteria can help us with performing chemical reactions and producing desirable compounds. They now produce various things for us that are complex to make with conventional chemistry, including insulin. Now, researchers from the University of California in Davis have found a way to create fuel and plastics with bacteria.

Viral therapy 'completely destroys' cancer

Cancer is a disease that is hard to treat. Most therapies aim at stopping growth and attempting to decrease the size of the tumour, but there are hardly any treatments that actually cure the patient. Most famous is of course the conventional chemotherapy which kills cancer cells just a bit faster than that it kills healthy cells. Novel therapies are more targeted, and one way to achieve that is by recruiting viruses. Curiously, HIV seems effective as a treatment for cancer, but scientists are also working with other viruses, such as those that appear effective in brain cancer patients. Now, it appears science has seen another breakthrough, as a group of scientists from the University of Sheffield developed a viral therapy that 'abolishes' prostate tumours.

Dog shown capable of sniffing bacterial infections

Bacteria are incredibly tiny, and that means that we need special techniques to determine whether a patient has been infected or not. That means taking samples of bodily fluids or tissues from the patient and analysing those in the lab. It takes a while before a sample is analysed, and that means the bacteria has the time to spread. It would be therefore be of great benefit if there was a method that could instantly tell us whether a patient is infected or not, enabling us to isolate them directly. Surprisingly, such techniques are actually realistic, but in quite a different way from what one would expect: instead of complex biotechnology, it appears to be as simple as getting a dog to sniff the patient.

HIV shown to be promising as a treatment for cancer

A couple of months ago, a group of French scientists reported that they found a way to use HIV as a means to treat cancer. They showed some promising results in the lab, indicating that the virus could be a lot more effective than conventional treatments. Now, the first clinical trial has been performed with a similar technique, and it appears as if HIV may indeed be useful in the development of a decent cancer treatment.

Engineered bacteria sacrifice themselves for others

Altruism is a form of behaviour thought only to exist in animals that are highly intelligent, such as us human beings. It is defined as having concern for the welfare of others, without having a certain moral obligation. Sacrificing your own life for the well-being of someone else could be considered the ultimate form of altruism, although scientists are still debating whether true altruism exists at all, evolutionary speaking. Scientists have now found such behaviour in bacteria, although this required a bit of modification.

Using microbes instead of needles for vaccines

Most vaccines are administered by means of an injection, but this method is far from perfect. It requires the use of, mostly disposable, needles, which is a both an environmental and a financial burden. Additionally, needles are generally disliked because of the associated pain, although modern needles hardly cause any. A lot of research is devoted to finding alternatives for needles, as recently demonstrated by the development of laser injections. Now, a group of scientists has developed another alternative, by making use of a special feature of bacteria.

Biological 'internet' lets cells communicate

The internet basically consists of a bunch of computers that are connected with each other globally. By sending messages back and forth, we gain access to web pages and are able to communicate with other people through the web. This principle also exists in the body: cells communicate with each other using a variety of molecules, such as hormones, chemokines, cytokines. Everything takes place in an endlessly complex network, far beyond our own attempts with the internet. Scientists from the Stanford University Medical Center have found a way to send artificial messages to cells in the body, by harnessing the power of viruses. This way, they have created something that may be regarded as the biological internet, or Bi-Fi, as they have named it themselves.

Using HIV to cure cancer

HIV and cancer are both awful and have serious health impacts. None of us would like to be affected by either one of those, but it seems that putting them together may actually result in something useful. Scientists from the French CNRS institute think we can transform HIV into a tool that helps us fight cancer. It is an interesting idea that helps make something good out of something bad.

Deadly Ebola outbreak in Congo

Whenever there is an outbreak of an Ebola virus, it poses a big problem for the infected population. It is spread by body fluids and various forms of human contact, and can cause severe internal bleeding which often leads to death. What makes it even more dangerous is the fact that there is no cure, despite promising attempts to create one. A few weeks ago, the Ebola virus wreaked havoc in the African country Uganda, killing at least 16 people. Now, the World Health Organisation has confirmed the virus has also been found in Congo, where the death toll has already reached 10.

State of emergency after West Nile virus outbreak

Outbreaks of West Nile virus are pretty common, especially in the United States. About a decade ago, the number of deaths related to West Nile outbreaks were increasing, as well as the number of deaths due to infection. However, more recent years saw a drop in the number of deaths and mortality rate. Because the virus can cause lethal encephalitis, it is necessary to keep it under control. That is why the mayor of the Texan city Dallas has declared a state of emergency, after a recent outbreak hit a death toll of ten.

Uganda is suffering from a deadly Ebola outbreak

Ebola is one of the deadliest viruses known to roam the world. It causes deadly internal bleeding all over the body and it is especially lethal because there is no known cure, despite the fact that a recent study shows a vaccine may prevent infection in the future. That does not help us now, as is evident from the fact that the virus has wreaked havoc in the African country Uganda.

Scientists banned after deadly probiotic treatment

Recently, scientists have begun experiments with bacteria as a new form of treatment. For some diseases it is hypothesized that administering bacteria can improve health, for example by providing patients with probiotic drinks. Despite a lack of conclusive evidence for its efficacy, scientists have been experimenting with probiotics for new patient groups, of which brain cancer is perhaps the most peculiar example. Needless to say, things can go wrong with experimenting. Two scientists that experimented with infecting patients suffering from brain cancer found their results a little off: instead of treating the tumour, the patients died from the supposedly beneficial infection.

Computer grid simulates entire living organism

Simulation of life is something that sounds like science fiction or part of the popular film trilogy The Matrix. However, computers are getting increasingly powerful and have begun to find their way into the laboratories of biologists. Computers are able to calculate a lot more than us human beings, and are therefore often used to study protein or gene interactions. Because molecules inside a cell can come into contact with billions of other molecules, it is impossible for us to turn it into something that can be calculated beforehand, but computers can do some of the job for us. Now, scientists have proven capable of simulating an entire organism by simply using enough computing power.

Irradiated microbes can help treat deadly diseases

Many different bacteria and viruses try to infect our bodies on a daily basis. Some are more deadly than others, and for various microbes we have found protection mechanisms by means of vaccines. However, we are currently unable to develop protecting vaccines for all infectious diseases, meaning that a lot of people still die from infections. A novel method developed by the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences works by using radiation to render microbes harmless, and can be used to make new vaccines. This should help us treat a variety of dangerous diseases.

Research on deadly H5N1 published, reveals dangers

Dutch and American scientists shocked the world a while ago by revealing that they have successfully modified the H5N1 influenza virus in order to become much more deadly. The study was halted because authorities feared terrorists could use the information in order to create biological weapons. Because just five genetic mutations are necessary to create the deadly variant, there is also a risk that nature itself will 'create' this particular lab virus. Because the benefits of publishing were deemed to outweigh the risks, authorities gave the green light for publishing the results, which has recently been done. The papers from both research groups reveal the dangers of this potentially devastating virus.

Gut bacteria help us to fight off virus infections

We have a peculiar relationship with bacteria. Some are out there to kill us, but some of them do not harm us at all, and are in fact quite beneficial. Those that live in our intestines help us with food digestion, and their presence makes sure that gut space cannot be taken up by bad bacteria that constantly try to infect us. New research shows that our small friends in the gut do more than just that: they also help us to get rid of viruses. It was already known that having bacteria in our intestines was needed for our survival, but it appears this is true in more ways than previously assumed.

Possible cure for deadly Ebola virus

We have been quite successful in fighting 'invisible' threats such as viruses and bacteria over the last fifty years. The discovery of antibiotics fuelled many cures for infectious diseases that until then remained untreatable. Viruses are a little harder to kill, mainly because they are built in a much more simple fashion, rendering them with less vulnerabilities to exploit. Nevertheless, scientists have been able to develop some anti-viral drugs, even though some viruses remain extremely dangerous. The Ebola virus is an example, which causes haemorrhagic fever and is deadly in most cases of infection. It remains a potential threat to mankind, but luckily scientists from the National Microbiology Laboratory in Canada have developed a vaccine that seems to function as a cure.