PLoS Pathogens

Influenza virus: Being the most beneficial mutation is no guarantee of long-term genetic success, research finds

(Medical Xpress)—Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute scientists have used computer modelling to understand why some mutations in a virus gene rise to dominance and become 'fixed' in the genome of the virus, ...

Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes created Jan 03, 2013 | popularity 4 / 5 (1) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Hepatitis C treatment's side effects can now be studied in the lab

(Medical Xpress)—The adverse side effects of certain hepatitis C medications can now be replicated and observed in Petri dishes and test tubes, thanks to a research team led by Craig Cameron, the Paul Berg ...

Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes created Nov 16, 2012 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (6) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

'Bas-Congo': Genetic sleuthing uncovers deadly new virus in Africa

An isolated outbreak of a deadly disease known as acute hemorrhagic fever, which killed two people and left one gravely ill in the Democratic Republic of Congo in the summer of 2009, was probably caused by ...

Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes created Sep 27, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (4) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

To spread, nervous system viruses sabotage cell, hijack transportation

Herpes and other viruses that attack the nervous system may thrive by disrupting cell function in order to hijack a neuron's internal transportation network and spread to other cells.

Medical research created May 30, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (3) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

New discovery in fight against deadly meningococcal disease

Professor Michael Jennings, Deputy Director of the Institute for Glycomics at Griffith University, was part of an international team that discovered the previously unknown pathway of how the bacterium colonizes people.

Medical research created May 23, 2013 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Scientists confirm Justinianic Plague caused by bacterium Yersinia pestis

(Medical Xpress)—From the several pandemics generally called 'pestilences' three are historically recognized as due to plague, but only for the third pandemic of the 19th-21st centuries AD there were microbiological ...

Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes created May 10, 2013 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Malaria parasite protein identified as potential new target for drug treatment

Scientists have discovered how a protein within the malaria parasite is essential to its survival as it develops inside a mosquito. They believe their findings identify this protein as a potential new target for drug treatments ...

Medical research created Apr 25, 2013 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Innate immune system can kill HIV when a viral gene is deactivated

Human cells have an intrinsic capacity to destroy HIV. However, the virus has evolved to contain a gene that blocks this ability. When this gene is removed from the virus, the innate human immune system destroys HIV by mutating ...

HIV & AIDS created Mar 28, 2013 | popularity 5 / 5 (4) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

New foot-and-mouth vaccine signals huge advance in global disease control

(Medical Xpress)—A new vaccine against foot-and-mouth disease that is safer to produce and easier to store has been developed by scientists from the University of Oxford and The Pirbright Institute.

Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes created Mar 28, 2013 | popularity 5 / 5 (3) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Drug-resistant MRSA bacteria: Here to stay in both hospital, community

(Medical Xpress)—The drug-resistant bacteria known as MRSA, once confined to hospitals but now widespread in communities, will likely continue to exist in both settings as separate strains, according to ...

Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes created Mar 15, 2013 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (5) | comments 7 | with audio podcast

French patients keep HIV at bay despite stopping drugs (Update)

A small French study of 14 HIV patients who have remained healthy for years after stopping drug treatment offers fresh evidence that early medical intervention may lead to a "functional cure" for AIDS, researchers said Thursday.

HIV & AIDS created Mar 14, 2013 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Two-pronged immune cell approach could lead to universal shot against flu

Seasonal epidemics of influenza result in nearly 36,000 deaths annually in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Current vaccines against the influenza virus elicit an antibody response specific ...

Medical research created Mar 14, 2013 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (2) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

Study provides new clues to how flu virus spreads

People may more likely be exposed to the flu through airborne virus than previously thought, according to new research from the University of Maryland School of Public Health. The study also found that when ...

Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes created Mar 07, 2013 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

'Defective' virus surprisingly plays major role in spread of disease

(Medical Xpress)—Defective viruses, thought for decades to be essentially garbage unrelated to the transmission of normal viruses, now appear able to play an important role in the spread of disease, new ...

Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes created Feb 28, 2013 | popularity 5 / 5 (6) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Promising new method for next-generation live-attenuated viral vaccines against Chikungunya virus

Researchers have successfully applied a novel method of vaccine creation for Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) using a technique called large scale random codon re-encoding. Using this approach, a group from the UMR_D 190, Emerging ...

Medical research created Feb 21, 2013 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0 | with audio podcast