Scientific curiosity knows no bounds: a group of Swiss and US researchers have delved into "the dark side" of inviting rubber ducks and other flexible plastic toys into our tubs.
Mar 27, 2018
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Oral bacteria are ready to spring into action the moment a dental hygienist finishes scraping plaque off a patient's teeth. Eating sugar or other carbohydrates causes the bacteria to quickly rebuild this tough and sticky ...
Aug 17, 2020
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Probiotics typically aim to rebalance bacteria populations in the gut, but new research suggests they may also help break apart stubborn biofilms. Biofilms are living microbial communities—they provide a haven for microbes ...
Apr 3, 2019
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A hospital or medical clinic might be the last place you'd expect to pick up a nasty infection, but approximately 1.7 million Americans do each year, resulting in nearly 100,000 deaths from infection-related complications ...
May 19, 2022
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An experimental antibiotic is under development that is capable of neutralizing a wide range of drug-resistant, Gram-positive bacteria—pathogens that protect themselves in a slimy shield, called a biofilm, designed by nature ...
Lupus, multiple sclerosis, and type-1 diabetes are among more than a score of diseases in which the immune system attacks the body it was designed to defend. But just why the immune system begins its misdirected assault has ...
Jul 6, 2015
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(Medical Xpress)—A team of medical researchers from several institutions in the U.S. has found that some ionic liquids are able to safely penetrate both skin and bacterial biofilms, opening the door to a possible breakthrough ...
Most of the world's population either chronically suffers from plaque and dental cavities or will develop them at some point in their lives. Toothpastes, mouthwashes, and regular checkups do their part, but more can always ...
Jun 29, 2023
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Though most tooth decay can be blamed on bacteria, such as Streptococcus mutans, the fungus Candida albicans may be a joint culprit in an alarmingly common form of severe tooth decay affecting toddlers known as early childhood ...
Jun 20, 2017
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One in six women and one in twelve men in Austria suffers from some form of IBS—therefore around one million people in all. Using currently available techniques, it is only possible to diagnose IBS by a process of elimination. ...
Jun 18, 2021
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A biofilm is an aggregate of microorganisms in which cells adhere to each other on a surface. These adherent cells are frequently embedded within a self-produced matrix of extracellular polymeric substance (EPS). Biofilm EPS, which is also referred to as slime (although not everything described as slime is a biofilm), is a polymeric conglomeration generally composed of extracellular DNA, proteins, and polysaccharides. Biofilms may form on living or non-living surfaces and can be prevalent in natural, industrial and hospital settings. The microbial cells growing in a biofilm are physiologically distinct from planktonic cells of the same organism, which, by contrast, are single-cells that may float or swim in a liquid medium.
Microbes form a biofilm in response to many factors, which may include cellular recognition of specific or non-specific attachment sites on a surface, nutritional cues, or in some cases, by exposure of planktonic cells to sub-inhibitory concentrations of antibiotics. When a cell switches to the biofilm mode of growth, it undergoes a phenotypic shift in behavior in which large suites of genes are differentially regulated.
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