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mmmbitesizescience
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- May 14, 2013
- 08:28 AM
- 44 views
How to survive the bacterial antibiotic revolution
by Stephanie Swift in mmmbitesizescience
These days, we have a pretty serious problem when it comes to our ability to kill resistant bacteria causing serious illness. People petition governments to urge action, while drug companies lament over how those pesky bacteria evolved to defeat their … Continue reading →... Read more »
Johnston BC, Ma SS, Goldenberg JZ, Thorlund K, Vandvik PO, Loeb M, & Guyatt GH. (2012) Probiotics for the prevention of Clostridium difficile-associated diarrhea: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Annals of internal medicine, 157(12), 878-88. PMID: 23362517
Karuppiah P, & Rajaram S. (2012) Antibacterial effect of Allium sativum cloves and Zingiber officinale rhizomes against multiple-drug resistant clinical pathogens. Asian Pacific journal of tropical biomedicine, 2(8), 597-601. PMID: 23569978
Kwakman PH, te Velde AA, de Boer L, Speijer D, Vandenbroucke-Grauls CM, & Zaat SA. (2010) How honey kills bacteria. FASEB journal : official publication of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology, 24(7), 2576-82. PMID: 20228250
- April 27, 2013
- 07:28 AM
- 94 views
The Science of Guns and Violence in America
by Stephanie Swift in mmmbitesizescience
I read a Nature News article recently about gun control in the USA that horrified me so much that I now have to write a bit about this horrifying topic myself. It goes without saying that there is a huge … Continue reading →... Read more »
Wintemute GJ. (2013) Tragedy's legacy. The New England Journal of Medicine, 368(5), 397-9. PMID: 23268646
- April 16, 2013
- 08:28 AM
- 54 views
Stem Cells Wanted: Alive Not Dead
by Stephanie Swift in mmmbitesizescience
Stem cell therapies are taking off, in a surprisingly unregulated way. While most humans have to go to places like South Korea to receive them, horses, dogs, cats, pigs and tigers are already being treated in North America. The most … Continue reading →... Read more »
Corselli, M., Chin, C., Parekh, C., Sahaghian, A., Wang, W., Ge, S., Evseenko, D., Wang, X., Montelatici, E., Lazzari, L.... (2013) Perivascular support of human hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells. Blood, 121(15), 2891-2901. DOI: 10.1182/blood-2012-08-451864
Glettig, D.L., & Kaplan, D.L. (2013) Extending Human Hematopoietic Stem Cell Survival In Vitro with Adipocytes. BioResearch Open Access. info:/
- April 4, 2013
- 08:28 AM
- 115 views
Eating too much salt sends immune system haywire
by Stephanie Swift in mmmbitesizescience
When it comes to knowing whether eating too much salt is a bad thing, there is a surprising lack of “verified-by-science” information available*. A certain level of salt, or sodium chloride, is a biological necessity that keeps muscles pumping and … Continue reading →... Read more »
Kleinewietfeld M, Manzel A, Titze J, Kvakan H, Yosef N, Linker RA, Muller DN, & Hafler DA. (2013) Sodium chloride drives autoimmune disease by the induction of pathogenic TH17 cells. Nature. PMID: 23467095
- March 27, 2013
- 08:28 AM
- 110 views
The Evolution of the Impenetrable American Bedbug
by Stephanie Swift in mmmbitesizescience
Most of us are quite content to share our beds with a partner or a kitty, but are less inclined to extend the same warm welcome to the common bedbug, Cimex lectularius. These parasitic insects, which feed exclusively on blood, … Continue reading →... Read more »
Zhu F, Gujar H, Gordon JR, Haynes KF, Potter MF, & Palli SR. (2013) Bed bugs evolved unique adaptive strategy to resist pyrethroid insecticides. Scientific reports, 1456. PMID: 23492626
Kilpinen, O., Vagn Jensen, K.-M., & Kristensen, M. (2008) Bed Bug Problems in Denmark, with a European Perspective. Proceedings of the Sixth International Conference on Urban Pests. info:/
- March 20, 2013
- 08:28 AM
- 96 views
Converting weeds into flowers: artificial stem cells create a blood supply for bioengineered organs
by Stephanie Swift in mmmbitesizescience
Regenerating the human body by growing whole new organs or patching up damaged ones from just a few cells scraped from your own tissues is a fascinating area of science known as bioengineering. Every living cell in such an organ … Continue reading →... Read more »
Margariti A, Winkler B, Karamariti E, Zampetaki A, Tsai TN, Baban D, Ragoussis J, Huang Y, Han JD, Zeng L.... (2012) Direct reprogramming of fibroblasts into endothelial cells capable of angiogenesis and reendothelialization in tissue-engineered vessels. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 109(34), 13793-8. PMID: 22869753
- March 8, 2013
- 08:28 AM
- 136 views
Ivory DNA sequencing tracks elephant poaching hotspots
by Stephanie Swift in mmmbitesizescience
The illicit trade in elephant ivory has been a ridiculous problem since the 1980′s, when Asian and African elephants were decimated to such a level that they made it onto Appendix One (“most endangered species”) of CITES. While all trade … Continue reading →... Read more »
Wasser SK, Shedlock AM, Comstock K, Ostrander EA, Mutayoba B, & Stephens M. (2004) Assigning African elephant DNA to geographic region of origin: applications to the ivory trade. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 101(41), 14847-52. PMID: 15459317
Wasser SK, Mailand C, Booth R, Mutayoba B, Kisamo E, Clark B, & Stephens M. (2007) Using DNA to track the origin of the largest ivory seizure since the 1989 trade ban. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 104(10), 4228-33. PMID: 17360505
- February 27, 2013
- 08:28 AM
- 111 views
Supporting Miss. Muffet in the sixth millenium BC
by Stephanie Swift in mmmbitesizescience
I love cheese. Oh, how I do. Hard cheese, soft cheese, hole-y cheese, crumbly cheese, squidgy cheese – all of them will find a warm and welcoming home in my mouth. While deliciousness alone seals the place of cheese at … Continue reading →... Read more »
Salque M, Bogucki PI, Pyzel J, Sobkowiak-Tabaka I, Grygiel R, Szmyt M, & Evershed RP. (2013) Earliest evidence for cheese making in the sixth millennium BC in northern Europe. Nature, 493(7433), 522-5. PMID: 23235824
- February 21, 2013
- 08:28 AM
- 195 views
Semi-retired cells repair our damaged hearts
by Stephanie Swift in mmmbitesizescience
Repairing or replacing damaged cells keeps our organs in tip top working condition. For a long time, we thought that only the incredibly rare stem cells in adult organs were able to create brand new cells to replace injured ones … Continue reading →... Read more »
Senyo SE, Steinhauser ML, Pizzimenti CL, Yang VK, Cai L, Wang M, Wu TD, Guerquin-Kern JL, Lechene CP, & Lee RT. (2013) Mammalian heart renewal by pre-existing cardiomyocytes. Nature, 493(7432), 433-6. PMID: 23222518
- February 13, 2013
- 08:28 AM
- 108 views
Antibiotics hit your gut microbes hard
by Stephanie Swift in mmmbitesizescience
These days, most doctor’s are acutely aware of the problems of overprescribing antibiotics. Historically given as more of a placatory gesture – ‘I have to prescribe something, else this patient will think I’m an incompetent buffoon’ – their overuse almost … Continue reading →... Read more »
Pérez-Cobas AE, Gosalbes MJ, Friedrichs A, Knecht H, Artacho A, Eismann K, Otto W, Rojo D, Bargiela R, von Bergen M.... (2012) Gut microbiota disturbance during antibiotic therapy: a multi-omic approach. Gut. PMID: 23236009
- February 6, 2013
- 08:28 AM
- 209 views
24 hours in the life of HIV
by Stephanie Swift in mmmbitesizescience
Human immunodeficiency virus, or HIV, only emerged in humans relatively recently, yet already represents a big public health threat. When HIV enters the human body, often through sexual contact or the sharing of needles between drug users, it shows a … Continue reading →... Read more »
Mohammadi P, Desfarges S, Bartha I, Joos B, Zangger N, Muñoz M, Günthard HF, Beerenwinkel N, Telenti A . (2013) 24 Hours in the Life of HIV-1 in a T Cell Line. PLOS Pathogens, 9(1). info:/10.1371/journal.ppat.1003161
- January 26, 2013
- 09:28 AM
- 128 views
The journey to parasite egg paradise
by Stephanie Swift in mmmbitesizescience
The parasite, Schistosoma mansoni, is a remarkably cunning and efficient worm. It spends the first part of its life infecting freshwater snails, where it vigorously multiplies to bulk up numbers. This parasite army then marches out of the snail and … Continue reading →... Read more »
Turner JD, Narang P, Coles MC, & Mountford AP. (2012) Blood Flukes Exploit Peyer's Patch Lymphoid Tissue to Facilitate Transmission from the Mammalian Host. PLoS pathogens, 8(12). PMID: 23308064
- January 19, 2013
- 09:28 AM
- 152 views
What makes the smallpox vaccine so great?
by Stephanie Swift in mmmbitesizescience
Perhaps one of the most incredibly effective vaccines ever used, against smallpox, has completely eradicated a terribly nasty human disease. Yet the way in which vaccinia virus, the live poxvirus contained in the smallpox vaccine, actually orchestrates a protective immune … Continue reading →... Read more »
Benhnia MR, Maybeno M, Blum D, Aguilar-Sino R, Matho M, Meng X, Head S, Felgner PL, Zajonc DM, Koriazova L.... (2013) Unusual features of vaccinia virus extracellular virion form neutralization resistance revealed in human antibody responses to the smallpox vaccine. Journal of virology, 87(3), 1569-85. PMID: 23152530
- January 13, 2013
- 12:08 PM
- 166 views
Sexy times don’t help induce labour in late pregnancies
by Stephanie Swift in mmmbitesizescience
Even though I’ve never been pregnant, I’ve lived in the world long enough to have absorbed random nuggets of wild information, like there are lots of ways to try and bring on labour in women at the end of their … Continue reading →... Read more »
Omar N, Tan P, Sabir N, Yusop E, & Omar S. (2012) Coitus to expedite the onset of labour: a randomised trial. BJOG : an international journal of obstetrics and gynaecology. PMID: 23145957
- January 6, 2013
- 12:18 PM
- 187 views
Colonised livestock transmit MRSA to farmers
by Stephanie Swift in mmmbitesizescience
These days, most people are aware of the increasing development of antibiotic resistance in bacteria that cause human disease, which is at least partially driven by the overprescription of antibiotics. Even our most robust antibiotics, active against a wide range … Continue reading →... Read more »
Paterson G, Larsen J, Harrison E, Larsen A, Morgan F, Peacock S, Parkhill J, Zadoks R, & Holmes M. (2012) First detection of livestock-associated meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus CC398 in bulk tank milk in the United Kingdom, January to July 2012. Euro surveillance : bulletin europeen sur les maladies transmissibles , 17(50). PMID: 23241232
Golding GR, Bryden L, Levett PN, McDonald RR, Wong A, Wylie J, Graham MR, Tyler S, Van Domselaar G, Simor AE.... (2010) Livestock-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus sequence type 398 in humans, Canada. Emerging infectious diseases, 16(4), 587-94. PMID: 20350371
Graveland H, Wagenaar JA, Bergs K, Heesterbeek H, & Heederik D. (2011) Persistence of livestock associated MRSA CC398 in humans is dependent on intensity of animal contact. PloS one, 6(2). PMID: 21347386
- December 29, 2012
- 03:28 AM
- 227 views
Zinc takes the sting out of jellyfish venom
by Stephanie Swift in mmmbitesizescience
For me, there are three extremely good reasons never to go to Australia – huge furry-bodied poisonous spiders, venomous lightning fast snakes and sharks with great mouthfuls of serrated teeth. After reading a recent article, I am now happy to … Continue reading →... Read more »
Yanagihara AA, & Shohet RV. (2012) Cubozoan venom-induced cardiovascular collapse is caused by hyperkalemia and prevented by zinc gluconate in mice. PloS one, 7(12). PMID: 23251508
- December 20, 2012
- 07:58 AM
- 301 views
British Sheep vs. Chernobyl Radiation
by Stephanie Swift in mmmbitesizescience
The explosion of reactor number four of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in 1986 is widely regarded as the worst radiation disaster in human history. The radioactive fallout spread from Northern Ukraine throughout Northern Europe, dispersing large quantities of radioactive … Continue reading →... Read more »
Field, A. (2011) An Assessment of Radiocaesium Activity Concentrations in Sheep in Restricted Areas of England and Wales and Potential Consumer Doses. Food Standards Agency. info:/
- December 11, 2012
- 04:57 PM
- 206 views
Sea creatures dissolve as oceans acidify
by Stephanie Swift in mmmbitesizescience
There’s little doubt that increasing carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions through human industry contribute to the changing of the Earth’s climate. Excess CO2 is absorbed by our ocean’s, changing their chemical composition and driving more blustery ocean winds that force deeper … Continue reading →... Read more »
Bednaršek, N., Tarling, G., Bakker, D., Fielding, S., Jones, E., Venables, H., Ward, P., Kuzirian, A., Lézé, B., Feely, R.... (2012) Extensive dissolution of live pteropods in the Southern Ocean. Nature Geoscience, 5(12), 881-885. DOI: 10.1038/ngeo1635
- December 10, 2012
- 08:28 AM
- 292 views
Forensic evidence links badgers and cows in British tuberculosis infections
by Stephanie Swift in mmmbitesizescience
Bovine tuberculosis (bTB) is a serious disease that threatens the health of livestock, wildlife, and the agricultural economy, particularly in the United Kingdom. Although every cow in the UK is subjected to a yearly bTB test, and those with positive … Continue reading →... Read more »
Biek R, O'Hare A, Wright D, Mallon T, McCormick C, Orton RJ, McDowell S, Trewby H, Skuce RA, & Kao RR. (2012) Whole Genome Sequencing Reveals Local Transmission Patterns of Mycobacterium bovis in Sympatric Cattle and Badger Populations. PLoS pathogens, 8(11). PMID: 23209404
- November 30, 2012
- 05:18 PM
- 255 views
Parasite Philosophy: Just Keep Swimming!
by Stephanie Swift in mmmbitesizescience
Lots of microorganisms can survive in remarkably difficult conditions – bacteria can bloom in hot springs at 80°C, archaea live around hydrothermal vents reaching a toasty 113°C, while viruses can survive in the Arctic sea ice. For human pathogens, only … Continue reading →... Read more »
Heddergott N, Krüger T, Babu SB, Wei A, Stellamanns E, Uppaluri S, Pfohl T, Stark H, & Engstler M. (2012) Trypanosome motion represents an adaptation to the crowded environment of the vertebrate bloodstream. PLoS pathogens, 8(11). PMID: 23166495
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