Influenza researcher Peter Palese visited yesterday and spoke about “Pandemic influenza: Past and Future”. A key part of his talk was a review of his efforts to produce a universal influenza vaccine which protects against all strains. He used the following graph to make the point that when influenza pandemic strains emerge, there is insufficient …
A salt-loving (halophilic) bacterium which can grow in medium containing arsenic instead of phosphorus has been selected from the microbial community of Mono Lake in California. Arsenic (As) is a chemical analog of phosphorus and is usually toxic because it can enter metabolic pathways in the place of phosphorus. It appears to be incorporated into macromolecules of …
Are there viruses of arsenic-utilizing bacteria? Read More »
I joined Marc Pelletier, Andre Nantel, and George Farr on episode 71 of Futures in Biotech for a conversation about the 1000 genome project, the billion dollar human proteome, how antibodies block viral infection, and capturing anti-matter. [audio:http://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/twit.cachefly.net/fib0071.mp3 | titles=FiB 71] Download audio FiB #71 (42 MB .mp3, 87 minutes) Download video (211 MB .mp4)
I’ve been hearing about the vertical farm concept from Dickson Despommier for years – as a faculty colleague of his here at Columbia University Medical Center, and more recently as co-host of TWiV and TWiP. I could not help but be enthusiastic as the idea grew from a seed, to seeing Dickson jetting around the …
Antibodies are an important component of the host defense against viral infection. These molecules, produced 7-14 days after infection, neutralize viral infectivity, thereby limiting the spread of infection. Antibodies are thought to neutralize viral infectivity in several ways: by forming noninfectious aggregates that cannot enter cells, or by blocking virion attachment to cells or uncoating …
Antibodies neutralize viral infectivity inside cells Read More »
How large is the zoonotic pool – all the animal viruses that could one day infect humans? Assuming that there are 50,000 vertebrates on earth, each with 20 viruses, the number is one million – probably a vast underestimate. Determining just how many viruses exist in a variety of animal species is technically feasible, limited …
