A new study has shown substantial benefit to combining monoclonal antibodies and the antiviral remdesivir against advanced Marburg virus. «Marburg is a highly virulent disease in the same family as the virus that causes Ebola. In Africa, patients often arrive to a physician very ill. It was important to test whether a combination of therapies…

Gardnerella bacteria in the cervicovaginal microbiome may serve as a biomarker to identify women infected with human papillomavirus (HPV) who are at risk for progression to precancer, according to a new study. HPV infection is one of the most common sexually transmitted infections and the causal agent of cervical cancer. But it is still not…

Researchers have discovered a molecular mechanism that explains how Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection alters a host’s epigenome to promote tumorigenesis (the transformation of normal cells into cancer cells) in certain types of stomach cancer. The findings suggest that EBV infection plays an important role in the development of EBV-associated stomach cancers, and provide fresh insights…

In 2016, there were 87 million people diagnosed with gonorrhea, the most antibiotic resistant of all the STIs. There is a global rise in gonorrhea rates and, until now, no one has understood why. Monash University’s Professor Kit Fairley, Director of the Melbourne Sexual Health Clinic in Australia, has presented data in Canada that indicates…

Scientists develop a method to genetically label neurons with a single gene of interest in mice by combining the anterograde transsynaptic spread of adeno-associated virus serotype 1 (AAV1) with intersectional gene expression. In two distinct circuits: the retina/primary visual cortex to the superior colliculus and the bilateral motor cortex to the dorsal striatum, injections of…

New research reports the largest ever whole-genome sequencing project for the potentially fatal yeast infection Candida glabrata from hospitals across Scotland. Candida glabrata is a type of yeast that can cause disease in humans. It most commonly affects the urinary tract, genitals, mouth, and the bloodstream. If it is not caught, these infections can become…

Food allergies cost billions of dollars and cause enormous suffering for people. Researchers are trying to remove the source of food allergies altogether — troublesome proteins made by our favorite crops. It’s critical to find ways to reduce the suffering caused by food allergies. Food processing companies already spend a lot of effort to label…

Researchers have shown that a protein called MondoA can activate the important health-linked process of autophagy, whereby cells are broken down and their components are recycled. MondoA both inhibited a protein called Rubicon and regulated the Prdx3 protein, which maintains the stability of energy-producing mitochondria within cells. Activation of MondoA protected against aging and age-associated…

Small molecules found in fecal matter could provide clues to the early inflammation found in chronic gut conditions, such as intestinal bowel disease (IBD), and serve as new biomarkers for diagnosis, according to a study. The researchers found that fecal miRNA, small nucleic acid sequences, could be used as a tool to assess the healthiness…

Researchers have solved the decades-old mystery of how stomach bacterium Helicobacter pylori causes gastric cancer. Using mouse models and human cancer cell lines, they showed that inflammation resulting from bacterial infection leads to the proliferation of gastric epithelial cells, which ultimately form gastric tumors. By blocking the protein pathway responsible for this proliferation, they prevented…