Mostly Microbes and Infection

Pfizer said it can update its COVID19 vaccine within 100 days if the o micron variant is found to be resistant to its current vaccine. The company expects to know within two weeks whether the variant is resistant.

Scientists agreed that Omicron warranted urgent attention, but further studies are needed to determine how it fares against current vaccines.

by  Adriana Chan, Melissa Nguyen, Adam Acevedo and David Ojcius Wildfires and wildfire smoke have always been a natural feature of California’s environment. Article discusses effects of climate change on incidence of wildfires, effects of wildfire smoke on health, and how to protect oneself.

  Scientists use genetically-engineered bacteria to convert glucose into a fatty acid, which can then be transformed into olefins. The process could likely be adjusted in the future to also generate other types of hydrocarbons found in gasoline.

For decades, scientists have dreamed of a universal flu vaccine, one that could target many strains of the virus. New technologies may now make it possible. One of the world’s longest pandemics could soon be coming to an end.

  Mosquitoes have a mutual symbiotic relationship with malaria -causing pathogen, Plasmodium . Analysis of uninfected & infected mosquitoes shows that infected mosquitoes' sense of smell was significantly enhanced, thus improving their ability to find hosts.

by Steven Leung, Michelle Sabin, Eve Cuny and David Ojcius Take careful steps as we return to normal after COVID19 . As more people become vaccinated, it's normal to ask if we can stop social-distancing & wearing m asks . The answer is, not yet.

  Loss of taste & smell are well-known sensory symptoms of COVID19 , but growing evidence suggests that vision & hearing are also frequent targets of SARS-CoV-2 . More than 10 % of people with COVID develop some type of eye or ear symptom, according to latest data.

Branched-chain amino acids are taken up by B. fragilis & converted into sugar-lipid molecules. Antigen-presenting cells in turn induce NK T cells to upregulate inflammation -related genes.

A pre-clinical study suggests the makeup of our diet could be more powerful than drugs in keeping conditions like diabetes , stroke & heart disease at bay.

Penicillin may help turn the tide on deadly impact of rheumatic heart disease (RHD) for children in developing nations, according to trial in Uganda. RHD is caused by rheumatic fever, which results from poorly treated, repeat infections w/ streptococci.

The unbalanced gut microbiota present in some people with autism is not a driver of the condition but rather a consequence of eating behaviors characteristic of the condition, a new study claims

A new study (not peer-reviewed yet) shows that deer can catch the coronavirus from people & give it to other deer in overwhelming numbers, the first evidence of animals transmitting the virus in the wild.

To elicit an immune response, these vaccines deliver proteins & immunity-stimulating adjuvants. The firm Novavax just received emergency-use authorization for this type of jab, in Indonesia.

85% of people in Singapore eligible for #COVID19 vaccines are fully vaccinated & 18% have received booster shots. The gov't said it will no longer cover medical costs of people “unvaccinated by choice,” who make up most remaining new coronavirus cases.

In new study, researchers show that the brain stores “memory traces” of the body’s past infections. Reactivating the same brain cells that encode this information is enough to swiftly summon the peripheral immune system to defend at-risk tissues.

A United Nations report suggests that 75% of all emerging infectious diseases are zoonotic, which means illnesses that jumped from animals to humans. Most of them come from the tropics, where meat from wild animals is widely consumed.

Pfizer's drug is a protease inhibitor designed to block an enzyme that the coronavirus needs to multiply. Merck's pill is a nucleoside analogue that aims to introduce errors into the genetic code of the virus.

Bacteriophages are the most abundant life form on the planet. They keep keep bacterial populations in check (on land & at sea), & are a major source of genetic innovation.

 

Researchers show that seagrass in the Mediterranean Sea lives in #symbiosis with bacteria that reside in their roots & provide the nitrogen necessary for growth. Such symbioses were previously only known from land plants.

Microbes may be transferred between vampire bats when they lick & groom one another & share regurgitated food. This means the bats living together end up with a common “social microbiome”.

Researchers are reimagining how some chapters in Darwin 's Origin of Species would look with our current understanding of the host-associated microbiome .