Recent News

By Category: Research

TB outbreaks could be ‘solved’ by DNA tracking

(EurekAlert) Reconstructing the spread of killer diseases such as tuberculosis (TB) from person to person using DNA sequencing quickly identifies the origin and movement of pathogens. This approach is directly informing public health strategies to control infectious disease outbreaks, says a scientist speaking at the Society for General Microbiology’s Autumn Conference at the University of  Read More »

As pretty as a picture (but a lot more deadly): Killer diseases as you’ve never seen them before

(Mail Online) They look like works of modern art but these incredible images actually show some of the world’s deadliest diseases – including the Black Death and anthrax. Many of the specimens can have devastating affects on the human body and have caused major epidemics. But the bacteria, invisible to the naked eye, are shown  Read More »

‘Benign’ malaria key driver of human evolution in Asia-Pacific

(Walter and Eliza Hall Institute) The malaria species rampant in the Asia-Pacific region has been a significant driver of evolution of the human genome, a new study has shown. An international team of researchers has shown that Plasmodium vivax malaria, the most prevalent malaria species in the Asia-Pacific, is a significant cause of genetic evolution  Read More »

Anti-HIV drug simulation offers ‘realistic’ tool to predict drug resistance and viral mutation

(EurekAlert) Pooling data from thousands of tests of the antiviral activity of more than 20 commonly used anti-HIV drugs, AIDS experts at Johns Hopkins and Harvard universities have developed what they say is the first accurate computer simulation to explain drug effects. Already, the model clarifies how and why some treatment regimens fail in some  Read More »

Ebola in Uganda – update

There have been no new confirmed cases of Ebola haemorrhagic fever reported in Kibaale district, Uganda, since 3 August 2012, indicating that the outbreak is coming to an end. A total of 24 probable and confirmed cases including 17 deaths have been reported since the beginning of the outbreak. Of these, 11 cases were laboratory  Read More »