Pathogen News and Research

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Scientists Use AI to Predict Future Viruses and Design Better Vaccines

Effective vaccines dramatically changed the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, preventing illness, reducing disease severity, and saving millions of lives.

10 May 2025

‘Superbug’ Found to Digest Medical Plastic

Pathogen shown to break down plastic used in sutures, stents, wound dressings and implants – raising new questions over device safety and hospital infections.

7 May 2025

How Bacteria Outsmart Plant Immunity Using a Sugar-Coated Trick

In the intricate world of plant-microbe interactions, plants are continuously defending themselves against invading bacteria. New research highlights the sophisticated strategies these bacterial invaders employ.

23 Apr 2025

Novel Compound Targets Salmonella's Infection Mechanism

Pathogenic Salmonella strains inject effector proteins into gastrointestinal tract cells, allowing them to infiltrate and grow. Bacteria are often consumed with contaminated food.

15 Apr 2025

How P. syringae Outsmarts Amoeba with Chemical Surveillance and Strikes

Pseudomonas syringae's chemical sensing system allows it to kill amoeba predators, showcasing its evolutionary strategies for survival and plant infection.

14 Apr 2025

Novel Microscopy Reveals Two-Stage T-Cell Activation During Viral Infection

The research teams led by Wolfgang Kastenmüller and Georg Gasteiger utilized advanced microscopy techniques to investigate the activation and proliferation of specific immune cells, known as T-cells, during viral infections.

11 Apr 2025

New Compound Fights Superbug Gonorrhea via Toxin-Antitoxin System

In recent years, the World Health Organization (WHO) has consistently raised alarms regarding the rise of antibiotic-resistant microbes.

3 Apr 2025

Bacterium Uses Chemical Radar to Detect and Kill Amoebae

Predator-prey relationships are found in virtually all ecosystems. Even microorganisms in their world, which is invisible to the naked eye, engage in these interactions when fighting for the survival of their species.

3 Apr 2025

Wheat's Pathogen Defense Strengthened by Tandem Kinase Proteins

Wheat is grown over more land area than any other food crop. Among pathogen-driven threats to wheat, fungi top the list, causing billions of dollars of losses each year and posing a serious challenge to food security worldwide.

3 Apr 2025

Novel AI Models Enhance Disease Diagnosis and Pathogen Identification

With the widespread availability of AI tools, numerous fields within the technical and natural sciences are experiencing rapid advancements.

1 Apr 2025

New Discovery Sheds Light on C. Diff's Survival Mechanism in the Gut

The pathogen C. diff - the most common cause of health care-associated infectious diarrhea - can use a compound that kills the human gut's resident microbes to survive and grow, giving it a competitive advantage in the infected gut.

26 Mar 2025

Immune System Peacekeepers Key to Preventing Autoimmunity During Infection

During infections, the immune system needs to distinguish foreign antigens that are expressed by invading bacteria and viruses from self-antigens that are expressed by cells of the body.

24 Mar 2025

New Insights into How B Cells Strategically Clone High-Affinity Antibodies

A vaccine's ability to generate long-lasting, high-affinity antibodies hinges on a delicate balance. Upon exposure to a vaccine or pathogen, B cells scramble to refine their defenses, rapidly mutating in hopes of generating the most effective antibodies.

20 Mar 2025

Ultrasensitive Pathogen Detection Without Nucleic Acid Amplification

Rashid Bashir, a Bioengineering Professor and Dean of the Grainger College of Engineering oversaw a group of researchers in a project that produced new technology that provides quick, extremely sensitive detection of bacteria and other pathogens at low concentrations that are resistant to multiple drugs.

17 Mar 2025

Study Reveals How Tuberculosis Bacteria Survive Airborne Journey

Tuberculosis bacteria rely on a family of genes that help them survive the challenging journey from one person's lungs to another person's during coughing, sneezing or talking, according to researchers from Weill Cornell Medicine and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

12 Mar 2025

Cryo-EM Reveals 3D Structure of Nipah Virus RNA Polymerase

The replication of the Nipah virus's genetic material in infected cells has been demonstrated for the first time by researchers from the Max Planck Institute (MPI) for Multidisciplinary Sciences and the University Medical Center Göttingen (UMG). In humans, the virus can cause fatal encephalitis.

11 Mar 2025

$30 Million Grant Supports AI-Powered Antibody Therapy Development

An ambitious project led by Vanderbilt University Medical Center investigators aims to use artificial intelligence technologies to generate antibody therapies against any antigen target of interest.

10 Mar 2025

Novel Python Pipeline Enables Genome-Scale Primer Design for Accurate Diagnostics

Zhang Liye Laboratory researchers have created a new tool that will change the way researchers design primers for pathogen detection.

4 Mar 2025

Unveiling the Role of NUDIX Hydrolase in Fungal Infection

Researchers from The Australian National University (ANU), in partnership with scientists from Germany and the United States, have identified a potent “weapon” employed by numerous pathogenic fungi to infect staple food crops like rice and corn. This discovery may lead to novel approaches for enhancing global food security.

28 Feb 2025

Dysfunctional Memory B Cells Identified as Key Cancer Therapy Target

University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and UPMC Hillman Cancer Center scientists have discovered a novel subset of cancer-fighting immune cells that reside outside of their normal neighborhood – known as the tertiary lymphoid structure – where they become frustratingly dysfunctional when in close contact with tumors.

20 Feb 2025