Today I have added an updated Microbial Cell Structure chapter to the site. It has been completely rewritten, with new figures and much more extensive content. The chapter is also using a new PostNuke module that I wrote (a plugin to the content management system that runs the site). The book now has fancy feature such as printable layouts, and periodic quick checks so that the student can verify that they are understanding the content. Have a look and give me your feedback.

There's more...

For those interested in influenza, the January issue of Emerging Infectious Disease is full or articles about the virus, avian influenza, the chances of a pandemic and much more all written by the foremost experts in the field. If you want to learn more about the virus and its disease, this is a must read.

There's more...

It has become so obvious that the increases in greenhouse gases in our atmosphere are causing world temperatures to increase, that no one can honestly deny it. Those still proporting that we no do anything have now retreated to a position of claiming what we are observing is the variation of a natural cycle in carbon dioxide, methane and other greenhouse gases. A new report, just published in science, blows that argument completely out of the water.

There's more...

Wired news weighs in with a short article about what the options are for a flu vaccine. They are pretty much on target with their balance. Things are not there yet, but we do have options. Also, if you are thinking that we are about to enter an extended cataclysmic warring world, you may be comforted to know that you can still eat oat meal that is over 28 years old.

There's more...

The latest news form the research area is pretty heartening. Two important developments were reported this week in the research journals. Tian et al report on the development of a flu vaccine for birds. In the introduction to the research, the authors clearly summarize why they undertook this work and the potential positive impact it could have.

Wild birds are regarded as natural reservoirs for avian influenza viruses. Free-range domestic waterfowl have chances to contact with both wild birds and domestic animals, including poultry and mammals, such as pigs, and therefore can function as intermediate hosts to transmit the avian influenza viruses from wild birds to other hosts. H5N1 avian influenza viruses have circulated in domestic waterfowl in certain southeast Asia countries for a number of years, and these waterfowl usually do not show any disease signs, even when they carry viruses that are highly pathogenic for chickens. If active surveillance is not rigorously carried out, these viruses will not be detected unless they cause disease outbreaks or are transmitted to sensitive hosts, such as chickens or turkeys. It is quite common in southern China and other Asia countries that pigs and ducks are housed in close proximity, especially in farming villages, where families typically own a small number of pigs and ducks. This proximity creates the opportunity for viruses to transmit between ducks and pigs and to adapt to mammalian hosts.

There's more...

In this weeks installment we look at the mechanisms of Tamiflu and other neuraminidase inhibitors, rapid diagnostic tests, and improvements in reverse engineering of influenza viruses.

The mechanisms of action of Tamiflu
Tamiflu's pharmaceutical name is oseltamivir phosphate, while its chemical name is (3R,4R,5S)-4-acetylamino-5-amino-3(1-ethylpropoxy)-1-cyclohexene-1-carboxylic acid, ethyl ester, phosphate. Are you glad you know? Here is the chemical structure of oseltamivir phosphate

There's more...

Whiley and Sloots report on the development a rapid assay for the presence of flu virus using real time PCR (RT-PCR) that allows the detection of virus in a matter of hours. This method can detect all flu viruses, including H5:N1. Use of this method should greatly speed detection of the virus and surveillance, which is critically important to monitoring and stopping the virus.

There's more...

An article in The Scientist reports that most prostate cancer carries a specific gene fusion where the regulatory region of the TMPRSS2 gene is fused to either ERG or ETV1. These two genes are transcription factors and their increased expression, as a result of the fusion, helps to turn on cell division and thus cancerous growth. An interesting aspect of this report is that the research involved using software to probe a publicly available database for human cancer gene expression. This is a great example of the potential bioinfomatics has for contributing to the field of science.

There's more...

A recent report has found the H5:N1 virus present in, and killing, magpies. Kwon et. al. report.

HPAI was diagnosed in the three dead magpies (Pica pica sericea) submitted to the National Veterinary Research and Quarantine Service.
[snip]
Avian influenza virus was isolated from cecal tonsils and feces of the magpies. The isolated virus was identified as a highly pathogenic H5N1, with hemagglutinin proteolytic cleavage site deduced amino acid sequence of QREKRKKR/GLFGAIAG. To determine the pathogenicity of the isolate, eight 6-wk-old specific-pathogen-free chickens were inoculated intravenously with the virus, and all birds died within 24 hr after inoculation. This is the first report of HPAI in magpies.

The virus is clearly spreading in species other than waterfowl. Could this be the mystery bird that is spreading influenza in the wild?

There's more...

This week we focus on tracking the avian virus through birds, the spread of the virus through wild birds and a recent report detailing large-scale sequencing of viral genomes.

Tracking of influenza

It may be news to many, but scientists have been tracking avian influenza for five years. Vincent Munster at the Erasmus Medical Center in Rotterdam runs a large surveillance program, getting more than 8,000 samples a year. Understandably, their work has become of great interest to the world at large because of the avian influenza outbreak. More about this work is detail in the October 21st issue of Science (Vol 310, issue 5747, pp 428). An interesting note from the article, between 1 and 20% of all captured ducks are infected with influenza, most without symptoms.

There's more...