In this tip of the week by OpenHelix, I will briefly compare two great microbial databases - the UCSC Microbial Genome Browser & the Integrated Microbial Genomes or IMG resource. More details and microbial resources are included in the full post, which can be accessed at http://blog.openhelix.eu/?p=5651
The video describes my invention of Engineered cells which can act as a live vaccine. These cells are programmed to intelligently detect a particular gut pathogen and then specifically and completely kill it without affecting the normal gut microbial flora. This automated approach thus prevents from horrible side effects of current antibiotics and growing resistance against them.
David Mead of Lucigen Corporation discusses polymerase development, Yellowstone and sequencing at the "Sequencing, Finishing, Analysis in the Future" meeting in Santa Fe, NM on May 28, 2009.
Tim Harkins of Roche Diagnostics talks about what he calls "The Edwards & Eisen Challenge" at the "Sequencing, Finishing, Analysis in the Future" meeting in Santa Fe, NM on May 27, 2009.
Jessica Hostetler from The J. Craig Venter Institute speaks at the "Sequencing, Finishing, Analysis in the Future" meeting in Santa Fe, NM on May 27, 2009.
All pathogens must acquire and assimilate nutrients from their hosts in order to grow and multiply -- our tissues are literally their food -- yet surprisingly little is known about this fundamental aspect of the pathogenic lifestyle. Accumulating evidence suggests that M. tuberculosis might utilize fatty acids as its principal carbon and energy source during infection. The fourth part of this lecture describes work in our laboratory that is focused on identifying the metabolic pathways that...
The principal obstacle to successful treatment of tuberculosis is the lengthy duration of current regimens, which require administration of multiple drugs for 6-9 months. The requirement for prolonged therapy is attributed to sub-populations of bacillary "persisters" that are refractory to antimicrobials. The persisters are not drug-resistant in the conventional (heritable) sense and it is a mystery why they are spared whilst their genetically identical siblings are killed. The third part of...
Tuberculosis remains one of the most important causes of human disease and death despite the introduction of vaccination in 1921 and chemotherapy in 1952. Although these interventions are inexpensive and widely available their impact is limited. The effectiveness of vaccination is unclear; in clinical trials, the protection conferred by vaccination has been variable and generally poor. Although chemotherapy can be highly effective, multiple drugs must be administered for 6-9 months to...
