Microbiology and Immunology

They say this crap every year about every virus. It's complete bull. They said a lot of people were going to die when we ran short of flu vaccine, mad cow disease, killer bees, west nile, etc. I'm not saying a devastating plague is never gonna happen cause it probably will, but it will probably be one we never see coming. Soon we will all die. Or grow feathers and cluck. a lot of people are gonna die, just in countries most of you have never heard of. The guy from Jane's Addiction and the Red Hot Chili Peppers? Wow, he's moved up in the world! Ha ha, yeah, all joking aside, this bird flu thing? Scary shit. But how many of those 5-150 million deaths are …

There are quite a lot of products out there that claim to "boost" your immune system. Most of them seem bunk, and I've read a lot of articles saying that not only are the majority of the products not what they claim to be, but that the claim itself that anything can boost the immune system is bunk on its own. The immune system isn't something we can "boost"... or so I've read. But the other day I was watching a random program on discovery channel about a group of people stranded in the icy expanses of Alaska, trying to make their way out. They were hungry and dehydrated, and one of them started a cold. Pretty soon, they were all quite sick. The narrator explained that…

Hey. i have a small question. Has there been any cases in which the "good" bacteria in our system turned against us and caused septicemia?(i think thats the word) Like the bacteria in the colon, it helps to further process wastes eliminating toxins, but also as a bi-product it produces methane. could this bacteria "malfunction" and stop processing toxins? also, how would this effect the PH balance of our body? Biology isnt my best subject, i hope someone can explain this in detail.

What? http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2013/11/end-abx/ What is she talking about? I've never heard the phrase. When I searched for it the top result I found was also from Wired.com What do you make of this? Also, New Zealand. Something about New Zealand. Yeah...

viruses can utilize their genetic matierial to the max extent by transcripting in a sequence in one fashion and then by doing the same thing by shifting the reading frame to the next position and sysnthesize a new peptide...... this seems too intelligent but would it be really posssible that the resulting protien could make sesnse and could really be utilizred for the viruses purpose of continuing its life........ what do ye think....

Im currently reading the book "The China Study" and want to do one of my reports on it for one of my classes how ever the book makes some pretty bold statements stating that almost all autoimmune diseases are caused by diets high in proteins more specifically animal proteins, cancers are controllable with a low protein diet example rats fed aflatoxin were given different diets of varying amounts of protein the group at 5% protein did not develop any cancer vs 20% protein had a 100% cancer rate, and (this one i need explained) that animal proteins increase blood acidity and the body in order to neutralize the high acidity takes Ca from the bones leading to things such as o…

Hello Scientists. I am new to the forum. Although I come from somewhat of a scientific background in the past, I am not educated in biochemistry. At this point I would call myself a scientific researcher and independent student, not necessarily by choice, but out of necessity. Nevertheless, I've found this area profoundly interesting. Hoping your vast knowledge can help me find some answers, as I am desperate to understand a bit about immune responses and how they work. So onto my question: In my search for natural anti-inflammatory herbs I found Elderberry as potentially being one. Unfortunately, digging in deeper I came across what _may_ be contradictory…

Hello everyone, I know there are a lot of informations on this on the internet, but I just can't find something vulgarised. All is too complicated, or too simple (for a Grade 10 student). Ok, so I've read there are many ways bacteria can aqquire an antibiotic resistance. The most common is with the plasmids. Where do these plasmids come from in the first place? Is it a mutation? I've also read that bacteria can mutate and get a resistance that way...How does that happen? Any other ways for aqquiring an antibiotic resistance? Thanks in advance.

So I know T cells do not recognize a full antigen, but require a peptide presented on MHC. I know some intracellular bacteria shed proteins that a somatic cell may process and present on MHC I for a CD8 T cell to recognize. My question is: how - or whether - extracellular gut bacteria can initiate a T cell response? That is, they naturally only have the full antigen on their capsule/wall, they do not present a peptide-MHC complex... So how can these T cells recognize these gut bacteria? (and possibly destruct them...) Any input would be highly valued! P.s. I know there are alternative mechanisms involving antibodies, macrophages, NKs, etc... to combat ba…

Hi all, can you tell me how I prepare a stock solution of 10% SDS? What does 10% mean in this case? 10mg in 100 ml?10 g in 100 ml ? Thank you very much. Silvia

2010 International Symposium on Immune Diseases Time: May 15-17, 2010 Venue: Dalian Municipal Party Committee Hotel, Dalian, China Website: http://www.immunodiseases.com Dear Colleagues, Based upon your great contributions to the study and research on immunology, you are expected to take part in the 2010 International Symposium on Immune Disease (ISID-2010) which will be held from May 15th to May 17th in Dalian, China. Organized by the professional organization -- China Liaoning Society for Immunology and Institute of Immunology, China Medicinal University, ISID-2010 is designed to provide a small and cross disciplinary carefully selected current to…

Hello, Would anyone know of a research performed on eukaryotic ribosomal proteins (preferably S. cerevisiae) using 2D gel electrophoresis in association with mass spectrometry. Your help is greatly appreciated

Here is a call for discussion. In March (Science, March 2, Evidence for a functional second thymus in mice) a German team reported having isolated a second thymus (YES A BRAND NEW PREVIOUSLY UNIDENTIFIED ORGAN) in the mouse http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=16513945&query_hl=3&itool=pubmed_docsum. This has clear consequences for teams who were previously doing thymectomy to prevent lymphocyte development. Does anyone performed thymectomy in mice? If yes, what is the remaining population found in periphery? How did you address that it was peripheral expansion?

I have been looking for a repository of 3d images of bacteria, viruses, etc, but haven't had too much luck. As such, I was wondering if anyone on this forum had any recommendations? The preference being images from electron microscope photography, but I'll take anything at this point, really. I am wanting to make as accurate as possible 3d models for a project I am planning to undertake. The project will (hopefully) include a myriad of different species from many different 'walks of life.' Though, twitching a flagella around really doesn't count as walking and viruses are in that half-way point between living and non-living so . . . Yea, "different motilities of life &am…

Two weeks tomorrow a friend of mine is to undergo a course of radiation therapy. The radiation therapy is fractioned over a five week period, Monday to Friday. 45 Gy is a huge amount of radiation, given that a whole body dose of 5 Gy will lead to death. Does anyone know what the, stochastic health risk, is for this type of treatment ? I need to point out that I am a laymen, I am not asking for medical advice, just hard data. Thank you in advance.

(source: http://www.boston.com/news/health/articles/2009/02/23/team_finds_secret_that_could_stem_flu_viruses/) I read this in BadAstronomy (here's the post http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2009/03/29/is-a-one-time-flu-shot-on-the-horizon/) which links to a Boston Globe report. I'm not very well versed in immunology, but it was my understanding that the major problem of vaccination (and specifically the flu vaccine) is that the virus adapts and therefore a new vaccine is needed each season. In fact, I always understood that the flu is one of those viruses that adapts *so quickly*, that it's hard to really produce a good vaccine; it's as "good as we c…

is this news to me that candida can be completely 'flushed' from the body? i imagine this being comparable to eliminating normal flora... it just could not happen.

If anyone can help me with a complete list of human cells, it wold be appreciated. You don't have to tell me what they do, just there names. I'm trying to make an entire list for my research. Thanks to anyone who will help me b/c one day I hope to be a diagnostician. Thanks ~Rick~

hello to all. i have a curious eye problem which im hoping someone might help or advise me with. on certain backgrounds ie; a bright sunny day,foggy day,or even while im looking at my computer screen typing this,i can see what i can best describe as parasites swimming in my vision. they,re not floaters because they actually move or swim about and theres a glint off them as they move. i cant see them all the time and they dont effect my day to day routines. when i go to sleep at night though they appear when i shut my eyes for a few moments and thats it basically. if anyone has an idea to what they are or if it might lead to something more serious,i would be very grateful …

i read in a book somewhere that if someone has an infection or disease such as syphilis, then by giving them another disease thing such as malaria can over-ride the syphilis and they wont have it anymore. is that possible?

Hello everyone, I was involved in a recent study where we found a new form of social motility or swarming-like behavior in the archaeal species Haloferax volcanii. If you are not familiar with the idea of swarming in microbes, it is very interesting and something good to know about! We usually think about swarming in insects, or similar behaviors in animals like schools of fish, herds of buffalo, etc.. But microbes undergo similar activities as well. One well known example is the soil species Myxococcus xanthus that is able to prey upon nearby colonies of other bacteria. M. xanthus cells form waves or ripples of cells (like wolf-packs) that travel through and lyse…

I have just been reading a blog entry in Gmo Food For Thought (http://www.gmofoodforthought.com/2006/08/genetically_modified_maize_vac.htm), and Gmo Africa Blog ( http://www.gmoafrica.org/2006/08/agricultural-biotechnology-is.html ), about a new genetically modified maize with a vaccine against the Newcastle Disease. The story first appeared in SciDev.net, two weeks ago. This is a very significant breakthrough, especially to developing countries. Many poor-resource farmers in developing countries depend on poultry for livelihood. In a country like Nigeria, there are whole communities that eke a living out of poultry farming. This new maize variety will save far…

While reading The Modern Prometheus the other day, a specific passage got my attention; the one where Frankenstein meets two of his college teachers, the one being Krempe who told him to discard all of the ancient natural philosophy knowlegde he had, and rather gaze to modern forms of it. The other, professor Waldman, who instead tells Frakenstein not to discard said knowledge at all, for that is the base and core of everything we've achieved so far. Then, a specific person came to my mind: Edward Jenner. Called by many "The father of inmunology". Of course, he comes to mind in regards of the current situation we are in. Jenner was merely a curious man, a literateur …

Hello I have been following the ongoing worldwide study of influenza pandemics of the past, H5N1 with interest. I have a question regarding virusses in general. My Question I have heard genetic scientists talk about virusses and at this point in history we seem to know quite a lot about their genetics etc.. When it comes to their origin however, as far as I know we don't know how virusses came into being. I have heard ideas that they may be remnants of primordial dna or nucleic acid systems but this answer doesn't completely satisfy my curiosity. It seems to me that a virus is well equipped to invade the cells in many different types of body tissu…