Microbiology and Immunology

Hi! Is it true that HCV has no cure? Glowstar

Hi everybody, I have a quick question: What is the difference between the Group D Strep and Enterococci? Are they the same thing? Glowstar

1. people with neutropenia due to inherited defects in immune activation pathways are routinely treated with GM-CSF to stimulate bone marrow release of immune effector cells. 2. furthermore, GM-CSF is shown to be able to reconstitute CD4 T cells (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23001765) >>>So why can't we just treat mid-late stage HIV/AIDS patients with GM-CSF, thereby increasing their CD4 T cell count....at the same time administering the HAART to keep virus in check......perhaps this would reverse AIDS symptoms due to the increase in CD4 T cell count? What do you guys think?

Hi all, Two days ago I made my first ever agar media in 4 petri dishes. the recipe I chose to make was V8, which can be found here. the media solidified very well. The problem is, two days after inoculation with Agaricus bisporus spores, the following is happening : a weak mycelium has started to grow around spores. (barely visible) the media around the spores has melted ! a liquidish thing is made in that zones around spores and where the mycelium is visible. the agar media has changed in shape at that zones (dent). and these problems are in all 4 dishes I made. I did the whole process sterile and clean. Any Idea why this happened ? and how to avoid it ne…

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…

Having recovered from a dose of flu some two weeks ago, I can only say I feel refreshed. Refreshed and full of beans in a way as I've ever felt for some time. Indeed, for many years prior to this to this infection, I suffered quite badly from Asthma - sometimes almost unable to move and feeling like I was on my last breath! But now since having been laid up with flu the Asthma seems to have gone completely. If this is the result of a dose of flu then I can highly recommend it. From my experience all this vaccination business offered to certain groups is not only a waste of money, but detrimental to health. I'd say get yourself a dose of flu - perhaps I should find som…

Is it possible to use/re-induce agrobacterium cultures that have been prepared almost a week back? What is the best possible way to preserve processed agrobacterium cultures for longer durations?

We're working on immunogenicity in my lab and we're trying to put together a simple assay that will screen for all of the antibodies at once to a PEGylated protein to screen for PEG and protein antibodies. We're injecting mice with a protein that is PEGylated and seeing if they develop antibodies. We plan on coating the plates with the PEGylated protein then adding mouse serum that was incubated with the same PEGylated protein that was labeled. We hope that the antibodies can function as bridge and we will have a positive screening for antibodies regarldess if they are for PEG or the protein. Just want to know if this assay will work or some possible complications…

Not sure if its true, people, but anyone ever hear of this? I heard years ago, not sure where, that jumping on a plane, travelling to say, Europe which is about 6 hrs ahead, screws up your biological clock severely. I believe it, as biologivcal click is how we regulate much of our body chemical procesees. I heard it can take 6 months for your immune system to recover. You may not "feel it", but it does take time. maybe Im misinformed- feedback appreciated. (flying to Australia, and not feeling happy about it right now......LOL)

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...

As I understand some statistics on flu shots only include people who have the flu and have or have-not had a flu shot, for example rates of coronary events while sick with flu. Some studies track side effects or suspected side effects of flu vaccination, for example Guillain-Barré syndrome. Has anyone checked for the rate of coronary event (or other complications from flu that may be mediated by having a flu-shot of people who have a coronary event (or other complication) who do not have the flu but have or have-not had a flu shot? People who have not had flu or flu shots may or may not have a lower heart attack rate than those who have had flu or flu shots; however, …

Hello all, I have a question regarding a recent practical I performed using a hemocytometer during my Immunology class. During this practical I dissected out a mouse spleen, to which I added PBS. A 10ul sample of this suspension was then mixed with an equal volume of trypan blue and loaded into the haemocytometer chamber. My cell count was as follows: White cells: 203, Blue cells: 42. 100ul of the original spleen suspension was then added to 1ml red blood cell lysis buffer. As this is a hypotonic solution which lyses red blood cells, I expected to see more dead cells. However, when mixed with trypan blue and loaded into the haemocytometer chamber, I saw no cells…

I'm a physics major, so I'm not an expert in this field, but I had an interesting idea about using the body's own immune system to fight tumors rather than pumping the body full of chemicals and radiation. Here's the general idea: 1. Patient has tumor. 2. Take blood sample from patient and isolate white blood cells. 3. Encourage rapid reproduction of desired cells. 4. Inject cells at tumor site or as close as possible. The key point of this approach is that it would allow for controlled selection of white blood cells, ensuring that the cells most capable of fighting the tumor are sent directly to the location. Since I don't have the knowledge or resources to co…

Hi everyone and happy christmas! I'm wondering how a gastrointestinal dysfunction triggers skin changes and what is the physiologic process behind it? Example Female presents with food intolerance to histamine/amine rich food. Intolerance presents with acne along the jawline (trigeminal nerve dermatome region), each time histamine rich food is consumed. I found a relevant article here which mentions the parasympathetic reflex phenomena as a reason and that pelvic dysfunction can be a reason for it. http://british-institute-of-osteopathy.org/articles/the_reflex_nature_of_skin_conditions.aspx But how do the neurotransmitter travel and where is the irritant…

Dear everyone, I am new to the forum, I am a life scientist and I am eager to ask you a question. In our lab I am currently working on a new technology capable of assessing the viability to bacteria (or other type of cells) in real time with only few bacteria. In the contrary, current technics require growth of culture and time to asses the antibiotics. I am thinking that it would be a potential application for antibiotics testing. Take a little sample (say from the patient) of bacteria, and the machine would tell you what are the best antibiotics against this bacteria. This technology would give you an immediate answer for the most efficient antibiotic t…

I had a sputum culture six weeks ago I wasn't ill at the time my doctor requested it for something else and it showed moderate growth of Klebbiella Oxytoca. I had no symptoms at the time. The Doctor prescribed antibiotics for it but I had a reaction to the antibiotics and he asked me to suspend the treatment. I have started with a new set of antibiotics (Ciproflaxine) and at the moment I have a cold. My questions are: Now that my immune system is low do I have a chance to develop Klebsiella Pneumoniae? Why don't Doctor's test the community members to see how many people have the bacteria to stop it spreading it? If I didn't have the culture of my sputum I …

I'm reading Biochemistry - 4th edition - Voet and Voet. It says this: Uhhhhhh.... I thought mesosomes were artifacts... Are they not? Something change in the realm of biology in the past couple of years?

While researching vaccines as a cause for food allergies ( foodallergycauses.wordpress.com ) I learned about Nobel Laureate Charles Richet's discovery. Foreign proteins injected into the bloodstream of mammals sensitize the immune system and subsequent exposure to that protein causes an allergic reaction. It occurred to me that perhaps pollen grains are injected into the human bloodstream and cause pollen allergy. In other words, pollen surface proteins or food proteins are all treated as if they were proteins of invading viruses or bacteria. How are pollen grains injected into the bloodstream? One possibility is insect bites. Mosquito proboscis are about 40 um in…

Hi, I am quite new to immunology and need some help with designing assays to test the alloreactivity to a particular type of cells in vitro. The goal of my study is to evaluate the suitability of a particular cell type for potential human transplantation. It is a very early study and I have to first show that the cells are not highly immunogenic. I prefer to use in vitro assays rather than animal assays due to resource constraints as well as ethical considerations. From my reading up of the literature, I gathered that there are two common assays to quantify the alloreactivity to a particular cell population - PBMC proliferation assay and T-cell activation assay. …

(I don't know if it would be more suited for homework help). I did an exercise, using settle plates and swabs, to monitor microbial contamination at various surfaces/locations in a laboratory. And the amount of bacteria retrieved was far higher than fungi. Any particular reason for this? At locations, such as a spectrophotometer, I have pinned this down to personnel interactions (hair/skin cells etc.). I am wondering of any other possible causes of bacteria and fungi. Why would fungi be found, for example, on a working table top but not other locations? Thanks.

For my path micro lab I had to swab certain places of my body (nose, ears, hands), plant them on MSA, chose a colony, streak isolate it on TSA, then gram stain it (in addition to performing a catalase and coagulase test). When I did the gram stain of an isolated colony from my nose, I got gram negative staphylococci. I know the gram stain wasn't wrong because I redid it. I did a gram stain of another colony from the ear and it was gram positive, and the color was definitely purple, and definitely different, so it's not a problem with my interpretation. How could I have gotten a gram negative colony? Since the samples were first grown on MSA I should have only isolated …

Since sperm only carry one set of chromosomes, put together randomly from the two sets of the donor's parents, how many sperm would you need to be sure that all the genetic material is present in each of the two sets of chromosomes of the donor? Reason I am asking is that I breed Pugs. We have a susceptability test for Pug Dog Encephalitis. Works great for live dogs as it is just send a cheek swab in and you get your answer. There are frozen straws of dogs that have long passed on. I would like to know if these deceased Pugs are carrying the susceptable genes. Each straw contains about 5 million sperm.

I am trying to understand the purpose of this feature that bacterial possess. Based in what I have read, they are typically found in gram neg bacteria and protect against desiccation and phagocytosis. Is it present all of the time on the bacterial surface or only in times of profound stress? Now when one does a gram stain, does the capsule absorb the gram stain since it is the outer layer of the cell wall or does it seep through it? If so why-- does it have to do with the molecule composition of the capsule structure?

Hello Microbiologists! I am having some issues with majority of my experiments. I am performing microbial assays on Pseudomonas aeruginosa with the use of CFU assays (incubation, serial dilution, and spot plating). However the bacteria are not growing after I incubate them for three hours. They are growing fine when I do not incubate them. Have any of you been experiencing similar problems with similar assays - perhaps with other microorganisms? Here are some details: - buffer pH is fine at 7.4 - we've made fresh stocks of our buffers (correct salt content and molarities) - we even tried it in PBS + TSB! Perhaps there has been a mutation in the bacteria that c…

Hello all, First off, I am not a scientist, I am hoping someone can answer a question for me. Probably a simple question but... How long does a virus (cold) live on surfaces that are used in the nose and mouth of the infected individual, such as the thermometer, a plastic nasal saline spray bottle nozzle, etc? These items are usually covered by a plastic cap or case, and the spray bottle nozzle might still be somewhat humid for a time. I find facts like these to be difficult to find. Would these items necessarily have more virus on them than their hand or a pen that they touched? It seems families go around and around with a cold virus, they keep infecting eac…