Microbiology and Immunology

I am looking at attending the Asthma Summit 2009 in Baltimore, MD on February 20-21, 2009. The event looks to have a great faculty and some good topics. I found it on CME networks. Do you have any other good Live CME suggestions for 2009?

Lets say we have this bacterial culture in a jelly agar and we want to see how many bacteria would x quantity of a antibiotic kill..Is there a way to get that info? For example, I have a e.coli culture and want to try amicillin on it and want to know (in % maybe?) how many were killed...

Long story short - Me and a friend are working on a college microbiology project involving the isolation of S. aureus from the environment. We're using a selective media (Chapman-stone agar) to isolate. Luckily, we did isolate a staphylococcus. We'd like to ID it - but at the current time it could be either S. aureus or S. epidermis. The difference between these two is mannitol fermentation. Unfortunately, we're out of bromocresol purple (the recommended indicator for this agar). Does anyone have any recommendations for quick and dirty methods for determining lac fermentation? (we have no API strips avaliable). Also, our autoclave is broken (and we'd need professor su…

I wonder why bacteria form colonies in soft agar plates and why those colonies grow independently from each other. Are those colonies DNA different from each other? Thank you.

Can someone tell me the relative size, shape, and arrangement of both these organisms

Do viruses, bacteria, and the microbes that cause illness to humans get their share of problems too with parasits or sickening agents other than antibodies ? I would love to see viruses with thermometers stuck in their mouths, keeping rest...

Something I don't understand about Bacillus anthracis is its ability to become vegatative inside of a host system and survive. I sometimes read articles that describe it having a capsule. As I understand, capsules often prevent the microorganism from being consumed by macrophages. At other times, it seems like I am reading that spores are moving through the body and don't vegetate until they are inside an environment, such as a macrophage. link Is that realistic? For a B. anthracis spore to move around the body and then only vegetate once it's inside of a macrophage? I guess that's what research says. Is it during the spore stage that an immunological re…

Would it be possible to create a virus that targets a human cancer cell and inject its genetic code to make the cancer cell create porphyrins? Furthermore, could the code be used to manufacture porphyrins that destroy the cancer cell upon light-wave contact? I read a recent edition of Scientific American, it I had the idea that perhaps using viruses to manufacture porphyrins to destroy cancer cells would be a more controlled way to destroy cancer cells.

ive done some research into the use of irradiation in decontaminating products of bacteria. Ive found that fruits when treated with UV light have the ability to build up resistance to the bacteria via the hormetic effect. Do you guys think it can work the other way around as well? can bacteria build up mechanisms to become resistant to the effects of UV?

The 3rd International Conference on Bioinformatics and Biomedical Engineering (iCBBE2009) CALL FOR PAPERS http://www.icbbe.org/ Beijing, China June 11-13, 2009 ========================================================================================== Within iCBBE 2009, there are two special sessions: Special Session 1: Biomedical Imaging Special Session 2: Biomathematics and Biostatistics all for Papers: http://www.icbbe.org/icbbe2009submission/website/icbbe2009/Home.aspx ==================…

I have heard that leukimia(Blood cancer) increases white blood cells(I don't know the type).White blood cells are meant for defence mechanism isn't.Then why is it bad????

Hi all! Studying for an exam here I've heard that viruses can "hide" in cerebrospinal fluid from the immune system for a long time. Is this so? How come? Can the cells of the immune system reach the CNS? If the cells of the immune system cannot reach the CNS, how can the immune system defend, say, a brain abscess? If anyone could point me to a website or give me other clues on where to find information regarding this, I would be much obliged. TIA

when enriching to recover injured salmonella cells from food samples using RV and MKKTn broths, why are they incubated 24 hrs/37 degrees? is this because some strains are able to grow at 47 degrees and 24 hrs gives sufficient time to recover enough cells for detection? or is there an ingredient in the media that requires 24 hours? cheers

My name is Andrew Zhang and I am a new poster on this forum. I am trying to do a complement mediated cytotoxicity experiment using the human cell line LNCAP (prostate cancer cells) and using anti-PSMA (prostate specific membrane antigen) antibodies. LNCAP cells express high levels of PSMA. In my assay, I am using goat anti-human PSMA polyclonal IgG at a concentration of 10 ug/ml, and then following up with 20% goat complement preserved serum in HEPES buffer (25 mM HEPES, 150 mM NaCl, 1.5% BSA, 5 mM glucose, and 1.5 mM MgCl2). In addition, I am using mouse anti-CD46 and anti-CD59 antibodies as blockers for complement inhibitors. As a positive control I am using …

gday folks. Im looking to confirm S.aureus in a food sample and so far ive inoculated a GC broth (+), inoculated BPA from the positive GC broth and about to inoculate BHIB ready to perform a coagulase test. My question is what is the reason for inoculating BHIB prior to doing a coagulase test. thanks! hope that makes sense.. hersch

can someone explain in real simple terms how the antibiotic Tetracycline works?

Can anyone recommend a particular supplier or line of RNAi products that work well in mouse in vivo? Additionally, if you have had poor results with a particular type that would also be very helpful to know! Many thanks in advance, D

Dear all, I have been doing a lot of reading around the subject of HSV treatment, pathology and search for vaccines or prophylaxis. I am not an immunologist by a long way, nor a microbiologist. I do work in the paramedical professions and have a better than average lay understanding of the subject. I understand from another forum that manufacturers valacyclovir, famciclovir etc do not know the answer as nobody has researched it. So the hypothesis is this (based on the papers I have read. I'm sure I could source them at request).... "If 'ciclovir treatment is started as soon as possible after HSV exposure (up to 5 days after) it has been shown to greatly i…

Hi, I am looking for a generic and simple method to evaluate an immune status/potential of mice. I am not an Immunology person (my field is DNA repair), so any advice will be much appreciated. Basically, I want to see if immune system is activated/enhanced after low dose gamma-irradiation. This treatment leads to lower frequency of spontaneous tumors and longer latency times. But DNA repair assays failed to show any enhancement. I am therefore wondering if it is immune system that causes the effect. I am interested in a general immune status assessment rather that specific pathways. Thanks. Dmitry

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.

Most dengerous and interesting: Staphylococci, Streptococci, E. coli, Pseudomonas, Proteus, Salmonella, Shigella, Serratia, Klebsiella, Enterobacter, Campylobacter, Yersinia and Brucella.

Hello I'm in Grade 10 and I'm thinking about my science fair project. I just learned about phage therapy, which could be promising because all bacteria have a certain resistance to antibiotics (right?). So I was wondering if I could do such thing (considering that I can have a proffessor to help me) at my level. And then, another problem, what kind of experiment could be done? Something that could be interesting for a science fair.... Thanks in advance. Come one anyone?

The thread title says it all. I have searched my little heart out trying to track down an MSDS for this compound. If anybody can link me to an MSDS I would be very grateful. Thanks

What common features are involved in adenovirus 12 infection and bare-lymphocyte syndrome?

why are autoimmune diseases more prevalent in women than in men ?