Microbiology and Immunology

How did viruses originate? Are they all assumed to have a common ancestor or did they spontaneously exist independently?

is it true that lacto bacillus a common flora in the vagina of women can kill hiv?then how is that all the women are getting infected.technically they should be destroyed isn't it.

Hi we have already created antibiotics that can kill or slow down bacteria so my question is. Is it possible to creat an antivirus to kill or slow down virus? if so any idea y haven't we created any yet? maybe this is a stupid question?

i put this in homework help but i got no reply so i will try here I have this question for micro220. It has me stumped A Gram-stain on a bacterial suspension showed that the organism was Gram-positive. The suspension was left overnight and a Gram-stain showed the presence of a mixture of purple and pink staining cells. Explain I’m sure there is a really simple explanation for this, I just can think. Any ideas would be appreciated

Hi all, Was wondering what kind of high end paying careers for microbiology there are that aren't research in a uni. something to aim for..

I think I figured out a cure to HIV, basically just create an enzyme which breaks down gp-120 the molecule which attaches to the CD4 receptor. Plus add the enzyme(already been created/researched by somebody else) which removes the sugar molecule from the virus so the gp-120 molecule is accessible. With this one half of the cure and the other half of the cure, you could cure HIV. The gp-120 molecule would all be destroyed, once it was completely destroyed the virus particle would be useless, and thus it would no longer be a threat. Anyway, what do y'all think?

Yes, you heard it right. I got this link from another, biochemistry forumhttp://www.cell.com/freesub You get 26 issues free (I think), and I think you might be able to re-subscribe after that. edit: I should add, that the more people who sign up, the farther their stock has to stretch, so it's really a limited offer, and you might not get your first free issue right away.

I went to the Nikon Small World exhibit at a local lab where I happened to work this summer, and I found it to be amazing. Especially since some of the pictures are done with low magnifications, easily do-able by amateurs (read: me). So, I did some preliminary research and most techniques sounded fairly involved, which is obviously to be expected. But one said that placing any ol' disposable to the eyepeice and taking a picture would produce a decent picture...obviously I'm skeptical. At least there should be a buffer tube over the lens and the eyepeice to eliminate excess light, right? So if anyone knows if that would work (I highly doubt it) or what woul work, …

im 16 and im developing a huge interest in microbiology, and im thinking in buying a microscope, but they can be quite expensive, my question is: how strong microscope do you need to be able to see bacteria and unicelluar eukaryotes(sp?). i know the size can vary greatly, but im mostly interested in the bacillus-type. so im looking for something affordable but that lives up for my needs.

over the last 3 weeks or so, all of my friends and family and even aquantances have had a rather nasty cold, I`ve not met anyone that hasn`t over this time span, that is except for me and my Daughter? now to my thinking if were down to some sort of "Super Human" imune system, it would likely be just as harmfull as an ordinary one, so I`m discounting that as an idea. My Wife has also had this cold, and although she`s carfull not to cough or sneeze on us, it would in my esstimation be impossible not to have taken in at least SOME of these viruses during. my question is how many does it take to give someone a cold? does that "rough number" differ from person to …

Hello I am working on cytotoxic T-cell assays. Iam planning to use dendritic cells pulsed with recombinant proteins as a stimulators in Cytotoxic T-cell assay (CTL assay). I have used particular cell lines (tumor cell lines) as stimulators in all the CTL assays that i have done so far in which i used to treat the tumor cells with mitomycin C before using them as stimulators. Can i follow the same procedure with pulsed DCs also. I have tried to find specific protocol for using pulsed DC s as stimulators but all the references i have gone through just mention this in few words but not any clear procedure. Can anybody help me with this or u can tell me references in which …

I'm quite interested in the topic of neutrophil apotosis. As far as I know, neutrophils self-destruct much more often than any other white blood cells. However, I have never actually seen a reason for this occurence. Has the reason for the frequent self-destruction of neutrophils been discovered yet, or is it a topic of ongoing research?

Im trying to measure different chemokines and Th1/Th2 cytokines in stimulated PBMC cultures. I know its optimal to remove supernatants after 24 hours for some cytokines and after 48 hours for others. However I can only remove supernatants at one time point, so I was wondering could anyone tell me which would be the best time point to do this in order to achieve maximum detection of all cytokines. Thanks

I am about to start an experiment to keep me busy this weekend and I need a way to kill of yeast. Obviously there are many extreme ways to do this, bleach, nuclear warhead, hot flame among others, but I would like to use something more specific to organisms such as antibiotics. Would antibiotics be effective against yeast even though yeast is non-pathogenic? I would imagine it would have some effect. In any case, thanks for the help. I hope this project can stave off the Bordom demons and give me some insight into how microbes function.

hi! can anyone pls give me the protocol or link for the purification of various antigens and haptens from pathogens/other biological molecules by biophysical,chemical and affinity separation methods pls help thanks in advance

Hi Everyone Can Anyone Pls Give Me A Detailed Protocol On The Degradation Of Acrylamide By Xanthomonas/pseudomonas Sp Pls Help Thanks In Advance

Hey everyone. I've got a little question here. Chemistry has always been a topic I'm more familiar with than biology, hence my question. During the day yesterday I was moving some furniture around in my room. I was wearing socks at the time and while moving a heavy cabinet the handle I was holding onto broke off, thus dropping the edge of the cabinet on my right big toe knuckle. Since I was wearing socks, the cabinet slid off of my foot and onto the flooring, but the friction from it sliding down against the sock created a VICIOUS friction burn on my right big knuckle. The area didn't swell up or turn black so I know that there is no bone damage there, but the skin …

can anybody tell me goood method for rbc lysis:embarass:

in citrate utilization test the enzymatic degradation of citrate yields two products, pyruvic acid and carbon dioxide. the pH goes up (alkaline) due to the fact that co2 is changed in to sodium carbonate (because sodium is present in water). but why the pH doesn't go down (acidic) or atleast stay same as pyruvic ACID is also produced??

So I think most of you are aware the 2005 Nobels were awarded and I wanted to know what you all thought of this years Medicine/Physiology winner(s)? This really refutes the old wives' tale about stress (something I believed up until now). I heard most scientists didn't belive them about bacteria and ulcers and that it took quite a while for the community to catch on. It's sad that some of the major accomplishments in science (telomeres, hayflick limit, DNA to name a few) aren't recognized for some time. Link: http://nobelprize.org/medicine/laureates/2005/index.html

I have identified via bioinformatics a potential antigenic peptide in my protein that is possibly expressed on the surface of tumour cells. I am looking for "easy" ways (I am a non-immunologist) to see whether a synthetic peptide against this potential antigen does indeed invoke an immune response. I cannot use PBMC proliferation assays but have access to cancer patient seminal fluid which contain T cells (CD4/8 positive). Can i simply select these cells on CD3 plates, incubate with peptide and measure proliferation/IFN-gamma/TNF levels? If not please suggest alternatives! many thanks natalie

if RBC is kept in hypotonic solution cell wall will break leading to death of cell. but what about cell membrane ? i know cell membrane is not able to maintain the inside pressure iam using ammonium chloride 0.8 m to break rbc .then also i am getting rbc under microscope ... how one can distinguish between intact:mad: & breaked rbc:eek:

Why do antibiotic super bugs keep evolving more and more so they are resistant to antibiotics? Wouldn't this evolution be considered on a macroscale or would you say microscale seeing as how they are becoming stronger and stronger? It's interesting to learn that these things are becoming more and more powerful through last century and this century. Why do these things evolve so quickly and yet we as humans don't really have a greatly evolving immune system?

Hi, I know GFP plasmid can be easily introduced and expressed in E. coli but I am wondering if the same plasmid that works in E. coli will work in other species? I would like to express GFP in Staph. epi. but I am no geneticist and I do not know if the plasmid has to be specifically tailored for the species. Any help would be appreciated. My purpose is to observe bacterial attachment in situ by epifluorescent microscopy. Thanks biomatt

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~