Microbiology and Immunology

there has been a preliminary result with only 24 petri-dish samples Here is the popular media report of the result. http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2002530417_hiv30.html It suggests (but does not prove) evolutionary reduction in virulence. This has been observed in other viral epidemics. If the virus weakens the host less then this makes the virus more able to reproduce and spread. (A hypothetical virus that immediately killed the host would not be able to spread by contact at all.) There is a professional-journal version of this report. I will try to get a link. Sometimes the journal article gives extra detail, or more reliable inf…

300 are dead from Marburg in Angola. And now 8 are dead in Congo from Ebola. With terrorists itching to acquire weapons of mass destruction, why aren't they racing to Angola or the Congo to collect samples of the virus for weaponization?

I need to extract neutrophils from an inflammed mouse brain for a FACS analysis, does anyone have a good protocol to do this? I am guessing I would have to use Percoll or Ficoll or something? Thanks, best wishes.

I was wondering if anyone knows of any books that give information on how to culture bacteria for observing under the microscope? Is a cetrifuge essential equipment for a hobby microscopist?

Why (not how) does a bacterial cell divide? Is cell division obligatory for bacteria?

Most of us know about H5N1, the deadly avain flu that kills 2/3 of the infected. The governments have reappy dropped the ball on this. We are in shortage of vaccines and the Chinese are not trying (to my knoweldge) to contain the problem as well as they should. The U.S. is too busy chasing bioterror (a plausible threat...if we had proof) to really contirbute. So, what can be done?

We have millions of bacteria in and on our bodies, and are usually no harm to us. Howcome our immune systems don't attack them? Is it just that they are protected by living in biofilms?

Do B cells, macrophages, dendritic cells express both class I AND class II MHC molecules on their surfaces?

My pregnant girlfriend went to the doctor this morning to see about her blood test results & they told her everything was fine but she did have a rare anti-body called M minus or M negative(I would ask her but I'm not waking a pregnant woman up at 2 in the morning,lol) or something like that.They told her it's not harmful just rare. Could anyone enlighten me as to any signifigance this may have or what purpose this anti-body serves. I know lots of discoveries are being made with the human body & I was just wondering if maybe this is genetic or any other info i could get. Any input & a correct term for this would help,thanks! Oh,and if it changes anything which…

Why is DNA not antigenic, while other macromolecules such as polysaccharides, proteins, etc. are antigenic?

We all know that we should take our full course of antibiotics because if we don't, it can encourage the growth of naturally antibiotic resistant bacteria. My question is: if there are indeed naturally antibiotic resistant bacteria that get selected for during antibiotic use, wouldn't they get selected for anyway even if the full course of antibiotics were taken? If they really are resistant, no quantity of that particular antibiotic would kill them would they?

I was just wondering if AIDS was really an ancient disease, not discovered in past centuries, or is it truly a new disease?

i read in an article from a science magazine that titanic is being eaten by ironeating bacterias that eat 45 kg of iron from titanic per day, and in some hundred years there be only rests of the ship left. what is the name of the bacteria/s, and how does it process iron? does it oxidize it or what?

I've a friend who has type O blood, and she recently has received many shots containing various antibodies, dead viral protein capsids etc etc.. So hypothetically speaking in the case of say a random epidemic, will I be able to take some of her blood and inject it into mine and thus giving me all of the immunities that she has?

Hello, It seems to me that logically, antihistamines have to reduce the body's ability to fight off a cold or infection. For example... Let's say I have 2 events taking place in my body at the same time. Event 1: On Monday I contract a cold virus from my girlfriend and start showing symptoms. My understanding of one of the many things that is taking place inside me is that my granulocytes and other things are releasing histamine to fight this virus. The purpose of this histamine is to signal to other antibodies "Hey buddies, I need some help over here". The other antibodies get this message and come help fight the virus. Event 2: On Wednesday, I go over t…

Recently, we studied about a company named ICI which produced high protein content animal feed called Pruteen using a fungus called Fusarium . However, as the price of such feed is higher than those made from animal carcasses, Pruteen production ended in 1985. Are there any new animal feed made recently, and are there any alternative feed besides Pruteen ?

I was thinking what if we simply genetically modified immune cells and mass produced them in a lab, then injected them into the human body. A combination of antibody treatment, and white blood cell treatment would make curing many diseases easier. I was thinking of genetically modifying white blood cells, to make there internal temperature very hot, but make them robust enough, and have enough internal trophic factors to make them capable of with standing internal temperatures. This way they can't be infected by viruses, simultaneously, making them stronger, and more reactive, so that they will be better at killing things, and injecting a massive amount of the…

Hi! Does anyone knows what is the mechanism by which NK depletion occurs by injection of rabbit anti-asialo-GM1 antibody? Thanks!

I was thinking about this, and I was thinking about how LBS neurons have the capacity to be frozen, meanwhile our cells if frozen, will, for the most part, die. I was thinking that perhaps if LBS neurons could survive extreme cold, perhaps they could survive extreme heat. But why can they survive extreme heat/cold? Because the cells have their genes regulated in such a way that tells them not to die, and that survival and proliferation are the highest priorities. Well, many viruses, and many parasites can't withstand extremely high temperatures. That's how the HIV dialysis works, that heat the blood up to the point where it kills the virus but not the huma…

Its now been disovered that a more potent and deadly strain of HIV has been discovered.A 40 yr old gay male in NY,has been found to have this new strain called 3-DCR HIV.Full blown AIDs now sets in within 2-3 months instead of 10 years.Its resistent to 3 out of four treatments,and renders 19 out of 20 drugs useless. The male had multiple sex partners,which are desperately being traced.His excuse for having unprotected sex with multiple partners ,was his judgement was clouded .He was on the drug crystal methamphetamine. Very scary,

So I'm bulking up my DNA constructs and I ran them on the gel today. I saw RNA in one of my lanes. my co worker told me i could use phenol and some washes to get rid of RNA or use a kit she had gotten from a biotech company. i chose the latter because, hey its phenol. i went thru all the steps but after a few washes, i did not see any pellet and when i put it thru the nanodrop. it came out with negative nanograms per microliter. ok not good. so where the hell in the washing steps could have gone wrong? i was careful in the washing, i pippett only the SN and nothing more. the only thing i can think of is, i left the solution in over 2 minutes the suggested time. t…

I don't even know where to begin to explain how I started reading up on this, but everywhere I have looked I am getting the same anwsers. Could someone explain in laymen terms what Gram's stain is or does? http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/sci/A0821504.html http://www.encyclopedia.com/html/G/Gramssta.asp There are more links but it's all pretty repetitive. What would be the circumstance of having a Gram test done? What does it tell us if it is Gram-positive bacteria or Gram-negative bacteria? Is this something that is routinely done?

Hey guys, was wondering about the problems involved in PCR reactions on the agarose gel. Was wondering what the problems were when you get smearing on the gel. I have it listed as a problem with annealing temperature or mgcl concentration. Are there any other reasons as to why you would get smearing? thankyou

I was wondering whether or not antibodies generally induce immune responses(Not neutralization, but causing the white blood cells to attack), because I have heard that it really isn't the antibodies attaching that causes the immune response, but similarities in the protein sequences on the surface of the cell, that determines whether an immune response occurs. Am I making any sense? Just wanted to know what y'all thought.

I was wondering, if you were to make an antibody of something, then, do to the fact that the protein structure is the complete opposite and designed to match up to the other protein structure, you made an antibody against that antibody, would you end up with the original protein, or something functionally similar?