In a study recently published in Academia Biology, researchers Gumpeny Sridhar, Srinivas Botta, and Gumpeny Lakshmi explored how helminths affect the development of insulin resistance and type two diabetes. The research team highlighted how individuals with prior schistosomiasis (a disease caused by parasitic worms called schistosomes) have lower rates of diabetes, insulin resistance, and metabolic…
Read MoreA team of researchers from Shandong University in Qingdao, China have turned bacteria into tumor hunters that kill cancer, at least in the laboratory. The study was published in the scientific journal PLOS Biology. Chenghao Ma and colleagues modified the probiotic strain Escherichia coli Nissle 1917 (EcN) to produce Romidepsin (FK228). Romidepsin is an FDA-approved…
Read MoreCan dogs read? Not English. But they are helping children to read English, Spanish, and other languages at public libraries throughout Orange County, California. These therapy dogs are part of the nonprofit OC Animal Allies’ Canine literacy program. The dogs also visit local schools and community events to help toddlers to teenagers improve reading fluency…
Read MoreIn a study published in Cell Host & Microbe, researchers from the University of Texas (UT) Southwestern Medical Center discovered a new way to identify strategies that bacteria use to defend against phages. The common way to identify antiphage defenses is to look at nearby genes, relying on the fact that defense-related genes are often…
Read MoreWant to watch a fun, bite-sized video about a boy faced with deciding between #amputation and #maggot therapy? Check out the audio-video version of “Pete’s Road To Recovery” on YouTube. In the video, you will join Pete on a rhyming journey through injury, healing, and discovery. The YouTube video was adapted from the book by…
Read MoreScientists know that bacteria use CRISPR-Cas systems to capture short DNA “memories” (called spacers) from viruses (such a bacteriophages) in order to defend themselves from attack by those viruses. Classical models assume that those bacteria must somehow survive a lethal phage attack at least long enough to acquire and use these spacers. Professor Keith and…
Read MoreIn a study from UC Davis, a gut bacterial metabolite has been used to reverse liver and gut cellular injury. The chemical is 10-hydroxy-cis-12-octadecenoic acid (10-HSA), and is typically produced by Lactobacillus species. 10-HAS is a PPARα agonist, and stimulates collagen synthesis. The research team administered 10-HSA orally to mice who suffered from liver and…
Read MoreResearchers in South Korea have identified and characterized an anti-bacterial peptide (small protein) in leech saliva. Using current technological tools and computing, S. Dinesh Kumar and colleagues at the Korea Basic Science Institute described their search, discovery, and characterization of these antibacterial molecules called Hirunipins in the journal “Advance Science”. Not only did they document…
Read MoreCome take a look at San Juan Capistrano’s Shea Center providing horse therapy. Founded in 1978, the center is home to 28 specially trained horses and ponies that are in specialized programs. The center provides services such as adaptive riding, mental health care, team building, speech therapies, and physical occupational therapy. The horses at the…
Read MoreIn maggot therapy news, Fitzgerald, a rhinoceros at the Montgomery Zoo in Alabama, has been treated with maggot therapy for a horn infection. The rhino had a bacterial infection of his horn that was becoming resistant to most treatments. Due to a rhino’s sensitive digestive tract and intolerance to many antibiotics, the zoo veterinarians chose…
Read More