News tagged with pathogens
Study finds preterm labor diagnostic markers not universal, diagnosis and interventions should not be generalized
In a study to be presented today at the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine's annual meeting, The Pregnancy Meeting, in Dallas, Texas, researchers will report findings that indicate that preterm birth interventions should ...
Feb 10, 2012 |
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Decoding the molecular machine behind E. coli and cholera
Scientists from Queen Mary, University of London have discovered the workings behind some of the bacteria that kill hundreds of thousands every year, possibly paving the way for new antibiotics that could treat infections ...
Feb 09, 2012 |
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Seizures in patients with pork tapeworm caused by Substance P
A neuropeptide called Substance P is the cause of seizures in patients with brains infected by the pork tapeworm (Taenia solium), said Baylor College of Medicine researchers in a report that appears online in the open access ...
Feb 09, 2012 |
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Preventing bacteria from falling in with the wrong crowd could help stop gum disease
Stripping some mouth bacteria of their access key to gangs of other pathogenic oral bacteria could help prevent gum disease and tooth loss. The study, published in the journal Microbiology suggests that t ...
Feb 08, 2012 |
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Researchers discover key to immune cell's 'internal guidance' system
University of British Columbia researchers have discovered the molecular pathway that enables receptors inside immune cells to find, and flag, fragments of pathogens trying to invade a host.
Feb 05, 2012 |
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Early action tipped to save tonnes of Aussie avocados
Researchers at UQ's Queensland Alliance for Food and Agriculture (QAAFI) have acted swiftly to ensure Australia's next $180 million avocado crop won't be crippled by a fungus.
Feb 01, 2012 |
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Norovirus is the leading cause of infection outbreaks in US hospitals
Norovirus, a pathogen that often causes food poisoning and gastroenteritis, was responsible for 18.2 percent of all infection outbreaks and 65 percent of ward closures in U.S. hospitals during a two-year period, according ...
Jan 31, 2012 |
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Portable device will quickly detect pathogens
(PhysOrg.com) -- Two Cornell professors will combine their inventions to develop a handheld pathogen detector that will give health care workers in the developing world speedy results to identify in the field ...
Jan 31, 2012 |
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New probiotic bacteria shows promise for use in shellfish aquaculture
The use of probiotic bacteria, isolated from naturally-occurring bacterial communities, is gaining in popularity in the aquaculture industry as the preferred, environmentally-friendly management alternative to the use of ...
Jan 30, 2012 |
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Scientists X-ray key enzyme of common pathogen crystallized in living cells
An international team of scientists has for the first time crystallised a key enzyme of the pathogen for African sleeping sickness in a living cell and investigated it with the world’s strongest X-ray laser. This new ...
Jan 30, 2012 |
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The secret life of proteins: Researchers discover dual role of key player in immune system
Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine researchers have identified a new and unusual role for a key player in the human immune system. A protein initially believed to regulate one routine function within the ...
Jan 28, 2012 |
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Research on vitamins could lead to the design of novel drugs to combat malaria
New research by scientists at the University of Southampton could lead to the design of more effective drugs to combat malaria.
Jan 27, 2012 |
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New study shows prions able to jump between species more easily than thought
(PhysOrg.com) -- A group of French researchers has found that prions are more easily able to jump between species than has been previously thought. In their paper published in Science, they show that prions ...
Jan 27, 2012 |
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MSU technology spin-out company to market portable biohazard detection
A new company formed around Michigan State University nanotechnology promises to move speedy detection of deadly pathogens and toxins from the laboratory directly to the field.
Chemistry / Analytical Chemistry
Jan 27, 2012 |
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Protein discovery could lead to new HIV drugs
(Medical Xpress) -- A team of researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health recently discovered a new protein that enables HIV to destroy human cells. The finding provides scientists with ...
Medicine & Health / HIV & AIDS
Jan 27, 2012 |
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Pathogen
A pathogen (from Greek πάθος path "suffering, passion", and γἰγνομαι (γεν-) gignomai (gen-) "I give birth to"), infectious agent, or (more commonly) germ, is a biological agent that causes disease or illness to its host. There are several substrates and pathways whereby pathogens can invade a host; the principal pathways have different episodic time frames, but soil contamination has the longest or most persistent potential for harboring a pathogen.
The body contains many natural defenses against some of the common pathogens (such as Pneumocystis) in the form of the human immune system and by some "helpful" bacteria present in the human body's normal flora. However, if the immune system or "good" bacteria is damaged in any way (such as by chemotherapy, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), or antibiotics being taken to kill other pathogens), pathogenic bacteria that were being held at bay can proliferate and cause harm to the host. Such cases are called opportunistic infection.
Some pathogens (such as the bacterium Yersinia pestis, which may have caused the Black Plague, the Variola virus, and the Maleria protozoa) have been responsible for massive numbers of casualties and have had numerous effects on afflicted groups. Of particular note in modern times is HIV, which is known to have infected several million humans globally, along with the Influenza virus. Today, while many medical advances have been made to safeguard against infection by pathogens, through the use of vaccination, antibiotics, and fungicide, pathogens continue to threaten human life. Social advances such as food safety, hygiene, and water treatment have reduced the threat from some pathogens.
Not all pathogens are negative. In entomology, pathogens are one of the "Three P's" (predators, pathogens, and parasitoids) that serve as natural or introduced biological controls to suppress arthropod pest populations.
For more information about Pathogen, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
