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Disease & Medical Research

Microbial mass movements: the millions of species we ignore at our peril

Michael Gillings (Credit: Chris Stacey, Macquarie University)

Science paper Friday, 15 September 2017

Background information below.

More high-res images available below.

Wastewater, tourism, and trade are moving microbes around the globe at an unprecedented scale. As we travel the world we leave billions of bacteria at every stop.

As with rats, foxes, tigers and pandas, some microbes are winners, spreading around the world into new ecological niches we’ve created. Others are losing, and might face extinction. These changes are invisible, so why should we care?

“Yes, our survival may depend on these microbial winner and losers,” say a team of Australian, Chinese, French, British and Spanish researchers in a paper published in Science today.

“The oxygen we breathe is largely made by photosynthetic bacteria in the oceans (and not by rainforests, as is commonly believed),” says Macquarie University biologist Michael Gillings.

[Read more…] about Microbial mass movements: the millions of species we ignore at our peril

Indonesian and Australian scientists test new TB vaccine targets for the TB fight in Indonesia and Australia

World TB Day on March 24 reminds us of the growing TB threat

Scientists available for interview in English and Bahasa Indonesia for World TB Day. Read the release in Bahasa Indonesia.
More images below.

Better vaccines are needed for the global fight against tuberculosis (TB). The Global Fund reports an estimated nine million new cases globally per year of TB, which is second only to AIDS as the world’s most deadly infectious disease. Indonesia had more than 320,000 reported cases in 2014 according to the World Health Organization, while Australia’s reported cases were just over 1,000. But the rise of drug-resistant TB poses a threat to all countries.

Two proteins from the tuberculosis bacterium have shown promising results in investigations in mice for a new vaccine. Scientists from the Centenary Institute and the University of Sydney, with colleagues at Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM) in Yogyakarta, have found that the injected proteins can prime the immune system to induce protection against TB in mice.

The team has established a laboratory and immunological techniques to test if the two proteins from the tuberculosis bacterium can be used as the basis for a vaccine. Credit: Centenary Institute
The team has established a laboratory and immunological techniques to test if the two proteins from the tuberculosis bacterium can be used as the basis for a vaccine. Credit: Centenary Institute

[Read more…] about Indonesian and Australian scientists test new TB vaccine targets for the TB fight in Indonesia and Australia

Target-target baru untuk vaksin tuberkulosis

Hari TB Sedunia (25 Maret) mengingatkan kita mengenai ancaman TB yang terus meningkat

Vaksin-vaksin yang lebih baik dibutuhkan agar dapat melawan TB di tingkat global. Global Fund melaporkan sekitar 9 juta kasus TB baru muncul setiap tahunnya, menempati posisi kedua sebagai penyakit menular paling mematikan di dunia setelah AIDS. Menurut Badan Kesehatan Dunia (WHO), lebih dari 320.000 kasus TB dilaporkan di Indonesia pada 2014. Sementara, hanya lebih dari 1.000 kasus TB yang dilaporkan di Australia. Namun, munculnya penyakit TB yang bersifat resistan terhadap obat menimbulkan ancaman bagi seluruh dunia.

[Read more…] about Target-target baru untuk vaksin tuberkulosis

From the bionic ear to the ‘audiologist in your pocket

The Aussie hearing system you can set up yourself or for your gran: online and on your phone

From the bionic ear to the ‘audiologist in your pocket’ – high performance, low cost hearing for the four million of us who don’t want to admit our hearing loss

Images and background information below.

An Australian company has completed a trifecta of tools to help Australians take care of their own hearing without the stress and expense of audiology visits. It’s the product of decades of government-backed research. [Read more…] about From the bionic ear to the ‘audiologist in your pocket

The good, the bad and chronic hepatitis

Today is World Hepatitis Day and it brings good news and bad news.
The bad news is that hepatitis is still a serious condition which affects nearly 400,000 Australians putting them on a course to serious liver disease.

“The good news is that treatment is now less invasive, of shorter duration, much more effective—and diagnosis doesn’t involve humongous needles,” says Dr Nick Shackel from the Centenary Institute.

[Read more…] about The good, the bad and chronic hepatitis

Vietnam and Australia join forces to fight ancient killer

Photo: Centenary Institute's Greg Fox. Credit: Centenary InstituteAustralian and Vietnamese medical researchers are meeting in Sydney this week to plan their next move against tuberculosis (TB), a disease that once was Australia’s top killer and still kills 54,000 people each year in Vietnam.

The researchers are coming together in Australia to share their progress and build stronger ties in fighting a disease which threatens Australia through its presence in neighbouring countries.

[Read more…] about Vietnam and Australia join forces to fight ancient killer