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The COVID-19 Pandemic Abruptly Altered the Infant Microbiome
Kamal Nahas, PhD | Jan 4, 2024 | 4 min read
Microbial diversity in the infant gut shrank suddenly during the first lockdown, but the lasting health effects are less clear.
A New mRNA Malaria Vaccine 
Rebecca Roberts, PhD | Nov 30, 2023 | 3 min read
By targeting resident memory T cells in the liver, a novel mRNA malaria vaccine prevented infection, even in those with prior exposure.
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The Scientist Speaks - To Conserve and Protect: The Quest for Universal Vaccines
Niki Spahich, PhD | 1 min read
Patrick Wilson discusses the challenges in designing universal vaccines and his work developing one for influenza.
Image of <em >Candida albicans</em> fungus.
A Fungus Plays Tug-of-war for Metal Ions
Laura Tran, PhD | Sep 14, 2023 | 3 min read
In the fight between hosts and fungal pathogens, scientists discovered how withholding manganese can cripple Candida albicans.
A man wearing a dark blue sweater is smiling and standing in front of a building
When Microbes Meet the Immune System
Mariella Bodemeier Loayza Careaga, PhD | Sep 8, 2023 | 3 min read
Timothy Hand leads a research team that explores how maternal immune signals shape the infant intestinal microbiota.
Characterizing SARS-CoV-2 Antibody Responses in COVID-19 Patients
Characterizing SARS-CoV-2 Antibody Responses in COVID-19 Patients
The Scientist and Bio-Techne | 1 min read
In this webinar, Javier Castillo-Olivares and Matteo Ferrari will discuss what they have learned about COVID-19 through testing patient sera with automated immunoblotting.
Doctor in rubber gloves wiping injection site on arm of little girl before vaccination
Vaginal Delivery Promotes Early Childhood Vaccine Response
Jennifer Zieba, PhD | Aug 8, 2023 | 3 min read
Researchers showed that the delivery method affects the microbiome and plays a role in the infant vaccine immune response.
Bladder epithelial tissue, where cell junctions are shown in green and nuclei in blue. This was grown in vitro from cells taken from mice with chronic cystitis.
Bladder ‘Memory’ Influences Urinary Tract Infection Recurrence in Mice
Alejandra Manjarrez, PhD | Apr 12, 2023 | 3 min read
Urinary tract infections leave permanent epigenetic marks in the mouse bladder epithelium, reprogramming its response to subsequent infections, a study finds.
Discover Genetic Influences on the Immune Response
The Genetics Behind Immune Response Variability
The Scientist | 1 min read
Researchers seek genomic clues to understand differences in the immune response to infection.
Artist&rsquo;s rendering of bright orange <em >E. coli&nbsp;</em>bacteria
New Synthetic E. coli Is Immune to Bacteriophage Infection
Anna Napolitano, PhD | Mar 30, 2023 | 3 min read
Self-contained synthetic E. coli resistant to viral infection could prove invaluable to the biotechnology industry by increasing product consistency and reducing safety concerns. 
T regulatory cell in red sandwiching an antigen presenting cell in blue
Gut Bacteria Help T Cells Heal Muscle: Study
Natalia Mesa, PhD | Mar 14, 2023 | 4 min read
Regulatory T cells in the colon travel to muscles to promote wound healing in mice, raising questions about how antibiotics may impact injury recovery.
Discover new treatments for pandemic diseases
Treatments for Disease Pandemics
The Scientist | 1 min read
Researchers develop new vaccines and therapeutics to combat the spread of infectious diseases.
An artist&rsquo;s rendering of a DNA-based virus trap, represented as gray rods in a short cone-shaped arrangement. One is coated with blue molecules, likely antibodies, that adhere to a virus target. Another image shows to traps coming together to capture a red coronavirus.
“Origami” DNA Traps Could Keep Large Viruses From Infecting Cells
Natalia Mesa, PhD | Jan 18, 2023 | 4 min read
By engineering structures out of DNA, scientists could potentially prevent larger viruses, like coronaviruses and influenza viruses, from interacting with cells.
Rendered image of <em>Chlamydia</em>
How Chlamydia Guards Itself Against the Immune System
Natalia Mesa, PhD | Jan 2, 2023 | 4 min read
The bacterium produces a particular protein that allows it to sneak past the human immune system even while triggering inflammation.
Understanding COVID’s Long Game
Understanding COVID’s Long Game
The Creative Services Team in collaboration with Cayman Chemical | 1 min read
Floyd Chilton and Thomas Bumol shine light on the pathways that SARS-CoV-2 hijacks to cause disease.
<em>Chlamydia</em> invades a host cell, forms a membrane-bound vacuole, or inclusion, and then modifies the protein composition of the structure&rsquo;s membrane. If immune cells detect <em>Chlamydia</em> before it forms the inclusion, they trigger T cells to produce interferon-&gamma; (IFN-&gamma;), a powerful cytokine. IFN-&gamma; activates the protein mysterin (also called RFN213), which attaches ubiquitin to the inclusion membrane, signaling the cell to destroy the inclusion&rsquo;s contents by dumping them into a lysosome (left). C. trachomatis produces GarD, a protein that integrates into the inclusion membrane itself and somehow prevents mysterin from attaching ubiquitin, allowing the bacterium to evade immune destruction while continuing to multiply and eventually bursting from the cell (right).
Infographic: How Chlamydia Evades Immune Detection
Natalia Mesa, PhD | Jan 2, 2023 | 2 min read
Chlamydia trachomatis, the bacterium that causes chlamydia, hides from the immune system by cloaking itself in the host cell’s membrane then modifying the membrane’s protein composition.
a white mouse sits on a blue exercise wheel, looking out onto the shavings below
Mice With a Healthy Gut Microbiome Are More Motivated to Exercise
Katherine Irving | Dec 16, 2022 | 4 min read
A neural pathway between the gut and the brain led to the release of dopamine when the mice ran on a wheel or treadmill, but only in the presence of a robust microbiome. 
How Infectious Diseases Affect the Brain
The Scientist | 1 min read
From a loss of taste to dementia, infectious agents cause an array of neurological symptoms.
Illustration of HIV virus
Viral Protein Behind Chronic Inflammation in People with HIV: Study
Natalia Mesa, PhD | Dec 12, 2022 | 3 min read
The HIV protein Nef can cause long-term genetic changes that lead to hyperreactive immune cells, according to research in human cells and mice. 
Illustration of viruses represented with different colors overlapping each other.
What Happens When You Catch More than One Virus?
Alejandra Manjarrez, PhD | Dec 7, 2022 | 8 min read
The “tripledemic” shines a spotlight on viral interference, in which one infection can block another.
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