bacteria

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Keyboards 'Dirtier Than Toilet Seats'

Microbiologist warns that filthy keys can make people ill

(Newser) - A microbiologist studying computer keyboards discovered that some of them harbored more bacteria than the average toilet seat, the Guardian reports. The dirtiest—which had to be removed from an office—had 150 times the level of acceptable bacteria, putting the user at risk of catching bugs that cause diarrhea...

Germaphobes Get a Handle on Bathrooms

Inventors help the wary leave the loo without touching doorknobs

(Newser) - For germaphobes, few sights elicit as much terror as doorknob in a public bathroom. Sure, you washed your hands, “but then someone else didn’t wash their hands and you have to touch the same door handle,” explains the inventor of the SanitGrip, an L-shaped, elbow-operated handle that...

Synthetic DNA Comes to Life
Synthetic DNA Comes to Life
Dec 17, 2007 9:56 AM CST

Synthetic DNA Comes to Life

As breakthrough nears, questions multiply like cells

(Newser) - Scientists are on the verge of creating new life forms from synthetic DNA and already sparking ethical questions, the Washington Post reports. Researchers can make entire chromosomes from sugars, phosphates, and nitrogen-based compounds, then insert the DNA into a host cell. The new codes can transform bacteria or yeast into...

Hospital-Bred Bacteria Kills Brits
Hospital-Bred Bacteria Kills Brits
Nov 18, 2007 4:34 PM CST

Hospital-Bred Bacteria Kills Brits

Pseudomona are resistant to cleaning products and antibiotics

(Newser) - An untreatable strand of hospital-bred bacteria is killing hundreds of patients each year in the UK, the Observer reports. Pseudomona cases have risen 41% over the past five years, reaching 3,663 in 2006. Like MRSA, the bug is resistant to traditional cleaning agents and antibiotics, and contaminates patients through...

America's 12 Germiest Places
America's 12 Germiest Places
Nov 1, 2007 2:15 PM CDT

America's 12 Germiest Places

It's enough to make the hypochondriac in all of us squirm

(Newser) - The trash smells worse than the kitchen sinks, but it's not necessarily less prone to germs. Health gives you the 12 germiest places:
  1. Kitchen sink and counters—Use antibacterial product.
  2. Airplane bathrooms—Flushing sprays germs everywhere.
  3. Wet laundry—E. coli, courtesy dirty skivvies. Use bleach, dry high heat.
  4. Public drinking
...

Hospitals Ramp Up Screening for Superbug

Four Chicago facilities will test all new patients for the staph infection

(Newser) - Four hospitals in the Chicago area will start screening all patients for drug-resistant "superbug" bacteria, the Chicago Tribune reports. The intensive screening is known as "search and destroy" in Europe, but it is uncommon in the US. The moves comes as hospitals around the nation evaluate safety procedures...

Superbug Shuts Down Entire School District

23 schools disinfected after single case of drug-resistant staph

(Newser) - A single confirmed infection of antibiotic-resistant staph has convinced officials to shut down all 23 schools of an eastern Kentucky district so cleaners can scour classrooms, cafeterias, locker rooms, buses and playgrounds. The district superintendent called the massive disinfection a "preventive measure" to ward off a large-scale outbreak of...

Drug-Proof Superbug Turns Deadly
Drug-Proof Superbug
Turns Deadly
Oct 16, 2007 11:26 PM CDT

Drug-Proof Superbug Turns Deadly

Antibiotic-resistant staph kills more Americans than AIDS

(Newser) - An antibiotic-resistant strain of staph kills more Americans each year than HIV, accounting for almost 19,000 deaths annually, the first national stats on the superbug reveal. The super-staph is treatable but can quickly lead to dangerous "flesh-eating" infections. "We really need to be on guard against these...

Frozen DNA Survives After 8 Million Years

Microorganisms from Antarctica look like Martian data

(Newser) - Scientists have nixed the notion that glaciers are lifeless blocks of ice by thawing chunks containing Antarctic organisms and watching them successfully divide on their own, the Los Angeles Times reports. The study suggests that these microorganisms, ranging from 100,000 to 8 million years old, could yield DNA and...

Scientists on the Brink of Artificial Life

Synthetic genomes close to creating new bacteria

(Newser) - The first artificial life could be created within months as researchers emboldened by "species transplant" experiments prepare to insert synthetic genomes into a host bacterium, the Daily Telegraph reports. Maryland scientists have been replacing one bacterium's DNA with another, transforming the host  into the invader, and now plan to...

Staph Infection Rate Stuns Experts
Staph Infection Rate Stuns Experts
Jun 25, 2007 4:39 PM CDT

Staph Infection Rate Stuns Experts

Eye-opening numbers on antibiotic-resistant 'superbugs' dwarf previous estimates

(Newser) - Over a million hospital patients contract a dangerous, drug-resistant staph infection every year, a rate 10 times more than previously thought. Tens of thousands infected with antibiotic-resistant "superbugs" may die from what officials call one of the nation's most serious public-health threats, today's Chicago Tribune reports.

Bacteria Battle Depression
Bacteria Battle Depression
Apr 6, 2007 8:55 AM CDT

Bacteria Battle Depression

Research shows brain produces serotonin as an immune response

(Newser) - Clinical depression may be treatable with bacteria, doctors at Bristol University posit. They got the idea when they observed lung cancer patients inoculated with harmless Mycobacterium vaccae who showed reduced symptoms and improved mental health. The brain produces serotonin as an immune response, the docs hypothesized, raising the low serotonin...

Glowing Wounds Will Signify Infection
Glowing Wounds Will Signify Infection
Mar 12, 2007 10:11 AM CDT

Glowing Wounds Will Signify Infection

British-designed polymers to be used to identify bacteria in moments

(Newser) - Bacterial infections could be diagnosed in moments with the use of glowing polymers developed by British scientists. The designer molecules are made to identify bacteria, bind to it, and then change shape, causing them to emit light that would give the wound a glow that's discernible to the naked eye...

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