Algae.Tec is the subject of a research report from New York based Arrowhead, which believes that Algae.Tec has “enormous growth potential with a medium risk profile.”

Based on intrinsic revenue capacity from 500 modules, the research firm has estimated that the company’s fair share value lies in the AU$1.51 to AU$2.15 bracket.

Arrowhead has updated its ‘Due Diligence and Valuation Report’ on Algae.Tec which is an advanced biofuels company commercialising high-yield algae growth technology to manufacture sustainable fuels such as bio diesel and green jet fuel…Read more

More than 60 percent of hospital staff uniforms are contaminated with potentially pathogenic bacteria, including drug-resistant species, according to a study published in the September issue of the American Journal of Infection Control.

Yonit Wiener-Well, M.D., from the Hebrew University Hadassah Medical School in Jerusalem, and colleagues investigated the rate of contamination with potentially pathogenic bacteria of uniforms worn by hospital staff and the bacterial load of the microorganisms. Cultures were taken from physician and nurse uniforms by pressing standard blood agar plates at the abdominal zones, sleeve ends, and pockets, and each participant filled out a questionnaire…Read more

While RTM Nagpur University may be in news mostly for the wrong reasons, people associated with it keep scaling higher peaks. On Monday, NU professor Sudhir Meshram was appointed vice-chancellor of North Maharashtra University, Jalgaon (NMU).

Meshram is the head of the microbiology department at NU and joins an ever-growing list of Nagpurians heading the administration at various universities. Governor K Sankaranarayanan, who is also the chancellor of all state universities, selected Meshram from a panel of names. The appointment will be for a period of five years and shall come into effect from the date Meshram assumes charge…Read more

A new strain of bacteria has been found to specifically target tumors, and could be used in the future to deliver drugs in frontline cancer therapy. The bacteria is expected to be tested on human cancer patients by 2013, according to one scientist at the Society for General Microbiology’s Autumn Conference at the University of York.

The bacterial strain is Clostridium sporogenes – a common bacterium in the soil. Spores of the bacterium would be injected into patients and, because of a specific bacterial enzyme that is only produced in solid tumors, the bacterium would grow in the cancerous growth. Then, a separate anti-cancer drug would be injected into the patient as an inactive ‘pro-drug’ form. At the tumor site, the bacterial enzyme would activate the drug, and the drug would go on to destroy only the cells in its vicinity, that is, tumor cells…Read more

A protective delivery vehicle that shuttles friendly bacteria safely through the stomach to the intestines could provide a major boost for the probiotics industry. The new technology could also be used for the delivery of certain drugs and even increase calcium absorption, according to research presented at the Society for General Microbiology’s Autumn Conference at the University of York this week.

The probiotic industry is worth £200 million a year in the UK. Probiotic foods contain live beneficial bacteria and may help maintain and improve gut health, strengthen immunity, fight gastro-intestinal and respiratory disorders and even show anti-tumour effects. One of the challenges for manufacturers of probiotic foods is getting high enough numbers of these bacteria into the intestines; most perish under the heavy acidic conditions of the stomach. Scientists from the University of Wolverhampton led by Dr Iza Radecka, have now found a solution to this problem by developing a special type of biopolymer that protects probiotic bacteria in the stomach and delivers them safely to the intestines where they can get to work…Read more

I am a second year B.Sc. microbiology student and would like to go for higher studies in medical microbiology or microbiology. Kindly provide me the details on the courses and the institutions/ colleges that offer them. Is research after postgraduation essential to get a good job?

SUJITHA, PALAKKAD

To become a microbiologist or a medical microbiologist or a scientist, one should obtain Master’s degree with good marks and should further pursue research leading to doctorate degree (Ph.D.). Microbiology, especially medical microbiology is a frontier area of study and research assumes great importance when we consider the discipline’s contribution to pharmaceutical and medical fields.

Microbiologists or medical microbiologists are associated with the discovery of a range of products from antibiotics to insulin. Job opportunities are available in research and development departments in medical, pharmaceutical, and agricultural fields…Read more

Australian researchers have revealed that sugars that change their shape with temperature could be a key to bacterial infection in humans.

The findings could lead to new ways to treat and prevent gastroenteritis without relying on antibiotics, reports ABC Science.

Bacterial geneticist Victoria Korolik of Griffith University’s Institute for Glycomics and colleagues have been looking closely at how the bacteria Campylobacter jejuni infects gut cells in animals and humans.

“This is the most frequent cause of any gastrointestinal illness around the world,” she said.

The bacteria are a normal part of a chicken’s gut flora and only cause disease in humans and higher primates, typically through contaminated food.

The bacteria also cause the auto-immune disease Guillain-Barre syndrome, in which the immune system kills off the body’s own nerve cells.

Two years ago, Korolik and team, including senior researcher Christopher Day, published key findings that provided the first clue to understanding why humans but not chickens are vulnerable to the bacteria…Read more

University of Florida assistant professor Michelle Danyluk was honored Wednesday evening with the Larry Beauchat Young Researcher Award from the International Association for Food Protection.

The award recognizes a member of the group who has shown outstanding ability and professional promise in the field of food microbiology and food safety.

Danyluk has developed a nationally noted food microbiology and safety program in citrus and other commodities, such as almonds and tropical juices. Her multistate “farm to fork” activities include leafy green food safety initiatives and the National Tree Crop Food Safety Research Symposia.

Since joining UF/IFAS in 2007, Danyluk has attracted more than $1 million for her research and extension programs and nearly $4 million to UF research overall.

See more

Researchers from Italy and the United States who worked with mouse and human cancer cells in laboratories said their work might help in developing a new drug in a class of cancer treatments called immunotherapies or therapeutic vaccines, which harness the body’s immune system to fight disease.

“We did experiments first in mice and then in cancer cells and immune cells from human patients, and found that the salmonella was doing exactly the same job,” Maria Rescigno of European Institute of Oncology in Milan, who worked on the study, said in a telephone interview. “Now we are ready to go into (testing on) humans, but we are waiting for authorization.”

The scientists said they thought the salmonella bacteria, which they used in a safe form that did not cause illness itself, helped to flag up cancer cells to the body’s immune system, which was then able to find and kill them.

See more

AgraQuest, Inc.’s Dr. Magalie Guilhabert-Goya, Group Leader for Microbiology, today presented “QST 713: A Microbe with Two Tales” at the 60th annual meeting of the Society for Industry Microbiology in San Francisco. Dr. Guilhabert-Goya focused her presentation on the strengths of the patented active ingredient Bacillus subtilis strain QST 713 contained in AgraQuest’s SERENADE® family of biofungicides.

These strengths, including activation of plants’ natural defenses, growth promotion and resistance to abiotic stress, make AgraQuest’s proprietary Bacillus subtilis strain QST 713 a valuable tool for both foliar and soil disease control in production agriculture. Field studies in potatoes, tomatoes and cucurbits demonstrate average yield increases of 12 to 15% when treated with SERENADE SOIL™ fungicide.

Read more