Tackling plastic pollution with worms

Scientists report that mealworms can biodegrade Styrofoam and other types of plastic in their gut. The findings could potentially lead to new methods to tackle the growing problem of plastic pollution, according to researchers. watch video here; http://www.sciencedaily.com/videos/2110b19db9d2bc66c1f29c8a86647587.htm

Horse sickness shares signs of Alzheimer's.

Horses with a rare nerve condition have similar signs of disease as people with conditions such as Alzheimer's, a new study has found. The findings shed new light on the causes of the rare but predominately fatal horse condition and could help to develop new tools for diagnosing the illness. Scientists say that horses affected by the disease -- called equine grass sickness -- could also hold clues to human conditions.Grass sickness attacks nerve cells in horses but the causes of the disease are unknown. It causes gastric upset and muscle tremor and can kill within days. If diagnosed quickly, animals can sometimes be nursed back to health.They found that the horse tissue contained proteins that are commonly seen in the brains of people with Alzheimer's disease -- such as the build-up of amyloid protein.This knowledge could help to develop tests for detecting the condition in horses, which can be tricky to diagnose. read more here;http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/10/151005121140.htm

Intensive farming link to bovine TB..

A study by the University of Exeter, funded by BBSRC and published in the Royal Society journal Biological Letters, analysed data from 503 farms which have suffered a TB breakdown alongside 808 control farms in areas of high TB risk.Dr Fiona Mathews, Associate Professor in Mammalian Biology, who led the study, said: "TB is absolutely devastating for farming, and it's essential that workable solutions are found. In the worst hit areas, farms are frequently affected over and over again with crippling consequences. If lower intensity production means better animal health, it offers a sustainable long-term strategy in high risk areas." read more here ;http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/11/151111055318.htm

Early contact with dogs linked to lower risk of asthma.

Scientists have used national register information in more than one million children to study the association of early life contact with dogs and subsequent development of asthma. This question has been studied extensively previously, but conclusive findings have been lacking. The new study showed that children who grew up with dogs had about 15 percent less asthma than children without dogs. read more here;http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/11/151102143636.htm

Evidence of probable transmission of bird flu virus between two unrelated individuals.

The study describes two patients who shared the same ward in a district hospital in Zhejiang Province, China in February 2015.Hospital acquired (nosocomial) infection most likely route of transmission, The first (index) case was a 49 year old man who became ill after buying two chickens from a live poultry market for the wedding ceremony of his elder daughter. He developed a fever, cough, and sore throat and was admitted to a district hospital on 18 February. He was diagnosed with H7N9 virus on 24 February and was admitted to a specialist hospital ward with intensive care facilities. He died of multi-organ failure on 20 April. The second case, a 57 year old man with a history of chronic lung disease (COPD), developed flu-like symptoms after staying on the same ward of the district hospital as the index case for five days (18 to 23 February). He was diagnosed with H7N9 virus on 25 February and died of respiratory failure on 2 March. A total of 38 close contacts of both cases, including family members and health workers, were tested for the virus. Two samples taken from the chickens purchased by the index patient as well as five of 11 samples from the live poultry market he visited were positive for H7N9 virus.The second patient had no history of poultry exposure for 15 days prior to his illness. Samples from his home, from chickens raised by his neighbours, and a local chicken farm were all negative for H7N9 virus. Yet the genetic sequence of H7N9 virus from the second patient was nearly identical to that from the index patient, and genetically similar to the virus samples taken from the live poultry market visited by the index patient. The researchers stress that they cannot completely rule out an unidentified environmental exposure that might explain the H7N9 infection in the second patient.They say these results "should raise our concern about the increasing threat to public health" and they call for better training and hospital hygiene as well as enhanced surveillance of both patients with influenza-like illness in hospitals and chickens in live poultry markets Read more about unconventional routes of birdflu virus transmission and how to prevent transmission.http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/11/151119095824.htm

POOP PILL CURES DEADLY GASTROINTESTINAL DISEASE..

The country’s first stool bank, OpenBiome, is now selling capsules of fecal matter to treat life-threatening Clostridium difficile, or C. diff, infections.The $635 pill-based therapy, a type of fecal transplant, is highly effective against the difficult-to-treat gastrointestinal infection, according to results of a pilot study. A single dose, which includes a whopping 30 pills, cured 70 percent of patients. A second dose bumped the success rate up to 94 percent. The treatment, currently being sold only to doctors, may offer an easier alternative to other effective fecal transplant routes, namely colonoscopies, nasal tubes, and enemas. C. diff infections sometimes take root while a patient is on antibiotics, which kills off and disrupts the patient's normal, healthy gut microbiome. In antibiotics’ wake, C. diff bacteria that usually reside quietly in the gut can run amok and produce toxins. Fecal transplants can stamp out the infection by replacing a patient’s disrupted gut microbial community with the gut microbes from a healthy patient, transferred via feces. Read more ;http://arstechnica.com/science/2015/11/635-poop-pills-cure-deadly-gastrointestinal-infection/

GENE THAT MAKES BACTERIA IMMUNE TO LAST RESORT ANTIBIOTICS HAS POTENTIAL TO SPREAD.

A newly identified gene that renders bacteria resistant to polymyxin antibiotics—drugs often used as the last line of defense against infections—has the potential to be shared between different types of bacteria.

The finding raises concern that the transferable gene could make its way into infectious bacteria that are already highly resistant to drugs, thereby creating strains of bacteria immune to every drug in doctors’ arsenal.Researchers fear it could move to new bacteria and create unstoppable superbugs. The gene, dubbed mcr-1, exists on a tiny, circular piece of DNA called a plasmid.

These genetic elements, common among bacteria, are mobile; bacteria can make copies of them and share them with whatever bacteria happens to be nearby. Though scientists have previously discovered genes for polymyxin resistance, those genes were embedded in bacterial genomes, thus were not likely to easily spread.

 Read more;http://arstechnica.com/science/2015/11/gene-that-makes-bacteria-immune-to-last-resort-antibiotic-can-spread/