How Gut Viruses Can Help Fight Infection

   

     Researchers at NYU did a study to see if the presence of murine norovirus (MNV) had any affect on damages to the gut. These damages include inflammation and infection. The team at NYU used mice as research to see how they healed. The study took over 2 years, and they came to the conclusion that it did in fact help repair the tissue in the gut. MNV is a natural virus that is in your gut that helps heal tissue, as well as helps the immune system fight off tissue damage.This finding helped researchers get more clues as to the fact that there are some viruses that aren't bad. 

     Looking further into this research it showed me how the more we look into things that are naturally put into our body, the more we can see that some of these bacteria and viruses can be helpful. The hard part is knowing just how much of these little guys is too much. My mom always says to follow the prescription of antibiotics and take the whole dosage, and now I know that she is speaking the truth. Hopefully soon we will be able to figure out a way for antibiotics to not harm the good bacteria in our systems. Since the micro biome is always changing, I am interested to see if maybe they start to notice that these once "good" bacteria and viruses start to hurt us more than help us. All in all this article gave me insight onto how as research continues we learn more and more about our bodies and how they are always changing.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/11/141119132454.htm

Archeological research shows that 'filthy ways' led to parasites in early Europeans

     

     Researchers are beginning to look further and further into how the awful parasites that are effecting us today, may have started. They looked into tapeworm and whipworm, seeing that it came about around 10,000-5,000 BC they made the conclusion that it began when the hunter-gatherers began. The feces of these people is what was causing the tapeworm and whipworm. Once the Europeans came over to the Americas they of course didn't just drop their habits, thus bringing the parasite with them. It took time to come up with a way to properly dispose of our fecal matter, and finally we were able to get the parasite a little bit more under control. 

     After reading this article, I was a little disappointed. I expected there to be little bit more information on the parasites, and other information on bacteria that was brought over. It did give me some insight on how we are able to adapt to new infections, and learn to overcome them. Also, looking into how these parasites came about can give us ideas on how to treat different things that we aren't able to treat yet. Looking into where they came from can give lots of insight into the future of medicine.

http://newsok.com/archeological-research-shows-that-filthy-ways-led-to-parasites-in-early-europeans/article/5349131

Molecule promises to speed up discovery of universal anti-Ebola drugs 

     Researchers are looking further into curing the Ebola virus, by looking at multiple different aspects of what molecules are actually in the virus. They began looking further into peptide-mimic, a molecule that hasn't changed at all even when the actual virus has changed. Since this part of the virus has stayed constant, it gives hope that if they try to target this molecule, we could see a change in an antiviral drug for the Ebola virus. The only problem that they are seeing with this drug is the fact that in the future it might not be effective against the virus, as new strains begin to form. 

     This last idea from investigator Debra Eckert, raised some curiosity in me. At the beginning of the article they were using a molecule that was constant between all of the Ebola virus strains to come up with a drug, but now they are saying that this drug will only be effective for this specific strain of Ebola. Since the molecule is constant, wouldn't that make the drug effective on multiple strains of the virus? Also, in the first sentence of the article it states: "discovery of anti-Ebola agents capable of dealing with all current strains and any that emerge in future epidemics," which seemed to conflict with Eckert's statement saying that it was unlikely that it would treat future strains. As this article was very interesting for me to learn more on how the researchers are trying to find a way to keep us safe from this virus, I thought it was very contradicting of itself.



http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/283738.php

Energy Producing Microbes Help Save Water

     

     A brewery in California is looking for a new way to save water. As 7 gallons of water go into just 1 gallon of beer made. The water used isn't all going to making the beer. Most of it is actually going into the heating, and cleaning of the kegs and the bottles the brewery is using. Since California is already running short on water, they wanted to find a way to conserve as much of the water as they possibly could. They created a facility called an "EcoVolt" system. Not only does it clean the water, the microbes in the volt also provide for more than half of the electricity that the brewery is using.
     This new research shows me just how many different things we can use microbes for. This one machine is able to use microbes for not only cleaning the water that they brewery needs, but also provides the brewery with so much more. As the company looks forward, they are trying to decide if the people will eventually drink the recycled water. The video definitely is interesting to me because we were just at a brewery learning about how microbes help brew the beer. Knowing that they can also be involved in other processes blows my mind!
     I'm starting to wonder if eventually we will be able to used recycled water for more things than the making of beer. If so how this new technology could impact our lives in all different aspects. Eventually we could take one of these machines to a third-world country, and help with the water shortage in more places than just the U.S.

Brush with Bacteria: Hairbrushes are worst household item for bug infestation by mirror.co.uk

     When you are either getting ready for the day, or going to bed brushing your hair has to be the least harmful thing you could think of. Well, in 2012 science showed that there are over 3,500 colonies of bacteria per square inch. This statistic was higher than both sink plug holes, and doggie bowls. After doing observations on 30 hair brushes used daily by women ages 16 to 24, the results were astonishing. Specialist Alison Southcombe stated that "if you take a look at the average hairbrush, it is often a pretty messy affair with a build u[ of hair and also hair styling products that may be months old." These bacteria aren't all bad, but some of them lead to irritation, allergy, as well as odors. 

     Now that I know this information, I am definitely going to clean my brush much more often. Brushing my hair is one of my favorite things to do, but knowing this information it makes it pretty unappealing. Something that brings up my concern is the fact that they only observed women ages 16-24. To me that is a very narrow spectrum. Starting at a younger age may make a difference because girls haven't gone through puberty yet, and don't have the same hormones as older women. Observing higher than 24 would be smart as well because people do different things with their hair at an older age. This article really interested me because brushing my hair is something I do multiple times a day, and it never crossed my mind that my hair brush could be effecting my scalp in more ways than one. 

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/technology-science/science/brush-with-bacteria-hairbrushes-are-worst-household-802580#ixzz3ExfqPIG6

Single-Cell Office Mates, by the Tens of Millions by Sindya Bhanoo

                                                             By Chris Gash

Those office spaces you keep so organized, may also need to be kept cleaner. Research is showing that offices in New York tend to have more bacteria than the offices in San Francisco. Is the place you work the only factor? It has also been noticed that men's offices tend to have more bacteria than women's. Showing a increase of about 10-20% from women's offices to men's, what could possibly be the cause? The possibility that men have more surface area because they are bigger could be a factor, or just the fact that they tend to be less hygienic than women can add to it as well. These bacteria aren't necessarily making people sick, as there has been no evidence of sickness in the workplace, it gives insight to the bacteria that we live with on a day-to-day basis. 

Knowing that men's offices carry more bacteria than women's tends to make you think what else carries more bacteria. Something as simple as an office, where you aren't bringing much into besides maybe your lunch and some paperwork, seems like there should be a minuscule amount of bacteria. There is always the possibility for men to start to clean their offices more often to keep the amount of bacteria down, but maybe it has to do with them as a person bringing things into the office. Hygiene plays such a huge role in the health of a person, and the health of people around them that you would think that men would work harder to keep everything cleaner.

Looking into these bacteria can be helpful in the case that people in offices are starting to get ill, but until then it is just nice to know what you are living in. When I think of bacteria I think of illness, but knowing that there are bacteria that people are working in everyday doesn't make them sick, it eases my mind on the idea that not all bacteria are bad

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/05/science/mens-offices-have-more-bacteria-study-finds.html?ref=science&_r=0

Friendly Bacteria Keep Your Skin's Defenses in Check

The article begins with talking about something everyone can relate to, the nasty bacteria on our skin. When thinking about it you probably get a little squeamish thinking about things living on you, but Geddes shockingly shows us how a few of these bacteria may be helpful to us. Those bacteria are Staphylococcus, when I think of this word I immediately think of staph infections. "How could that be helpful to your health?" a question I asked myself while reading this article. It turns out that the Staphylococcus helps cut down on inflammation by releasing lipoteichoic acid (LTA). Granted inflammation is key to helping heal injuries, too much inflammation causes psoriasis. To keep these bacteria intact, limiting the amount of antibacterial soaps is necessary. Usage of these soaps is helpful but in moderation. This article really helps get a better understanding of how even the things that we think we should get rid of help us in the long run, granted there are definitely things that we need to be rid of. Looking into the science of how things that we thought harmful are actually helping us really gives a feeling of hope for the cure of so much more than just a skin infection, it leaves the possibility for so much more that we once thought harms us, in the end helps with other more important things. 

"Friendly Bacteria Keep Your Skin's Defences in Check." - Health. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Sept. 2014.