Category Archives: Disease

Gene therapy using stem cells prevents inherited diseases

Posted on 17 July 2013 by mmmbitesizescience

Originally written for The Conversation. Genetic traits like a bulbous nose or balding give some people reasons to moan about what they inherited from their parents. But more serious genetic flaws can cause debilitating disease. Now, Italian researchers have come … Continue reading →

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Posted in Disease, Genetics, Medicine, Science | Tagged ARSA, gene therapy, haematopoietic stem cells, metachromatic leukodystrophy, MLD, nerves, virus, WAS, Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome | Leave a comment

A huge variety of fungi call your feet home

Posted on 29 June 2013 by mmmbitesizescience

Human skin is a hardy, water-resistant covering that keeps important biological stuff from falling out of the body. It’s also a camping ground for millions of bacteria (picked out in magenta, above), fungi (seen in blue-green, above) and yeast that … Continue reading →

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Posted in Disease, Fungi, Genetics, Medicine, Microorganisms, Science | Tagged athlete's foot, diversity, fungi, infection, microbes, skin, swabs | 1 Comment

Vaccine delivers an immune double whammy to fight tuberculosis

Posted on 20 June 2013 by mmmbitesizescience

Vaccination is a hugely important public health intervention, perhaps the biggest in the history of mankind. While many childhood diseases are now effectively controlled by immunisation programs (as long as parents vaccinate their kids), there is still no effective vaccine … Continue reading →

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Posted in Bacteria, Disease, Immunology, Microorganisms, Science, Vaccines | Tagged adaptive, adenovirus, immunisation, immunity, innate, lung, pathogen, public health, tuberculosis, vaccination, vesicular stomatitis virus | Leave a comment

Turning insect viruses into cancer therapies

Posted on 8 June 2013 by mmmbitesizescience

Gene therapy is a pretty promising approach for lots of different diseases, and has already overcome a huge hurdle with the approval of the very first gene therapy product, Glybera, by the European Commission in 2012. At its core, gene … Continue reading →

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Posted in Disease, Medicine, Microorganisms, Science, Viruses | Tagged baculovirus, cancer, DNA, gene therapy, immune, insect, prostate, tumour | Leave a comment

How to survive the bacterial antibiotic revolution

Posted on 14 May 2013 by mmmbitesizescience

These days, we have a pretty serious problem when it comes to our ability to kill resistant bacteria causing serious illness. People petition governments to urge action, while drug companies lament over how those pesky bacteria evolved to defeat their … Continue reading →