Category Archives: Science

Antibiotics hit your gut microbes hard

Posted on 13 February 2013 by mmmbitesizescience

These days, most doctor’s are acutely aware of the problems of overprescribing antibiotics. Historically given as more of a placatory gesture – ‘I have to prescribe something, else this patient will think I’m an incompetent buffoon’ – their overuse almost … Continue reading →

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Posted in Bacteria, Ecology, Microorganisms, Science | Tagged antibiotic resistance, antibiotics, beta-lactams, gram-negative, gram-positive, gut bacteria, imbalance, metabolism, microbiota, MRSA, overuse | 1 Comment

24 hours in the life of HIV

Posted on 6 February 2013 by mmmbitesizescience

Human immunodeficiency virus, or HIV, only emerged in humans relatively recently, yet already represents a big public health threat. When HIV enters the human body, often through sexual contact or the sharing of needles between drug users, it shows a … Continue reading →

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Posted in Disease, Medicine, Microorganisms, Science, Viruses | Tagged AIDS, CD4+, HIV, human immunodeficiency virus, life cycle, particle, replication, T cell, virus | Leave a comment

The journey to parasite egg paradise

Posted on 26 January 2013 by mmmbitesizescience

The parasite, Schistosoma mansoni, is a remarkably cunning and efficient worm. It spends the first part of its life infecting freshwater snails, where it vigorously multiplies to bulk up numbers. This parasite army then marches out of the snail and … Continue reading →

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Posted in Disease, Microorganisms, Parasites, Science | Tagged eggs, freshwater snail, gut, hair follicle, intestine, parasite, peyer's patches, reproduction, schistosoma mansoni, schistosome, schistosomiasis, snail fever, university of york, vein, worm | Leave a comment

What makes the smallpox vaccine so great?

Posted on 19 January 2013 by mmmbitesizescience

Perhaps one of the most incredibly effective vaccines ever used, against smallpox, has completely eradicated a terribly nasty human disease. Yet the way in which vaccinia virus, the live poxvirus contained in the smallpox vaccine, actually orchestrates a protective immune … Continue reading →

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Posted in Disease, Microorganisms, Science, Vaccines | Tagged A33, antibodies, B5, complement, disease, immunity, neutralising, pathogen, smallpox, vaccinia, virus | Leave a comment

Sexy times don’t help induce labour in late pregnancies

Posted on 13 January 2013 by mmmbitesizescience

Even though I’ve never been pregnant, I’ve lived in the world long enough to have absorbed random nuggets of wild information, like there are lots of ways to try and bring on labour in women at the end of their … Continue reading →