Saturday, December 25, 2010
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Immunochromatographic strip test for detection of genus Cronobacter

Tuesday, December 21, 2010
MIT Researchers Reconstruct Evolution of 3 Billion-Year-Old Microbes

Micro- and nanocantilever devices and systems for biomolecule detection

Monday, December 13, 2010
DNA Sequencing Matches Cholera Strain in Haiti with Bacteria from South Asia

A team of researchers from Harvard Medical School, Brigham and Women's Hospital, and Massachusetts General Hospital, with others from the United States and Haiti, has determined that the strain of cholera erupting in Haiti matches bacterial samples from South Asia and not those from Latin America. These findings, which appeared in the New England Journal of Medicine, conclude that the cholera bacterial strain introduced into Haiti probably came from an infected human, contaminated food or other item from outside of Latin America.
To identify the probable origin of the cholera strain in Haiti, scientists used a third-generation, single-molecule DNA sequencing method developed by Pacific Biosciences. They determined the genome sequences of two Haitian cholera samples and three cholera samples from elsewhere around the world. Based on advanced imaging technology, the method enables researchers to observe a natural enzyme synthesizing a strand of DNA in real time. As such, the technology actually tracks and documents nature at work, a rapid approach compared to other sequencing technologies. The method allowed a comprehensive analysis and comparison of critical DNA features among the various cholera samples, which included single nucleotide variations, insertions and deletions of particular portions of the genome, and structural variations. The analysis showed a close relationship between the Haitian samples and the seventh pandemic variant strains isolated in Bangladesh in 2002 and 2008.
Genetic changes occur quickly, within hours in the lab and probably weeks within the environment, through natural modes of DNA swapping and mutation among bacteria. Their evolution is based, in part, on the acquisition, loss, and alteration of mobile genetic elements, including DNA from the CTX bacterial virus, which bears the genes encoding the cholera toxin, and other genetic sequences that may make a particular strain more adapted to a given ecosystem. The resulting heterogeneity has been used to categorize strains of the seventh pandemic and to understand their transmission around the globe.
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
UTHealth professor to receive service award from American Society for Microbiology

Known nationally for her research into single-cell organisms that affect oral health, Millicent "Mimi" Goldschmidt, Ph.D., a professor of microbiology and molecular genetics at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth), has been selected to receive the 2011 American Society for Microbiology (ASM) Founders Distinguished Service Award. The award will be presented at the ASM General Meeting Awards Banquet and Dinner in New Orleans on May 22.
"Dr. Goldschmidt has furthered the understanding of the basic microbiology of the mouth," said Larry R. Kaiser, M.D., president of UTHealth. "She has done an exemplary job of serving her professional community, her scientific community and her teaching community." Microbiology is the study of cells that are invisible to the naked eye. These tiny cells include bacteria, viruses and fungi. Goldschmidt studies microbes involved with dental decay, gum disease and oral cancer, as well as rapid methods of detection (biosensors, microarrays and nanoparticles).
Before joining the UTHealth faculty in the early 1970s, Goldschmidt was the coordinator of the protocol to plan the biological tests that would be employed in the lunar receiving laboratory on the first returned moon rocks. She was also instrumental in developing isolation protocols for Apollo astronauts returning from the moon, which ensured that infectious organisms would be detected and contained.
When she started her professional career in Texas five decades ago, Goldschmidt said there were really no rapid methods to detect microorganisms. Her research contributed to the development of rapid immunological and biosensor types of detection methods to pinpoint salmonellae, E. coli and oral microbes. She consults and lectures nationally and internationally on biosensors, microarrays and nanoparticles.