8th International Conference on Bacteriology and Infectious Diseases

    Move over Silicon Valley, the next big thing is microscopic! Microbes are taking over the biotech industry, contributing their unique characteristics toward a diverse array of applications, technologies and new startup ventures. From influencing personalized medicine, improving agriculture and degrading previously undegradable plastics to bioproduction of fuels and 3D printing materials, microbes have infiltrated a slew of industries. No doubt about it, microbiology is the technology buzzword of 2018. As global plastic waste increases, science turns to specialized microbes to degrade previously non-degradable plastics. A bacterial species found growing in a plastic recycling plant, Ideonella sakaiensis 201-F6, exhibits an incredible and rarely seen ability to use the common plastic, PET, as its major energy source. While there are 7 official codes to distinguish between plastics, set by the Society of Plastic Industries, there really are only 2 types that regul...

A new and promising class of chemical compounds has major potential for treating Zika virus and respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, according to a new study by University of Alberta scientists. The next step is to develop a drug... Another and promising class of synthetic mixes has the noteworthy potential for treating Zika disease and respiratory syncytial infection, or RSV, according to another examination by University of Alberta scientists. The accompanying stage is to develop a medication. "This is both a wonderful scientific discovery and something that can possibly emphatically influence worldwide wellbeing as well as the economy of Canada," said Fred West, professor in the Department of Chemistry who led the new discovery along with David Marchant. The compound is alike isatisine A which is an antiviral compound usually found in traditional Chinese herbal medicine. Hobman is a professor of cell biology and a specialist in the Zika virus, a pathogen that can...

Bacteria that grow in Oxygen deficit condition: Scientists have uncovered a mechanism by which bacterial cells in crowded, anaerobic environment access oxygen for energy generation which ensures survival of the cell. The finding could clarify how a few microscopic organisms, for example, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, can flourish in oxygen-poor conditions like biofilms and resist antibiotics. P. aeruginosa biofilm diseases are a main source of death for individuals suffering from cystic fibrosis, a hereditary condition that affects the lungs and the digestive system. Microscopic organisms rarely live by themselves as single-celled organisms. Most rather develop in networks, utilizing the strength of numbers to form a biofilm with tissue-like properties similar to a scaffold that serves to strengthen the community , making it up to 1,000 times more resistant to most antibiotics. Every individual cell should without anyone else extract electrons from food that are then transp...