Noon talk in room 301 at NUNM ( Read more... )

The Russians have known about phages and used them to treat severe infections since the 1930's. New research shows that lots of phages live in mucus. Wherever there is mucus there is likely to be a large population of phages--including mucus produced by other species such as sea coral, plants, etc ( Read more... )

Or in other words, they are a natural part of our immune defense! New science suggests that mucus in our body is full of viruses that attack bacteria! Those viruses don't hurt us, in fact, they protect us. Commensal viruses....
( the article from Life )

NOBEL PRIZE-WINNING VIROLOGIST'S NEW RESEARCH GIVES SIGNIFICANT SUPPORT TO HOMEOPATHIC PHARMACOLOGY
( This article was emailed out to everyone in my class at NCNM. The premise is that pathogenic bacteria and viruses have certain DNA sequences that induce distinctive electromagnetic waves at very high aqueous dilutions. This phenomenon is supposed to be due to resonance triggered by the ambient electromagnetic background of very low frequency waves. The EM signature is strongest at dilutions at a range corresponding with the homeopathic dilutions of 5x to 12x, and needs to be shaken violently to form. Furthermore it does not occur if the sample is frozen or heated....all of these findings are the same as what homeopaths say about their medicine. Last but not least, the researchers are said to have found the same EM signals in the plasma and DNA of patients with Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, MS and RA. Can't wait until they figure out how to cure all that. Check out the way this article is written, using big words and high associations to gain status for homeopathy. )

The question I'm to answer is this:
Some bacteria (e.g. Salmonella typhi, Yersinia pestis, Rickettsiae, Mycobacteria) are known to penetrate and grow in the intracellular spaces inside host cells. What advantage does this environment have for the bacterium?
( boring bacterial notes )

There's this lovely bacterium called Listeria monocytogenes that is gram positive and likes to grow in dairy products. It doesn't produce any toxins or spores, it just gets in your cells and kills them. It gets started invading your body via the gut (gastroenteritis), but can take over much more of your body (invasive disease) given enough time ( Read more... )