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12th Dec 2004

Superbugs, MRSA, Phages & Bdellovibrio.


Chris Smith

Adel Fattah

This week the world of bacteria, fungi, viruses and superbugs goes under the microscope. Microbiologist Dr Mark Farrington discusses the worsening issue of antibiotic resistance and the MRSA problem. He is joined by Nottingham University bacteriologist Dr Liz Sockett who works on Bdellovibrio, a predatory bacterium that hunts down other bacteria and might be useful as a 'living' antibiotic, and Professor Nick Mann, from Warwick University, who is developing bacteriophages (viruses that can attack bacteria including MRSA) that can safely be applied to wounds, in a dressing or as a nose-spray, to eliminate the carriage of bacteria, or infection.

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News

 

Ant-i Fungus

A newly-identified fungus discovered by scientists in the US may provide the perfect Trojan Horse for getting rid of ant and termite infestations without needing to resort to pesticides or dangerous chemicals. Previous attempts to use fungi to wipe out unwanted nests ...

 

Laptops Bad For your Fertility

A New York-based urologist warned this week that laptops could be bad for mens' sperm counts. Dr. Yefim Sheynkin studied 29 men in their 20s and 30s and found that using a laptop for an hour increased the temperature of the average scrotum by over 2.5 degrees celsius,...

 

Capture The Moment

Have you ever waited ages for the perfect picture and then missed the moment because you were a fraction of a second too slow hitting the button ? If this sounds like you then Kodak may have the solution with a new invention to be added to their future digital camera ...


Questions

 

Is it normal for you to have a body temperature lower than 36.7celsius ?


 

Some roofs have clean lines across them caused by copper cables that have been lain across them in the past, and I've also heard that to kill a tree, you can drive a copper nail in to the trunk. In both cases, copper seems to have bad effects on living organisms, including trees and algae. Are the copper water pipes we have in our houses likely to have a similarly bad effect on humans, just as lead pipes did ?


 

I have a thyroid problem and have to take thyroxin. What causes thyroid problems?


 

What ingredients go into antibiotics, and how do they work ?


 

Which bacteria or viruses cause ear infections ?




Fact or Fiction

Sunlight takes roughly 60 seconds to reach the earth from the sun
TrueTrue
Doctors have come up with a condition called "exploding head syndrome"
TrueTrue
A red blood cell can travel around your entire body and get back to where it started in less than 20 seconds
TrueTrue
50% of guide dogs are short-sighted
TrueTrue
The planet Saturn has 10 rings
TrueTrue
The Japanese have the longest life-expectancy in the world
TrueTrue



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