Colo State Elevator Vids #12 Microbiology Building (Ginormous ThyssenKrupp
This thing is fucking huge.

By: Colin Comer

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Colo State Elevator Vids #12 Microbiology Building (Ginormous ThyssenKrupp - Video

Toronto, Canada (PRWEB) June 04, 2013

The ability to ensure that relevant and accurate laboratory testing is performed is the basic expectation for any central laboratory. To optimally employ the myriad of laboratory resources available to perform seemingly identical tests, a rigorous scientific review is an essential component of clinical trials protocol design.

An important step is a thorough review by experienced personnel versed in the scientific/technical and operational aspects of indication-specific laboratory testing. Additional considerations include the level of experience the laboratory has with performing testing for specific indications; how the laboratorys current test menu aligns with the protocol requirements and the willingness of the laboratory to tailor innovative solutions to meet unique endpoints.

Attendees of this webinar will acquire a solid understanding of:

This webinar is part of ACM Globals Navigating Global Clinical Trials with your Central Lab series of informative and interactive events.

To learn more about the event, visit: http://www.xtalks.com/Endpoint-Based-Protocol-Development.ashx

Xtalks, powered by Honeycomb Worldwide Inc., is a leading provider of educational webinars to the global Life Sciences community. Every year thousands of industry practitioners turn to Xtalks for access to quality content. Xtalks helps Life Science professionals stay current with industry developments, trends and regulations. Xtalks webinars also provide perspectives on key issues from top industry thought leaders and service providers.

To learn more about Xtalks visit http://xtalks.com/ContactUs.ashx.

Contact: Karen Lim (416) 977-6555 ext 227 clientservices(at)xtalks(dot)com

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Endpoint Based Protocol Development: A Central Laboratory Perspective + Microbiology Case Study, New Life Science ...

It is the 161th birthday of the German microbiologist Julius Richard Petri, whom we can thank for those low-tech but indispensable tools of the microbiology lab: the petri dish. Google honors Petris birthday today with their lovely Google Doodle riffing on his invaluable discovery.

The Google Doodle for May 31, 2013 in honor of Julius Richard Petri. Image: Google.

Petri created these nowubiquitousshallow containers while working as an assistant to Robert Koch, the man widely referred to as the father of microbiology. (Kochs postulates of germ theory detail the essential methodology needed to identify the causative agent of a disease.) Petris dishes would be supplied with the gelatinous agar that served as a culture medium providing anything from amino acids, salts, carbohydrates and blood to encourage bacterial growth. The lidded dishes created a contained environment, a miniature cordon sanitaire, in which to culture isolated bacteria and prevent contamination from airborne organisms and molds. His simple discovery paved the way for more sophisticated advancements and vital discoveries in microbiology.

In the Doodle, a gloved hand swabs each petri dish and slowly bacteria and molds materialize within. The growth in the six dishes just discernibly spells out G-O-O-G-L-E and rolling your mouse over each will identify the provenance of those captured organisms:

G is a fetid sock. O, a doorknob followed by a computer keyboard swab as the second O. G is a swab from a dog (but which part?). L, a flower. And E, the grossest of them all, is a kitchen sponge.

Google Doodles are the search engines online tip of the hat to the world outside our computer,acknowledgingholidays and important anniversaries as well as pioneering scientists, artists and innovators in variousdisciplines.My favorites include the gorgeous animated tribute to the dancer Martha Graham, and the doodles for the mathematicianAda Lovelaceand the naturalistMinakata Kumagusuwho studied fungi and slime molds. To see all of the Google Doodles designed in the past 15 years, now clocking in at more than 1000, check out their page here.

Resources

Care to know more about laboratorytechniquesof old? Check out my article on a rather ignominiouspiece of science history, Suck It: The Ins and Outs of Mouth Pipetting.

I wrote about Nobel prizesawardedto great discoveries in microbiology in my post Nobel Prizes, Tropical Medicine & One Nazi Sympathizer. Robert Koch is included in thisillustrious list for his work in identifying the bacterial organismresponsiblefor tuberculosis, once thought to be an inheritable disease.

Alexander Flemings fluke discovery ofpenicillinrelied on using petri dishes.

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Today's Google Doodle Honors the Petri Dish

Public release date: 31-May-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Jim Sliwa jsliwa@asmusa.org 202-942-9297 American Society for Microbiology

A major question in ecology has centered on the role of microbes in regulating ecosystem function. Now, in research published ahead of print in the journal Applied and Environmental Microbiology, Brajesh Singh of the University of Western Sydney, Australia, and collaborators show how changes in the populations of methanotrophic bacteria can have consequences for methane mitigation at ecosystem levels.

"Ecological theories developed for macro-ecology can explain the microbial regulation of the methane cycle," says Singh.

In the study, as grasslands, bogs, and moors became forested, a group of type II methanotrophic bacterium, known as USC alpha, became dominant on all three land use types, replacing other methanotrophic microbes, and oxidizing, thus mitigating methane, a powerful greenhouse gas, explains Singh. "The change happened because we changed the niches of the microbial community."

The pre-eminence of USC alpha bacteria in this process demonstrates that the so-called "selection hypothesis" from macro-ecology "explains the changes the investigators saw in the soil functions of their land-use types," says Singh. The selection hypothesis states that a small number of key species, rather than all species present determine key functions in ecosystems. "This knowledge could provide the basis for incorporation of microbial data into predictive models, as has been done for plant communities," he says.

"Evidence of microbial regulation of the biogeochemical cycle provides the basis for including microbial data in predictive models studying the effects of global changes," says Singh.

Singh warns that one should not take the results to mean that biodiversity is not important. Without microbial biodiversity, the raw materialsdifferent microbial species with different capabilitiesfor adapting to changes in the environment would be unavailable, he says.

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A copy of the manuscript can be found online at http://bit.ly/asmtip0513d. Formal publication is scheduled for the June 2013 issue of Applied and Environmental Microbiology.

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Microbial changes regulate function of entire ecosystems

Public release date: 31-May-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Jim Sliwa jsliwa@asmusa.org 202-942-9297 American Society for Microbiology

Researchers at the University of Georgia, Athens, have identified a strong link between the prevalence and load of certain food-borne pathogens on poultry farms, and later downstream at the processing plant. They report their findings in a manuscript published ahead of print in the journal Applied and Environmental Microbiology.

"This study suggests that reducing foodborne pathogen loads on broiler chicken farms would help to reduce pathogen loads at processing, and may ultimately help to reduce the risk of foodborne illness," says Roy Berghaus, an author on the study. "This is important because most of our efforts towards reducing foodborne pathogens are currently focused on what happens during processing. Processing interventions are effective but they can only do so much."

Salmonella and Campylobacter bacteria cause an estimated 1.9 million food-borne illnesses in the US annually, and poultry is a major source of both. Earlier studies have linked pathogen prevalence on the farm and at processing, but none has measured the strength of the associations between pathogen loads, according to the report. In the current study, Salmonella and Campylobacter detected at the processing plant were found in farm samples 96 and 71 percent of the time, respectively.

The prevalence of both pathogens dropped during processing, Salmonella from 45.9 percent to 2.4 percent, and Campylobacter from 68.7 to 43.6 percent, according to the report.

The two pathogens are major contributors to human misery in the US. Among 104 different pathogen-food combinations, Campylobacter and Salmonella infections from poultry were recently ranked first and fourth, respectively in terms of "combined impact on the total cost of illness and loss of quality-adjusted life years," according to the report.

The team suggests that fewer pathogens on the farm would reduce contamination levels at the processing plant, and notes that "vaccination of breeder hens, competitive exclusion products and the use of acidified water during feed withdrawal" have all reduced Salmonella in commercial broiler flocks. However "reliable approaches to reduce Campylobacter colonization are currently unavailable," although post-processing freezing has reduced Campylobacter loads on carcasses.

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A copy of the manuscript can be found online at http://bit.ly/asmtip0513a. The paper is scheduled to be formally published in the June 2013 issue of Applied and Environmental Microbiology.

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Investigators link poultry contamination on farm and at processing plant

Woburn, MA (PRWEB) May 30, 2013

PathoGenetix, Inc., a commercial-stage developer of an automated system for rapid bacterial identification, has announced new research demonstrating the use of Genome Sequence Scanning (GSS) technology to confirm and identify pathogenic Salmonella strains in enriched spinach samples in less than five hours. The study findings were detailed in a poster presented last week at the General Meeting of the American Society for Microbiology in Denver.

The results demonstrate the ability of GSS to shorten the time for pathogen subtyping and serotype determination from an enriched food sample, and to quickly derive additional strain and serotype information from the numerous pathogen screening tests commonly used in the food industry. Because GSS isolates and scans microbial DNA directly from a mixed culture and does not require a pure culture isolate, it greatly reduces the time, complexity, skill and cost required by other molecular and whole genome identification approaches. As a result, GSS can enable quicker decisions affecting food safety and public health. The GSS technology will be commercially available in 2014 in the RESOLUTION Microbial Genotyping System.

The research spiked ten common Salmonella strains in leafy spinach greens including multiple serotypes of Typhimurium and Enteritidis, as well as the Javiana, Newport, Montevideo and Heidelberg serotypes. The test samples modeled presumptive-positive enriched food samples like those that would result from a pathogen screening test indicating the presence of Salmonella. Additional non-Salmonella bacteria were added to half of the test samples to evaluate the technologys ability to identify and strain type Salmonella in the presence of competing background microorganisms.

Of the 120 samples spiked with Salmonella, GSS positively identified the correct Salmonella serotype in 116 of the samples. (Salmonella was not detected in four samples, due to poor growth of Salmonella in the enrichment of the initial sample, not related to the GSS technology.) The strain type information provided by GSS was comparable to pulsed field gel electrophoresis (PFGE), the current standard for pathogen typing in foodborne outbreak investigation and response. No false positives were recorded from the 12 control samples that had not been spiked with Salmonella.

According to the 2011 Estimates for Foodborne Illness from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Salmonella is the second most common pathogen contributing to domestically acquired foodborne illnesses, causing well over one million illnesses (1,027,561) each year. It tops the list in number of hospitalizations and deaths, and is responsible for an estimated 19,336 hospitalizations (35%) and 378 deaths (28%) each year.

Other research presented by PathoGenetix at ASM showed that GSS also can be used to reliably differentiate and strain type pathogenic E. coli, including the most frequently isolated STEC (Shiga toxin-producing E. coli) serotypes from both sporadic cases and multiple foodborne illness outbreaks.

About PathoGenetix, Inc. PathoGenetix, Inc. is a commercial-stage developer of an automated system for rapid bacterial identification from complex samples. PathoGenetix is a venture-backed company that has received more than $50 million in technology development funding from the Department of Homeland Security. The core GSS technology isolates and analyzes DNA directly from an enriched biological samplewithout the need for a cultured isolateand provides results in just five hours, days faster than current methods. GSS has broad applicability in food safety, industrial microbiology, and clinical diagnostics and research. The first commercial GSS system will be available in 2014 for use in food safety testing and foodborne illness outbreak investigations. Learn more at http://www.pathogenetix.com.

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Rapid Identification and Strain Typing of Salmonella in Food Using Genome Sequence Scanning Technology

Ashley Wallin wanted to be a nurse until she took a microbiology class at Mohave Community College.

Science is definitely for me, said the 19-year-old Lake Havasu High School graduate. I was in love with everything we talked about. Its like there is an entire world (of microbiology) around you that you cant see and people dont think about on a daily basis. Its like discovering new life.

With the encouragement of MCCs science faculty, Wallin began to research summer science internships, eventually applying for nearly 20.

I was excited when my microbiology professor, Dr. Mat Routh, told me about internship possibilities. I had no idea they even existed, she said. I just went out there and took every opportunity I could find.

In March, Wallin was driving to her chemistry lab class on the Havasu campus when her cell phone rang. It was the University of Minnesota, which offers a genetics internship that accepts only 14 students nationally.

I started to cry. It was a long shot, but applying actually worked, she said. I felt like I won the lottery.

Wallin leaves today for the 10-week paid summer internship with the University of Minnesotas Life Sciences Summer Undergraduate Research Program in Molecular Genetics and Proteomics. The program paid for Wallins roundtrip travel expenses, housing and meals, in addition to a $4,000 stipend. The total compensation is expected to equal $8,600, according to the programs website.

The interns will first spend three weeks at the Lake Itasca Biological Station and Laboratories before completing the program on the Minneapolis campus. The molecular genetics laboratory course is designed to teach the interns basic techniques used in gene cloning and practical experience in protein analysis before initiating their own research projects.

During those weeks, Wallin will work with an experienced scientist to investigate the possibility of using bacteria to clean polluted water or produce electricity. Its a new area for Wallin, who has been more focused on medical science.

I think it will be good to get to see this side of it, said Wallin, who plans on earning a Ph.D. and eventually becoming a professor or a lab scientist. She is well on her way, having finished classes at MCC this spring and transferred to Arizona State Universitys Lake Havasu campus to complete a bachelors degree in life sciences.

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MCC student earns summer internship in molecular biology

neetpg - MCQ1-Microbiology-quellung reaction
neetpg - MCQ1-Microbiology-quellung reaction.

By: neetpgcoach

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neetpg - MCQ1-Microbiology-quellung reaction - Video

The microbiology of the built environment network #microBEnet
Talk about the microbiology of the built environment network by Jonathan Eisen for the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation 2013 Annual Meeting for the Program on Microbiology of the Built Environment.

By: Jonathan Eisen

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The microbiology of the built environment network #microBEnet - Video

Marian Microbiology Intro
Intro.

By: AESalm

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Marian Microbiology Intro - Video

FMGE - Microbiology, Dermatology, Pediatrics - How to Score High Marks in FMGE (MCI Screening Test)
http://fmgeqbank.com Anatomy ENT - High yield topics for FMGE exam FMGE Success Program: How to Score High Marks in FMGE (MCI Screening Test) - Sign up for...

By: canadaqbank #39;s channel

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FMGE - Microbiology, Dermatology, Pediatrics - How to Score High Marks in FMGE (MCI Screening Test) - Video

microbiology seniors goodbye rap
just a little goodbye to my seniors in microbiology.

By: Sarah Kleven

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microbiology seniors goodbye rap - Video

Public release date: 21-May-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Jim Sliwa jsliwa@asmusa.org 202-942-9297 American Society for Microbiology

Bacteria resistant to the antibiotic colistin are also commonly resistant to antimicrobial substances made by the human body, according to a study in mBio, the online open-access journal of the American Society for Microbiology. Cross-resistance to colistin and host antimicrobials LL-37 and lysozyme, which help defend the body against bacterial attack, could mean that patients with life-threatening multi-drug resistant infections are also saddled with a crippled immune response. Colistin is a last-line drug for treating several kinds of drug-resistant infections, but colistin resistance and the drug's newfound impacts on bacterial resistance to immune attack underscore the need for newer, better antibiotics.

Corresponding author David Weiss of Emory University says the results show that colistin therapy can fail patients in two ways. "The way that the bacteria become resistant [to colistin] allows them to also become resistant to the antimicrobials made by our immune system. That is definitely not what doctors want to do when they're treating patients with this last line antibiotic," says Weiss.

Although it was developed fifty years ago, colistin remains in use today not so much because it's particularly safe or effective, but because the choices for treating multi-drug resistant Acinetobacter baumannii and other resistant infections are few and dwindling. Colistin is used when all or almost all other drugs have failed, often representing a patient's last hope for survival.

Weiss says he and his colleagues noted that colistin works by disrupting the inner and outer membranes that hold Gram-negative bacterial cells together, much the same way two antimicrobials of the human immune system, LL-37 and lysozyme, do. LL-37 is a protein found at sites of inflammation, whereas lysozyme is found in numerous different immune cells and within secretions like tears, breast milk, and mucus, and both are important defenses against invading bacteria. Weiss and his collaborators from Emory, the CDC, Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, and Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta set out to find whether resistance to colistin could engender resistance to attack by LL-37 or lysozyme.

Looking at A. baumannii isolates from patients around the country, they noted that all the colistin-resistant strains harbored mutations in pmrB, a regulatory gene that leads to the modification of polysaccharides on the outside of the cell in response to antibiotic exposure. Tests showed a tight correlation between the ability of individual isolates to resist high concentrations of colistin and the ability to resist attacks by LL-37 or lysozyme.

This was very convincing, write the authors, that mutations in the pmrB gene were responsible for cross-resistance to LL-37 and lysozyme, but to get closer to a causative link between treatment and cross-resistance, they studied two pairs of A. baumannii isolates taken from two different patients before and after they were treated for three or six weeks with colistin. The results helped confirm the cross-resistance link: neither strain taken before treatment was resistant to colistin, LL-37, or lysozyme, but the strains taken after treatment showed significant resistance to colistin and lysozyme. (One post-colistin isolate was no more or less resistant to LL-37 than its paired pre-colistin isolate.) Like the resistant strains tested earlier, both post-colistin isolates harbored crucial mutations in the pmrB gene that apparently bestow the ability to resist treatment.

The authors point out that the apparent link between resistance to colistin and cross-resistance to antimicrobial agents of the immune system could well extend to other pathogens that are treated with colistin, including Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Klebsiella pneumoniae. Weiss says he plans to follow up with studies to determine whether this bears out.

For Weiss, the problems with colistin are symptomatic of a much larger trio of problems: increasing levels of drug resistance, cuts in federal funding for antibiotic research, and lack of incentives for pharmaceutical companies to invest in antibiotic R&D. "We don't have enough antibiotics, and it's really important for the research community and the public to support increases in funding for research to develop new antibiotics," says Weiss.

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Resistance to last-line antibiotic makes bacteria resistant to immune system

Public release date: 20-May-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Jim Sliwa jsliwa@asmusa.org 202-942-9297 American Society for Microbiology

Food microbiology laboratories continue to submit false negative results and false positive results on a routine basis. A retrospective study of nearly 40,000 proficiency test results over the past 14 years, presented today at the 113th General Meeting of the American Society for Microbiology, examined the ability of food laboratories to detect or rule out the presence of Escherichia coli O157:H7, Salmonella, Listeria monocytogenes, and Campylobacter.

"There is concern when laboratories report that pathogens are not found in a food sample, when in fact they are there," explained Christopher Snabes, lead author on the study. "This is known as a 'false negative'. Similar concerns arise when a laboratory reports a 'false positive' suggesting that pathogens are in the food sample, when indeed they are not."

The study found that, on average, food laboratories report false negatives of 9.1% for Campylobacter, a bacterial foodborne illness that may cause bloody diarrhea, cramping and fever, and 4.9% for Salmonella, a bacteria that may cause diarrhea, fever and abdominal cramps sometimes leading to hospitalization or death. The false positive rate, on average, is 3.9% for Salmonella, and 2.5% for both E. coli and L. monocytogenes.

This study was conducted by the American Proficiency Institute (API) located in Traverse City, Michigan. API is a private institute that supplies proficiency testing programs for food laboratories and clinical laboratories.

API offers proficiency testing (PT) as an objective method for measuring the accuracy of a laboratory. Participants use API PT up to three times a year to examine the accuracy of their laboratory personnel and their testing methods. The purpose of PT is to determine if the laboratory professional can properly respond to API with correct answers as to what API places in a food sample. PT may test for presence or absence of a substance in a qualitative test, and sometimes PT may require an enumeration response, or quantitative test.

Currently, food laboratories are not required to assess the accuracy or quality of their tests. Laboratories that utilize API PT are doing so voluntarily. Some laboratories use API services to obtain and maintain accreditation. API food microbiology PT programs are used by over 700 food laboratories in 43 countries.

Proficiency testing is an objective means for measuring laboratory accuracy. "Improved accuracy in our nation's food laboratories will lead to a safer food supply," noted Snabes.

The Food Safety Modernization Act, passed in 2011, included sweeping changes to the country's food safety requirements. Model laboratory standards and laboratory accreditation are addressed as important components of the law. Once rules are promulgated, it is anticipated that all food laboratories will need to ensure that their personnel, and the test methods they use, are in compliance with the law. Yet, food laboratories may start using proficiency testing now to help ensure a safer food product.

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Food laboratory accuracy remains a concern

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., May 20, 2013 /PRNewswire-iReach/ -- Today at American Society for Microbiology conference, award lecturer Dr. Christine Ginocchio discussed Specific Technologies blood culture system as an upcoming solution for rapid identification of microorganisms producing bloodstream infection. Dr. Ginocchio is the Senior Medical Director and Chief of the Division of Infectious Disease Diagnostics at North Shore-LIJ Health System, the nation's 2nd largest not-for-profit, non-sectarian health system.

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130520/CG16829)

At the BD Award for Research in Clinical Microbiology presentation "Rapid Detection and Identification of Blood Stream Pathogens" Dr. Ginocchio described the groundbreaking Specific Technologies solution that identifies microorganisms during culture. Current standard practice requires completion of a blood culture and then requires additional time consuming and expensive molecular or chemical analysis. The Specific Technologies solution has demonstrated detection of infection and identification of species in blood culture 4-fold faster than the industry standard technology leading to early intervention that can save lives, with less lab labor and no additional instruments.

Bloodstream infection causing sepsis is the 10th leading cause of death, responsible for 11% of ICU admissions, with a mortality rate estimated at 28% to 50%, adding up to $50K costs per patient. To determine blood infection worldwide more than 150 million blood cultures are performed annually. Time is of the essence, survival rates decrease every hour without effective antibiotic treatment. Current blood culture practice typically takes 2 to 3 days before results can guide the effective antibiotic choice.

Dr. Ginocchio remarked, "During growth in culture bacteria produce small molecule volatile metabolites unique to their species and strain. The Specific Technologies system for identifying the microorganism from its metabolomic signature is an exciting new technology that can save precious hours critical to effective treatment of bloodstream infection causing sepsis."

Ray Martino a founder and COO of Specific Technologies, commented, "Current blood culture systems can only indicate the presence or absence of bacteria, with no information regarding ID. Not only does the Specific Tech system provide ID during culture but analytical studies have shown ID is provided more than 20% faster than current systems simply detect a positive presence."

Mr. Martino continued "We appreciate the consideration of Dr. Ginocchio a widely recognized expert in microbiology and infectious disease attested to by her track record of research and clinical leadership and advisory positions to the FDA, NIH, and IDSA, her grants, and her invited talks."

About Specific Technologies

Specific Technologies has developed in vitro diagnostic systems for rapid identification of microorganisms to diagnose infections that lead to serious medical conditions including sepsis. The company's unique, patented, metabolomic signature technology identifies microorganisms during culture growth before existing technologies based on molecular or chemical tests can be deployed resulting in faster diagnosis with less labor and no additional instruments. Specific Technologies is located in Mountain View, CA.

For additional information on the Company, please visit http://www.specifictechnologies.net .

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Specific Technologies Bloodstream Infection Identification Solutions Discussed at the American Society for ...

Regulatory News :

A major player in the field of in vitro diagnostics and world leader in industrial microbiology, bioMrieux (Paris:BIM) has announced the appointment of Nicolas Cartier as Corporate Vice President, Industrial Microbiology Unit, effective starting today.

Before joining bioMrieux, Nicolas Cartier, spent most of his professional career at Sanofi. Since 2009, he has been General Manager of Sanofi France, the Groups second largest affiliate. Prior to that, he gained 10 years international experience through various roles in particular in Thailand, where he was in charge of commercial development for the Southeast Asia region within the Animal Health Division, in Shanghai, where he headed up Sanofi Chinas Pharmaceutical Division and in Mexico City, where he was General Manager of Sanofi Mexico. In France, Nicolas Cartier was Chief of Staff in the office of the Chairman and CEO of Sanofi France and then Business Unit Manager.

Nicolas Cartier will be a member of bioMrieuxs Management Committee, reporting directly to Jean-Luc Belingard, Chairman and CEO of bioMrieux.

"I am delighted to welcome Nicolas Cartier, said Jean-Luc Belingard. "He will successfully pilot our ambitious strategy in industrial microbiology, one of our most promising fields of specialization. His international experience and his knowledge of the pharmaceutical sector will represent valuable assets, enabling bioMrieux to meet the current challenges our customers have to face in industry in order to guarantee the safety and quality of their agri-food, pharmaceutical and cosmetic products worldwide.

With over 20 years expertise in industrial microbiological control, bioMrieux provides diagnostic solutions for customers in the agri-food, pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries. In 2012, the Company launched a new veterinary diagnostics activity with the aim of developing solutions to combat animal diseases and zoonoses while contributing to the prudent use of antibiotics in veterinary medicine. Today, bioMrieux offers the largest microbiological control product range on the market, and industrial applications account for more than 20% of the Groups business. Over 200 employees* contribute to building the success of the Industrial Microbiology Unit, which combines research and marketing activities to ensure the competitiveness of our commercial offering and support the development of the laboratories we serve.

* full-time equivalent

About the Industrial Microbiology Unit:

bioMrieux offers the broadest range of solutions for industrial microbiological control with both manual and automated methods to provide rapid, reliable results for the agri-food, biopharmaceutical and cosmetic industries. This range provides solutions to cover every step of microbiological analysis, from sample preparation through to final microorganism identification.

About bioMrieux

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Nicolas Cartier Appointed Corporate Vice President, Industrial Microbiology Unit of bioMérieux

Public release date: 19-May-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Jim Sliwa jsliwa@asmusa.org 202-942-9297 American Society for Microbiology

Researchers have engineered a strain of electricity-producing bacteria that can grow using hydrogen gas as its sole electron donor and carbon dioxide as its sole source of carbon. Researchers at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst report their findings at the 113th General Meeting of the American Society for Microbiology.

"This represents the first result of current production solely on hydrogen," says Amit Kumar, a researcher on the study who, along with his co-authors are part of the Lovley Lab Group at the university.

Under the leadership of Derek Lovley the lab group has been studying Geobacter bacteria since Lovley first isolated Geobacter metallireducens in sand sediment from the Potomac River in 1987. Geobacter species are of interest because of their bioremediation, bioenergy potential, novel electron transfer capabilities, the ability to transfer electrons outside the cell and transport these electrons over long distances via conductive filaments known as microbial nanowires.

Kumar and his colleagues studied a relative of G. metallireducens called Geobacter sulfurreducens, which has the ability to produce electricity by reducing organic carbon compounds with a graphite electrode like iron oxide or gold to serve as the sole electron acceptor. They genetically engineered a strain of the bacteria that did not need organic carbon to grow in a microbial fuel cell.

"The adapted strain readily produced electrical current in microbial fuel cells with hydrogen gas as the sole electron donor and no organic carbon source," says Kumar, who notes that when the hydrogen supply to the microbial fuel cell was intermittently stopped electrical current dropped significantly and cells attached to the electrodes did not generate any significant current.

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This research was supported by funding by the U.S. Department of Energy and the Office of Naval Research.

This research was presented as part of the 2013 General Meeting of the American Society for Microbiology held May 18-21, 2013 in Denver, Colorado. A full press kit for the meeting, including tipsheets and additional press releases, can be found online at http://bit.ly/asm2013pk.

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Bacteria use hydrogen, carbon dioxide to produce electricity

Public release date: 19-May-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Jim Sliwa jsliwa@asmusa.org 202-942-9297 American Society for Microbiology

Scientists at the University of California, Davis have engineered a strain of photosynthetic cyanobacteria to grow without the need for light. They report their findings today at the 113th General Meeting of the American Society for Microbiology.

"In this work, we used synthetic biology approaches to probe and rewire photoautotrophic (exclusively relying on carbon dioxide and light energy for growth) cyanobacterial metabolism for the ability to grow without light energy," says Jordan McEwen, the lead researcher on the study. He is part of Shota Atsumi's lab at the university, a research group focused on developing synthetic organisms capable of converting carbon dioxide directly to biofuels.

The cyanobacterium strain Synechococcus elongatus strain PCC 7942 has been well characterized as a model photoautotroph. Previous work by Atsumi's lab has engineered this organism to recycle carbon dioxide into a variety of biofuels and valuable chemicals in the presence of light. Any cost-effective, cyanobacterial biofuel production scheme would use natural lighting conditions, limiting how much biofuel could be produced in a 24-hour period.

"To overcome this constraint, we installed foreign genes into S. elongatus to allow this cyanobacterium to grow and generate biofuels in diurnal (light or dark) conditions," says McEwen. "With recent, increased focus on cyanobacteria-based industrial applications, this advancement is desirable for more efficient, economical and controllable bioproduction systems."

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This work was funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation (1132442).

This research was presented as part of the 2013 General Meeting of the American Society for Microbiology held May 18-21, 2013 in Denver, Colorado. A full press kit for the meeting, including tipsheets and additional press releases, can be found online at http://bit.ly/asm2013pk. The American Society for Microbiology is the largest single life science society, composed of over 39,000 scientists and health professionals. ASM's mission is to advance the microbiological sciences as a vehicle for understanding life processes and to apply and communicate this knowledge for the improvement of health and environmental and economic well-being worldwide.

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Engineered microbes grow in the dark

The National Microbiology Laboratory in Winnipeg is working with a sample of the new coronavirus thats causing clusters of infections abroad but can't share the material with other researchers across the country despite the public health urgency.

It was a Dutch lab that sent a Saudi sample of the virus to Winnipeg, where scientists are looking for better ways to diagnose and treat the infection. So far, 41 confirmed cases and 20 deaths have been recorded.

But before they could start, officials had to sign a material transfer agreement, a contract that outlines the terms and conditions for using the coronavirus sample.

The Dutch "had pretty tight restrictions around how it could be used," Frank Plummer, scientific director of the National Microbiology Laboratory, said in an interview. "So there was a lot of negotiation and a lot of lawyers involved both with us and the Americans and others around the world, which slowed things down quite a bit."

Such agreements exist for different reasons sometimes because countries want to make sure a dangerous bug won't fall into the wrong hands, sometimes because they want to exert their rights if a vaccine or treatment is developed. But the agreements also impede the research process, say scientists.

"We can't distribute [the virus] any further, which is a problem, because a lot of people would like to be working on this and can't," Plummer said.

In contrast, Plummer said China simply gave away samples of the H7N9 bird flu virus, as did Mexico with H1N1 swine flu in 2009.

The researcher who first spotted the coronavirus in 2012 lost his job for sending it out of Saudi Arabia.

Ali Mohamed Zaki discovered the deadly pathogen last June at a microbiology lab at the Dr. Soliman Fakeeh Hospital in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Zaki had been investigating the case of a 60-year-old man with a lung infection who died 18 days after symptoms started. When he couldn't identify the virus, he sent it to Ron Fouchier, a Dutch researcher who was able to sequence it. It was a coronavirus never before seen in humans.

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Saudi coronavirus work stymied at Canadian lab

Medical Microbiology 2 Lab : part 1
Blood cultures/ Genital cultures.

By: mismelissa2193

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Medical Microbiology 2 Lab : part 1 - Video