General biology
Category archives for General biology
Eastern Equine Encephalitis: The Mosquito that bit the Snake
Posted by Tara C. Smith on October 17, 2012 Guest post by Hillary Craddock Last week a new study regarding Eastern Equine Encephalitis (EEE) was published online (Bingham et.al.). EEE is a mosquito-borne virus that can cause serious, and sometimes deadly, disease in humans and equines. In warmer parts of North America, the virus is spread year-round, but in areas where mosquitoes get killed…
Scarlet fever–past and present
Posted by Tara C. Smith on July 6, 2011 While “flesh-eating infections” caused by the group A streptococcus (Streptococcus pyogenes) may grab more headlines today, one hundred and fifty years ago, the best known and most dreaded form of streptococcal infection was scarlet fever. Simply hearing the name of this disease, and knowing that it was present in the community, was enough to strike…
Hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) in history–part 4: the bigger picture
Posted by Tara C. Smith on June 23, 2011 As I’ve laid out this week (
When is MRSA not MRSA?
Posted by Tara C. Smith on June 3, 2011 …when it contains a weird gene conferring methicillin resistance that many tests miss. Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) has become a big issue in the past 15 years or so, as it turned up outside of its old haunts (typically hospitals and other medical facilities) and started causing infections–sometimes very serious–in people who haven’t been in…
Pigs with Ebola Zaire: a whole new can o’ worms
Posted by Tara C. Smith on May 18, 2011 Ebola has long been associated with wildlife. From the early days, bats were viewed as a potential reservoir (though it wasn’t confirmed that they actually harbored the virus until 2005). Contact with wild animals–particularly primates which were butchered for food–was also long thought to be a risk factor, and now we know that primates can…
Margulis does it again
Posted by Tara C. Smith on April 11, 2011 We all know of once-respected scientists who ended up going off the deep end, adhering to an unproven idea despite massive evidence to the contrary. Linus Pauling and his advocacy of megadoses of Vitamin C, or Peter Duesberg’s descent into HIV denial. It’s all the more disappointing when the one taking a dive is a…
New site–”History of Vaccines”
Posted by Tara C. Smith on October 4, 2010 This is great. The College of Physicians of Philadelphia has launched a site on The History of Vaccines. I’ve been poking around, and there’s an incredible amount of stuff to check out. They have a nice FAQ, Top 20 questions about vaccination, as well as some great activities (herd immunity! learn about Koch’s postulates! understand…
Worms: Are they good or bad for us?
Posted by Tara C. Smith on April 27, 2010 Student guest post by Shylo Wardyn “Of all the parasites I’ve had over the years, these worms are among the… hell, they are the best”. Was Fry from the animated show ‘Futurama’ right in his assessment of worms being good for him? Did he know something about parasitic worm infections that I was unaware of?…
Potential for common bacteria to cause colorectal cancer
Posted by Tara C. Smith on April 27, 2010 Student guest post by Desiré Christensen Colorectal cancer (aka colon cancer) includes cancers of the colon, rectum, and appendix. Colorectal cancer is more common in developed countries (e.g. United States and Japan) compared to developing countries in Africa and Asia. Each year in the United States, there are around 150,000 cases of colorectal cancer diagnosed…
Malignant Mesothelioma and Simian Virus 40 (SV40)
Posted by Tara C. Smith on April 26, 2010 Student guest post by Andrew Behan Malignant Mesothelioma (MM) is a rare type of cancer which manifests itself in the thin cells lining the human body’s internal organs. There are three types of MM; pleural mesothelioma, peritoneal mesothelioma, and pericardial mesothelioma, affecting the lining of the lungs, abdominal cavity, and lining of the heart, respectively…