Archive by category | Infectious diseases

Mouse study shows heat shock protein protects against hearing damage caused by common antibiotic

Mouse study shows heat shock protein protects against hearing damage caused by common antibiotic

Every drug has the potential to cause side effects. With aminoglycosides, a group of antibiotics that includes those used to treat tuberculosis and other serious infections, hearing loss can affect as many as 20% of people taking the drug. Despite a spate of efforts, there is currently no treatment or prevention for the damage to sensory cells caused by these drugs.  Read more

From tumors to tapeworms: parasite’s genome points to new uses for cancer drugs

From tumors to tapeworms: parasite’s genome points to new uses for cancer drugs

Commonly used cancer drugs could be repurposed to help eliminate tapeworm infections, according to the first full genome analysis of the human gut pathogen.  Read more

Timeline of events: A brief history of what made news this year

Timeline of events: A brief history of what made news this year

This year has proven to be a veritable cliff-hanger for the world of biomedicine. At the same time that the US government stands poised on the brink of the so-called ‘fiscal cliff’, pharmaceutical companies are stumbling with the industry’s ‘patent cliff’ and academic researchers face the looming ‘funding cliff’. But not everything in 2012 was so dire, with dozens of new drugs to hit worldwide markets and countless discoveries made to enable the next generation of medicines. What follows are a set of ‘Cliff’s notes’ to the year that was for the field.  Read more