Category Archives: Biochemistry

Study Offers Hope for Fungus-Infected Frogs

Photo courtesy Cori Richards-Zawacki.

Scientists from the U.S. and Panama have found that some frog species can recover from chytridiomycosis, an infectious disease partly responsible for amphibian die-offs around the world.

Read/listen to my full story at KJZZ’s Arizona Science Desk:
For Fungus-Infected Frogs, It’s Change or Die

Flesh-Eating Bacteria Recovery Improved by Experimental Skin Spray

Dr. Kevin Foster, director of the Burn Center at Maricopa Integrated Health System in Phoenix, Arizona, treated Christin Lipinski with an experimental skin spray. Photo by Nicholas Gerbis – KJZZ.

A special education teacher in the Glendale, Arizona’s Peoria Unified School District has recovered from a necrotizing fasciitis, better known as flesh-eating bacteria.

Dr. Kevin Foster, director of the Burn Center at Maricopa Integrated Health System, used an experimental skin spray called ReCell to improve the healing and reconstruction of the woman’s large open arm wound.

Read/listen to my full story at KJZZ’s Arizona Science Desk:
https://science.kjzz.org/node/625640

Toxic Brain Matter Can Harm Brain Months After a Stroke

Dye injected into a damaged area of a mouse brain seven weeks post-stroke spreads past the glial scar barrier. Photo courtesy Kristian Doyle, Ph.D. / University of Arizona College of Medicine – Tucson.

For stroke survivors, brain injury doesn’t always stop when the stroke has passed. Now, researchers at University of Arizona and Stanford University School of Medicine have moved one step closer to understanding why.

Read/listen to my full story at KJZZ’s Arizona Science Desk:
UA Study: Toxic, Liquefied Tissues Can Damage Brain For Months After Stroke

Citrus Roots Reach Back to the Himalayas

Citrus originated at the foot of the Himalayas. Artist’s conception by Manuel Talon, Instituto Valenciano de Investigaciones Agrarias (IVIA), Spain.

They say when life gives you lemons, make lemonade. But what if life hands you sour oranges and citrons?

Simple: You make lemons.

So says a new genetic analysis by an international team of scientists that seeks to clear up citrus’ tangled backstory.

Read/listen to my full story at KJZZ’s Arizona Science Desk:
Study Traces Citrus Family Tree To Foot Of The Himalayas

Microbes Spread Antibiotic Resistance One Bee at a Time

Photo courtesy Christopher Bang.

The World Health Organization has called antibiotic resistance “a global crisis we can’t ignore,” one that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate kills 23,000 people annually in the U.S. alone.

Now, honeybee research could offer clues as to how it spreads.

Read/listen to my full story at KJZZ’s Arizona Science Desk:
Honeybee Research Hints At How Microbes Spread Antibiotic Resistance