Leagan Gaeilge   Text Version   Display: Zoom (-) (+)   View ( Normal High contrast ) Printer Friendly  A to Z  Sitemap

microbiology at nui galway - News stories

Scroll down to read news of the latest activities involving Microbiology researchers at NUI Galway.

On the other hand,

• for ALL NUI Galway News (i.e. the entire University):  this way
• for upcoming seminars in Microbiology (part of the MicroSoc Seminar Series): this way
• for links to, and RSS feeds from, Microbiology-related news stories from the web: this way

     

top NUI galway microbiology news story

First Comprehensive Book in Emerging Field of Microbial Glycobiology Launched

The first comprehensive book to be published in the emerging field of microbial glycobiology has been launched at NUI Galway.

The new book, with Professor Anthony Moran as Editor-in-Chief, runs to over 1,000 pages, with 50 chapter s by 100 contributors from Europe, North America, Japan and Australia. The volume also boasts a panel of international editors from the field, including: Professor Otto Holst, Leibniz Centre for Medicine and Biosciences, Germany; Professor Patrick Brennan, Colorado State University, USA; and Professor Mark von Itzstein, Griffith University, Australia.

Microbial glycobiology represents a multidisciplinary and emerging area with implications for a range of basic and applied research fields, as well as having industrial, medical and biotechnological implications. The importance of the substitution of microbial proteins by sugars (glycosylation) and the role played by glycosylated molecules in disease develop ment, immune recognition and environmental processes has become well-established in recent years.

Ireland has already established a strong footing in the burgeoning field of glycoscience. NUI Galway is hom e to the Alimentary Glycoscience Research Cluster (AGRC) of which Prof. Moran is a member. A collaboration of research institutions a nd industry partners, the AGRC was established in 2009 with a significant grant from Government through Science Foundation Ireland, and is aiding in the discovery of novel diagnostics, therapeutics and nutraceuticals.

“There is strong expertise in Ireland in this area, and the publication of this new book will further advance that connection on the international research stage. With Microbial Glycobiology, our aim is to provide a useful introduction to the subject for new researchers, as well as an invaluable reference for experienced ones,” observed Prof. Moran.

Microbial Glycobiology is published by Academic Press.

• for more information on the book, see http://www.elsevierdirect.com
• for more on this news story: this way

Disinfectants 'train' superbugs to resist antibiotics

28th December, 2009

Disinfectants could effectively train bacteria to become resistant to antibiotics, research suggests. The findings by  Drs Paul McCay, Alain Ocampo-Sosa and Gerard Fleming are reported in the January 2010 issue of the journal Microbiology.

Writing in Microbiology, the Galway team, which is headed by Dr Ger Fleming and who focused on a common hospital bacterium, urges a rethink of how infections are managed.

Dr Fleming's team found that by adding increasingamounts of disinfectant to cultures of Pseudom onas aeruginosa in the lab, the bacteria learnt to resist not only the disinfectant but also ciprofloxacin - a commonly-prescribed antibiotic - even without being exposed to it.

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a bacterium most likely to infect those who are already seriously ill. Surface disinfectants are used to prevent its spread - but if the bacteria manage to survive and go on to infect patients, antibiotics are used to treat them.

Bacteria that could resist both these control points could be a serious threat to hospital patients, the study finds.

NEWS MEDIA COVERAGE OF THE RESEARCH:

Read the BBC News report on the team's research...

Read the New Scientist, CNN, MSNBC and Fox News stories...

Read the story on CBC News (Canada) and on TIME.com...

• This way for the story in THE IRISH TIMES newspaper...
  
• This way for the story in The Times of India newspaper...
• This way for the story in the IRISH INDEPENDENT newspaper...

  

• This way for the story in The Telegraph newspaper (UK)...
• This way for the story in the Guardian Newspaper (UK)...
  
• This way for the story in The Daily Mail newspaper (UK)...
• This way for the story in The Independent newspaper (UK)

SOME of the other national and international media coverage:

• France 24
• Irish Examiner newspaper
• LOS ANGELES Times newspaper
  
• South Asia Mail 
• The Mirror newspaper (UK) 
• Daily India
• North County Times, California
  
• Momento24 (Argentina)...  
• The Scotsman newspaper 
• Science Daily
• The Herald (Scotland)   
  
• Belfast Telegraph
• The Sunday Sun newspaper (UK)
  
• The Liverpool Daily Post
• Microbe World
• Deutsches Ärzteblatt — the German Medical Association’s official science journal
  
• Liverpool Echo
  
• Daily Express newspaper (UK) 
• The Toronto Star
• Adelaide Now (Sunday Mail, Australia)
• BBC Brasil
• NewsTrack India 
• Der Spiegel (Germany)
• AFP News
• Medical News Today
• Modern Ghana 
• Edmonton Journal (Canada) 
• Investors Business Daily
• Independent (South Africa)
• FoodConsumer.org (major food & health news outlet, based in Oregon, USA)  
• The Straits Times (Singapore)
  
• Yahoo News (with related ABC News 'Good Morning America' video)
• Herald de Paris newspaper 
• Gant Daily (Pennsylvania, USA)
  
• Bloomberg Business Week
  
• Birmingham Mail
• Several ABC affiliates, including ABC7 Chicago
• The Zimbabwe Star 
• Malaysia Sun
• Argentina Star
• Fox Television News (New York affiliate, with video of newscast) 
  
• Fox News (Detroit)
• Several other Fox News affiliates, including in Maine and in D.C.
  
• Fox News.com (US national)
• The Sydney Morning Herald newspaper
• U.S. News and World Report 
• Ethiopian Review 
• The Sunday Business Post newspaper (Ireland)
• The Palm Beach Post
• The Post Chronicle.com
• CHINA DAILY newspaper
  
• WSFA 12 News (MSNBC affiliate, Alabama, USA)
• The News Tribune newspaper (Washington, USA)
• GALWAY CITY TRIBUNE newspaper
• The Chicago Tribune
• Farm Weekly (Queensland, Australia)
  
• Science Centric.com (news portal specialised in breaking science stories) 
  
• The Baltimore Sun (headline: "Ireland scientists report disinfectant improperly used can foster resistant bugs")
  

This way for Dr Fleming's webpage...

For the full article, see online content from the Society for  General Microbiology journal Microbiology (subscription required).

2009 Microbiology class graduates

The 2009 class, which is the largest in the College of Science, recently graduated. Spot Prof Pete Smith and Dr Gerard Wall.
(Graduates: the image is available for download from the ' Downloads' area of this website.)

Science Foundation Ireland Starting Grant awarded to Microbiology postdoctoral researcher

22nd October, 2009

Dr Kimon-Andreas Karatzas (Dr Conor O'Byrne's Bacterial Stress Response Group) was awarded a 'Starter Investigator Research Award'. NUI Galway won a total of 3 of the 15 national awards, which were announced yesterday by the Minister for Science, Technology and Innovation, Mr Conor Lenihan T.D..

Andreas' research is entitled "Elucidating the Role of g-Aminobutyric Acid Metabolism in Stress Resistance and Virulence of Listeria monocytogenes"

Synopsis: Listeria monocytogenes is the bacterial causative agent of Listeria, a serious disease associated with significant mortality in humans. The development of disease by L. monocytogenes, the causative agent of Listeria, is thought to involve the novel gene lmo0913, a component of the GABA metabolic pathway. Dr Karatzas proposes to establish the existence of this pathway in the listeria pathogen and elucidate its contribution to acid tolerance and invasion.

This way to GET FULL Story

Congratulations to Andreas from all of his colleagues in Microbiology at NUI Galway.

Pictured: Conor Lenihan, Minister for Science, Technology & Innovation; Dr Kimon Andreas Karatzas, Environmental Change Institute, NUI Galway; and SIRG award recipient and Professor Frank Gannon, Science Foundation Ireland

Galway at the Science Foundation Ireland Science Summit 2009

3rd November, 2009

'Elevator Pitch' and 'Your Space' presentations at the Science Foundation Ireland Summit, 9-10th November, 2009

Monday, 9th November:

• Gavin Collins and Vincent O'Flaherty will make a presentation to the SFI Science Summit, as part of the 'Your Space' sessions, on the activities of Microbiology researchers and the Energy Research Centre at NUI Galway. Their presentation is called 'Bioenergy Ireland'.

Tuesday, 10th November:

• Gavin Collins will make an 'Elevator Pitch' to the Summit on the topic of the Microbial Ecophysiology Research Group and SFI-funded research on the ecophysiology of cold, sewage-degrading microbial biomass.

• 

Links:

• Microbial Ecophysiology Research Group
• Bioenergy Research Group at the ERC
• Science Foundation Ireland Summit site
• SFI Science Summit 2009 Agenda

Five Microbiology PhD graduands conferred

21st October, 2009

Five Microbiology postgraduate students were conferred with PhDs today. Congratulations to Drs Dave McCarthy, Simon Egan, Michael Mullen, Rory McKeown and John Fox!

Galway undergraduate scoops SGM award

19th October, 2009

Shauna Ferry, a fourth year Microbiology student in the School of Natural Sciences, has been awarded an SGM Undergraduate Microbiology Prize 2009 in recognition of her outstanding marks achieved in her third year examinations.

Shauna, from Annagry, Co. Donegal, received this prize from the Society for General Microbiology for the best performance in Microbiology by a penultimate year undergraduate.

Shauna is pictured receiving her certificate from Prof. Vincent O’Flaherty and third year course co-ordinator Dr. Thomas Barry.

“Swine Flu” Analysis Nominated for Top US Award

8th June, 2009

The Center for Disease Control in the United States has announced that a paper on Swine Flu, co-authored by Prof Tony Moran has been nominated in the Laboratory and Methods category in the prestigious 2009 Charles C. Shepard Science Awards.

The research concerns the “swine flu” (H1N1) epidemic of 1976 in the US which has some similarity to the present-day AH1N1 outbreak. Over 40 million US citizens were given a swine flu vaccine in 1976. A very small percentage subsequently reported the development of a paralytic disorder, Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS), which is a disorder of the peripheral nervous system that may lead to immobility due to paralysis. However, the link between the  vaccine and the development of this syndrome remains to be proven. 

Professor Moran explains: “Our paper dealt with a re-analysis of the 1976 vaccine and its potential to contribute to GBS development. Using more modern approaches retrospectively on these samples, we were able to show that important safety issues should be considered when producing such vaccines to avoid the development of GBS. Thus, our findings will allow the development of even safer vaccines. This is of central relevance at the present time in producing a new flu vaccine for current usage”.

Get the FULL STORY...

Microbiology researchers help drive new investment in green economy

15th May, 2009

BioSpark, a newly-formed joint venture between Imperative Energy Ltd and Sustainable BioPolymers Ltd, has announced its intention to invest €40 million in a next-generation bio-processing research, innovation and manufacturing centre at Claremorris, County Mayo, which will create 180 new high value jobs.

Intellectual Property relating to process enhancements, as well as new product developments, will be primarily coordinated through the Energy Research Centre (ERC) at NUI Galway.

Microbiology researchers are key investigators in the Bioenergy Group at the ERC.

Get the FULL STORY...

SCIENCE EXPERIENCE WORKSHOPS 

NEWS FOR FUTURE STUDENTS: MICROBIOLOGY will take part in the NUI Galway Science Experience Workshops for Leaving Cert students in June. To get more information and to register, click here. (Places are limited.)

Update: here.

Update, 30/07/09: Registration closed. NUI Galway will run Science Experience Workshops again during the 2009/10 academic year. Keep an eye on this page and the College of Science website for further updates.

Microbiology at the NUI GALWAY spring Open Day 2009

25th April, 2009

Future students met with Microbiology staff and students. 

Get the full story, or view the gallery at our Microbiology Events page.



 

 

 

• Disclaimer
• Privacy
• Copyright
• Accessibility