The Killer Defence
Immune surveillance by virus-specific CD8+ cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs), or killer T cells, has long been known to be central to the control of acute infections and some cancers, though the role of CTL memory in the rapid recall of immune protectio....
More details | Watch nowBacterial cell walls, antibiotics and the origins of life
The cell wall is a crucial structure found in almost all bacteria. It is the target for our best antibiotics and fragments of the wall trigger powerful innate immune responses against infection. Surprisingly, many bacteria can switch almost effortl....
More details | Watch nowHIV, a Discovery Highlighting the Global Benefit of Translational Research
The fantastic progress made in medicine led the scientific community to hope about the complete eradication of infectious diseases in the middle of the 20th century. The sudden emergence of AIDS in the early 80's cruelly reminded us that this dream ....
More details | Watch nowDiscovery of Nitric Oxide and Cyclic GMP in Cell Signalling and their Role in Drug Development
The role of nitric oxide in cellular signaling in the past three decades has become one of the most rapidly growing areas in biology. Nitric oxide is a gas and a free radical with an unshared electron that can regulate an ever-growing list of biolog....
More details | Watch nowInfections in the Etiology of Human Cancers
During the past century a number of chemical and physical risk factors for human cancers have been identified. Only relatively recently, mainly during the past 30 years, infectious agents have been identified as important human carcinogens. Besides....
More details | Watch nowDiscovery of Nitric Oxide and Cyclic GMP in Cell Signaling and Their Role in Drug Development
The role of nitric oxide in cellular signaling in the past three decades has become one of the most rapidly growing areas in biology. Nitric oxide is a gas and a free radical with an unshared electron that can regulate an ever-growing list of biolog....
More details | Watch nowInfections Linked to Human Cancers: Mechanisms and Synergisms
Slightly more than 20% of the global cancer incidence is presently being linked to viral, bacterial, or parasitic infections. The mechanisms by which these agents mediate malignant transformation differ substantially. Some contribute directly, freq....
More details | Watch nowWhy Do We Not Have a Vaccine Against HIV or Tuberculosis?
Analysis of the immune system is fascinating and progressing rapidly. As a field of medical enquiry, it has however, drifted and turned purely academic. This is because interest and appreciation of protective immunity in infectious disease medicine....
More details | Watch nowOn The Road Toward an HIV Cure
Since the first cases of AIDS in 1981 and the identification of its etiological agent in 1983, much progress has been made in both the development of tools to prevent and treat HIV infection and the access to these tools. In particular, the wide arr....
More details | Watch nowForging a Genetic Paradigm for Cancer
It is now axiomatic that, no matter what its causes, cancer ultimately arises from the malfunction of genes. A number of clues prefigured this paradigm: the persistence of the malignant phenotype through countless cell divisions; the mutagenicity of....
More details | Watch nowMan vs. Helicobacter _ The past 50,000 years and the next 50
The epidemiology of Helicobacter pylori continues to be an area of discovery and controversy in the 21st century. The transmission of this bacterium from mother to child allows Helicobacter DNA to mimic the evolution of maternal mitochondria DNA. B....
More details | Watch nowDeciphering Immunity by Making It Fail
Infectious microbes collectively represent the strongest selective pressure operating on our species, and over hundreds of millions of years, drove the evolution of the sophisticated immune system we have today. While the general outlines of immune ....
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