The study is the first report of iron starvation affecting gene expression of Candida albicans in real time during live infection. Researchers repurposed drug to deny drug-resistant fungus of iron, an element crucial to its survival. However, fungal drug resistance has steadily increased and no new classes of antifungals have emerged in decades, said Edgerton. Candida albicans, fungi among the group building resistance, is the agent behind a number of infections.The research was published in the Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy.Candida albicans is the most abundant fungus in the oral microbiome and relies heavily on saliva as a https://www.ferrotitanium.net/product/high-titanium-iron-particles-0-2mm/high-titanium-iron-particles-0-2mm.html source for essential elements. The yeast is also the fourth leading cause of hospital-acquired bloodstream infections, which often have high mortality rates, said Edgerton.The investigators found that Candida albicans in the mice who received the treatment were less likely to survive attacks by the immune system, subsisting at a 12 per cent survival rate compared to a 25 per cent survival rate in mice who did not receive the treatment.Currently, only three major classes of clinical antifungal drugs exist.They did so by using deferasirox, a medication used to treat blood disorders.Other research has shown that treatment with deferasirox does not result in iron deficiency in adults with normal iron levels, forming the potential for preventative treatment for those who are also vulnerable to mucosal infections, said Sumant Puri, co-lead investigator. To treat Candida albicans, common yeast that can cause illness in those with weakened immune systems, researchers limited the fungus access to iron, an element crucial to the organisms survival. Iron, the second most abundant metal in saliva, is a critical nutrient used by the fungus in several cellular processes, including energy production and DNA repair. "In the absence of novel drug candidates, drug repurposing aimed at using existing drugs to treat diseases is a promising strategy," said Mira Edgerton, co-lead investigator of the study. Tested in mice, the results were promising: investigators decreased iron levels in saliva by four times, which altered the expression of more than 100 genes by the fungus, diminished its ability to infect oral mucosal tissue and caused a two-fold reduction in the organisms survival rate.They include oral thrush, a yeast infection in the mouth identified by a white film that coats the tongue and throat, causing painful swallowing; and denture-related stomatitis..Washington: Fungal infection resistant to drugs could be treated by limiting fungus access to its feed, critical for the organisms survival, research has found

It took another 10 years for superconducting magnets to be used initially for laboratory application, in Medical Resonance Imaging (MRI), and in the Large Hadron Collider that discovered the Higgs Boson or God Particle," added Ramakrishnan. Bismuth wasn’t known for its ability to conduct electricity until the TIFR scientists proved so. Magnetic resonance imaging, if made cheaper, can be dispatched to far-flung regions that are currently not able to avail the services of modern, medical devices. Currently, MRI machines rely on the niobium-titanium superconductive alloy (also found in mass spectrometers and particle accelerators) which is much more expensive than metallic bismuth. Ramakrishnan, lead investigator, department of condensed matter physics and material sciences, TIFR, was quoted as saying in reports.While it’s certainly a remarkable breakthrough, there’s a likelihood that it could take at least 10 to 15 years for us to see the new MRI machines in the market. Superconductivity is the property of a material that allows electricity to pass through at very low absolute temperatures.That said, this discovery will significantly reduce the production and maintenance costs of high-tech medical machinery. Innovation takes a while to appear around us and the TIFR scientists gave out the example of how superconducting magnets first came into being a full 60 years after https://www.ferrotitanium.net/product/high-titanium-iron-particles-0-2mm/high-titanium-iron-particles-0-2mm.html Dutchman Heike Kamerlingh Onnes of Leiden University discovered superconductivity of mercury way back in 1911. The team found that bismuth becomes a superconductor at a temperature of 530 microKelvin (about -273 degree celsius). We doctors really do appreciate their efforts. This superconductivity will allow a doctor to receive images of a better quality and that will go and help improve diagnosis.A step into the future, using technology available now by a team of scientists from the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research in Mumbai, promises to bring down the cost of an MRI machine by over 100 times. Currently, MRI machines use extremely expensive materials such as niobium–titanium alloys. Let’s revisit the achievement of the TIFR scientists for a bit. They have discovered that Bismuth (Bi on the periodic table) can be used as a superconductor. Our tech today also does not permit the quick and easy replacement of niobium-titanium superconductors."This discovery can show that there can be a new class of superconductors like Bismuth and provide an alternative path to discover new superconducting materials which are totally different from the current superconducting elements," professor S. However, a serious lack of research funds could mean the entire breakthrough will not be very easy to implement.The writer is a radiologist based out of Mumbai and is attached with the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre. the more simplistic Bismuth could make the machines cheaper.But it’s interesting to note how a sequence of events triggered over a century ago by Onnes in 1911 is still making a mark as modern-day, cutting-edge innovation