Germ Warfare

Germ warfare.

Background: The major bottleneck for determination of 3 D structures of proteins using X-rays is the production of diffraction quality crystals. Often proteins are subjected to chemical modification to improve the chances of crystallization Results: Here, we report the successful crystallization of a nuclease employing a reductive methylation protocol. The key to crystallization was the success...

Germ Warfare? Strategies for Reducing the Spread of Antibiotic Resistance

A growing body of literature describes how human pathogens in the environment acquire antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs), a process potentially boosted by selection pressure from antibiotics. Contaminated water and soil may then maintain and spread these antibiotic-resistant bacteria (ARB) and ARGs. A review in this issue of EHP examines strategies for reducing environmental pollution with anti...

The courage of Galileo: Joseph Needham and the "germ warfare" allegations in the Korean War.

In 1952, during the Korean War, it was claimed that United States forces were using bacteriological warfare against China and North Korea. The allegation was dismissed by western governments, but a six-strong international scientific commission (ISC) visited China and concluded that bacteriological warfare had taken place. On their return, the scientists, of whom the best known was the British ...

Biological warfare.

Dr. Lederberg, a research geneticist, is past president and Sackler Foundation Scholar, The Rockefeller University. He was a pioneer in the field of bacterial genetics with the discovery of genetic recombination in bacteria. In 1958, at the age of 33, Dr. Lederberg received the Nobel Prize in Medicine for this work and subsequent research on bacterial genetics. Since 1966, he has been concerned...

Air Warfare