Word: toxins
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...with the evidence of an unprecedented 77 infections and 64 deaths, Walker and the others began thinking hard about the biology of anthrax and how doctors might deal with an outbreak. When Bacillus anthracis emerges from inhaled spores, they knew, it grows and multiplies and starts secreting a powerful toxin that chews through tissue and enters the bloodstream. From there the poison spreads throughout the body to attack internal organs. Lymph nodes, meanwhile, clogged with immune-system cells that have been summoned to fight the invader, begin to press on the organs and interfere with their functioning...
Upon inhalation of at least 8,000 to 10,000 spores, the bacteria is transported to lymph nodes and then to the blood. It produces a toxin that causes massive cell death. This form of the disease begins with symptoms similar to a common cold...
PURPOSE: To counter poisons like botulism toxin and nerve gases like sarin, tabun...
...contrast to Collier’s work, which may have applications for vaccines, Dietrich’s work on anthrax focused on genes that cause cells to resist the toxin. In a paper published in this week’s Current Biology, Dietrich describes two alleles, or versions of a gene, that help mice fight off anthrax infections...
...humans have similar genes, they could be used to gauge a person’s risk of death after exposure to the anthrax toxin. But the basic research Dietrich is doing is still far from finding ways to treat the disease...