Carnegie Mellon University scientists have made an important discovery that aids the understanding of why HIV enters immune cells with ease. The researchers found that after HIV docks onto a host cell, it dramatically lowers the energy required for a cell membrane to bend, making it easier for the virus to infect immune cells. The finding, in press in Biophysical Journal, will provide vital data to conduct future computer simulations of HIV dynamics to help further drug discovery and prevent deadly infections.

Handong Mummy – One of the mummies being excavated in South Korea. Mummies that have recently been unearthed in South Korea may provide clues on how to combat hepatitis B, according to Prof. Mark Spigelman of the Kuvin Center for the Study of Infectious and Tropical Diseases at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

First real vacations in three years, whats the worse that could happen? My hosting provider having trouble on the server hosting the Biology News Net, of course. The outage lasted at least for 5 days, but now were on a dedicated server and things should improve significantly - I hope it wont happen again, troubleshooting server problems on the other side of the world (australia) without a reliable internet connection isnt exactly fun!

Sorry for the trouble this outage might have caused!