Even as NAU associate professor Greg Caporaso and his team were putting the final touches on their QIIME 2™ paper, published earlier this year, he was already planning several major enhancements to this open source and free bioinformatics software that enables scientists to perform microbiome analysis from increasingly large amounts… Read more
Pathogen and Microbiome Institute
NAU scientist collaborates on major genetic study of white-nose syndrome in bats
Often maligned and largely misunderstood throughout history, bats have more recently been recognized for the important role they play in ecosystems all over the world, pollinating flowers, dispersing seeds and controlling pests by eating insects.
But many North American species are now threatened by white-nose syndrome (WNS), a deadly fungal disease affecting millions of bats, primarily in the eastern US. The Ecology and… Read more
NAU researchers seek microbial link between two common and costly respiratory diseases
Asthma and chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS)—sinus inflammation that lasts for at least three months—are serious and costly diseases, and both are on the rise. According to the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology, CRS affects up to 16 percent of the U.S. adult population and eats up a staggering 5 percent of the country’s healthcare budget each year. Asthma,… Read more
NAU geneticist awarded $500,000 USDA grant to prevent tick-borne cattle fever
Bovine babesiosis, or cattle fever, was once one of the worst diseases afflicting the U.S. livestock industry. Although the tick-borne parasite Babesia bovis was largely eradicated in the mid-20th century through a systematic USDA program to eliminate the ticks, cattle fever remains endemic in Mexico, where more than 60 percent of beef calves have been exposed to Babesia parasites.
As ticks develop resistance to… Read more