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immune system

Virus strains

Article

Virus strains

A virus is a very simple thing – a coat of protein wrapped around some genetic code (DNA or RNA). ...

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Article

The immune system

The function of the immune system is to protect an individual against becoming sick from an infection. Infections are usually ...

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Fighting infection, the immune system – unit plan

Teacher PLD

Fighting infection: the immune system – unit plan

Our bodies have a defence system against pathogens that make us sick. This defence system is made up of cells, ...

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Antimicrobial resistance – a context for learning

Teacher PLD

Antimicrobial resistance – a context for learning

Modern antibiotic medicines came into use in the middle of the 20th century. They enabled doctors to treat serious – ...

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The Science of Medicines – Whakatere Waka

Article

The Science of Medicines – Whakatere Waka

The Science of Medicines – Whakatere Waka is an innovative, hands-on education programme that uses te ao Māori perspectives to ...

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Fighting infection – introduction

Article

Fighting infection – introduction

We all get sick from time to time. Wintertime, in particular, brings with it colds and flus.

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Gaming and medicine – D-Bug Game Design Challenge

Article

Gaming and medicine – D-Bug Game Design Challenge

Antonia Hoeta is part of The Science of Medicines – Whakatere Waka – an innovative, hands-on education programme that uses te ao Māori perspectives to build ...

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Reducing the risks of antimicrobial resistance

Article

Reducing the risks of antimicrobial resistance

Antimicrobial resistance has been named by the World Health Organization as one of the top 10 global public health threats facing humanity. Antimicrobial-resistant infections are estimated ...

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The history of antibiotics and antimicrobial resistance

Article

The history of antibiotics and antimicrobial resistance

Infectious diseases have been a feature of life and death throughout history. Humans have been treating infections for millennia, including use of materials with antimicrobial properties ...

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Florence Nightingale – a pioneer of hand washing and hygiene for health

Article

Florence Nightingale – a pioneer of hand washing and hygiene for health

Florence Nightingale, who was born 200 years ago, is rightly famed for revolutionising nursing. Florence Nightingale (1820–1910) was a social reformer and statistician and is regarded ...

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Coronavirus

Article

Coronavirus

There are many different viruses. Coronaviruses are a group of viruses that cause diseases in birds and mammals. They are all similar in their shape, and ...

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KiwiNet Awards 2017

Article

KiwiNet Awards 2017

The Kiwi Innovation Network (KiwiNet) is a network of public research organisations who collaborate to commercialise science to grow the New Zealand economy. Commercialising science can ...

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Fighting acne with milk proteins

Article

Fighting acne with milk proteins

Fighting acne? Would you consider rubbing a milk product on your face? Epiology Skincare is a solution that uses a combination of natural milk proteins and ...

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Antimicrobial resistance explained

Article

Antimicrobial resistance explained

Microbes – friend or foe? Some microbes are essential to life, while others cause sickness in plants and animals, including humans. For decades, we have kept ...

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Getting to the heart of diabetes and exercise

Article

Getting to the heart of diabetes and exercise

Manurewa High School’s Health Science Academy took Achievement Standard 90926 Report on a biological issue to a whole new level. Instead of the usual research, discuss ...

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Extracting bioactives from mussels

Article

Extracting bioactives from mussels

MacLab is a successful biotechnology company that extracts bioactives from New Zealand green-lipped mussels (Perna canaliculus) for the biopharmaceutical industry. The company has a strong commitment ...

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Bacteria BLIS

Article

Bacteria BLIS

In this video conference, find out how bacteria are being used to fight sore throats. Join 'Supervader' and participants from Wellington’s 2006 Kids’ Conference as they ...

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Healthy homes, healthy futures

Article

Healthy homes, healthy futures

Citizen science and the local community Rongomai Primary School is leading a Healthy Homes, Healthy Futures project. The project was part of the Participatory Science Platform ...

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Damp homes and health risks

Article

Damp homes and health risks

Our homes are supposed to be our safe places, but for nearly a third of New Zealanders, damp homes can have a serious effect on our ...

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Fighting infection – key terms

Article

Fighting infection – key terms

What’s going on inside us when we get sick? What do germs have to do with us getting sick? How does our body help us to ...

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Bacteria in biotech – introduction

Article

Bacteria in biotech – introduction

Find out how and why we use bacteria to improve our lives, and discover how the DNA revolution has led to new uses for bacteria. Escherichia ...

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Giving bacteria new and useful functions

Article

Giving bacteria new and useful functions

By choosing appropriate genes to introduce into bacteria, scientists have developed bacteria with characteristics that are useful to humans – such as the ability to make ...

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Bacterial DNA – the role of plasmids

Article

Bacterial DNA – the role of plasmids

Like other organisms, bacteria use double-stranded DNA as their genetic material. However, bacteria organise their DNA differently to more complex organisms. Bacteria have a single circular ...

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<i>E. coli</i> – the biotech bacterium

Article

E. coli – the biotech bacterium

The bacterium Escherichia coli (E. coli for short) is crucial in modern biotechnology. Scientists use it to store DNA sequences from other organisms, to produce proteins ...

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How to add foreign DNA to bacteria

Article

How to add foreign DNA to bacteria

Using modern laboratory techniques, it is relatively easy to add pieces of foreign DNA to bacteria. To do this, scientists first package their DNA of interest ...

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Producing foreign proteins in bacteria

Article

Producing foreign proteins in bacteria

Bacteria can produce foreign proteins from introduced genes, using their own gene expression machinery. Producing proteins in bacteria has greatly simplified the study of how proteins ...

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Bacterial libraries for improving proteins

Article

Bacterial libraries for improving proteins

In a bacterial library, many different DNA sequences are introduced into the cells of a bacterial culture. Libraries are powerful tools for improving protein function. What ...

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Proteins – what they are and how they’re made

Article

Proteins – what they are and how they’re made

Proteins are the key working molecules and building blocks in all cells. They are produced in a similar two-step process in all organisms called protein synthesis ...

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What bacteria are

Article

What bacteria are

In this article, you can learn about bacterial shapes, bacterial habitats and bacterial DNA – and about how bacteria that act together in biofilms can affect ...

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