Researchers from Cardiff University and University of Maryland have revealed that a cup of the widely-available English Breakfast tea may act as an antidote to bacillus anthracis, popularly called anthrax. The activity of anthrax, a potentially fatal disease, is inhibited by polyphenols present in the tea. Published in Society for Applied Microbiology’s journal Microbiologist, the research further says that the addition of whole milk to tea completely curbs the antibacterial activity against the disease.

Knock-Out Technologies Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of eFoodSafety.com, is set to begin clinical testing of Proxorin™ for use as a natural antibiotic/anti-microbial in the treatment of common bacterial pathogens. The drug is based on the company’s CitroxinTM formula. Due to its natural composition, Proxorin may be used in a much larger range of health conditions than that addressed by antibiotics.

Researchers at McGill University have discovered a process by which an organism’s natural anti-virus defenses can be enhanced. According to the research published in the journal Nature, the process effectively makes an organism’s cells immune to influenza and other viruses by knocking out two genes in mice that repress production of the protein interferon, the cell’s first line of defense against viruses. In the absence of these repressor genes, the mouse cells produced significantly higher levels of interferon, which effectively blocked viruses from reproducing.

ThromboVision Inc., a biomedical diagnostics company, has commenced clinical trials of its ThromboGuide (T-Guide) Platelet Function Monitor. Four main research institutes have initiated enrollment and data collection. ThromboVision’s President and CEO, Edward R. Teitel, said that the 510(k) application to the FDA is expected in early 2008.

The T-Guide(R) consists of a disposable test kit and a point-of-care base unit. The system will help physicians improve their cardiac patients’ lives by individualizing antiplatelet therapy that they use to prevent heart attacks, strokes and stent occlusions.