Insight into Lyme disease
Excerpted from News Medical ( Posted: 03/16/2011 )
Researchers recently developed novel diagnostic tools able to distinguish between the various strains of bacteria responsible for causing Lyme disease. For more than a decade, only one strain of B. burgdorferi (Lyme bacteria) had been sequenced (mapped), and although that helped research efforts, it was not sufficient to understand the relationship between geographic variations in strains and disease characteristics. Scientists have suspected different strains may infect different parts of the body, causing different symptoms.
The recent completion of the genome sequencing of 13 additional isolates will greatly contribute to the improved understanding of the origins and effects of Lyme disease. Described as a “superb discovery tool,” Journal of Bacteriology 2-2011, sequencing will also provide a more solid foundation for detection, diagnostic, and prevention strategies. The study was led by Dr. Steven Schutzer, Dr. Claire Fraser-Liggett, and Dr. Sherwood Casjens. (Click link for all authors & affiliations: http://jb.asm.org/cgi/content/full/193/4/1018)
For the complete article: http://www.news-medical.net/news/20110316/Insight-into-Lyme-disease.aspx
Lyme Handbook 
This is great news isn’t it?!