Thanks to a Deceptively Simple Product

What company's products have been used in 140 countries? What company has had an effect on millions upon millions of children? What company's CEO has said he reaches more youngsters in the world "than Coca-Cola or Pepsi could ever hope to reach up to the age of ten"?  Give up?

It's Serum Institute of India.

Serum Institute of India is a leader in the production of vaccines. The Insitute was founded in 1966, "with the aim of manufacturing life-saving immuno-biologicals, which were in shortage in the country and imported at high prices." It manufactures vaccines against Diphtheria, Tetanus and Pertussis, as well as Measles, Mumps and Rubella.  The company's reputation and reach is such that agencies like the World Health Organization, the Program for Appropriate Technology in Health (PATH), and the US National Institutes of Health are working with it to develop vaccines against Meningococcal A, H1N1 Influenza, Rotavirus and other diseases.

Serum Institute's mission is "to develop quality vaccines and offer them at inexpensive prices." Learn more about Serum Institute's high quality standards and modern production means on the company website. 

Microbes that Might Cure Us

A huge number of microbes live in and on us. They're in our lungs, mouths and intestines, and on our skin. Scientists know they help us digest, breaking down what we eat, but they are discovering that each individual's microbiome, the collection of microbes in their body, helps protect them. For example, bacteria in the nose produce antibiotics that attack viruses we breathe in. They have also been found to cure infections in the digestive tract and elsewhere and to help the immune system. Yet researchers still don't know exactly how microbes operate on our health, or why studies disclose that diseases are often associated with major changes in our bacterial ecosystems. For example, people who suffer from asthma have a different set of microbes from people without the condition. And obese people have species not found in normal-weight people. So scientists are investigating the huge number of microbes in our bodies and their DNA to find out more about how they help keep us healthy. That knowledge will help discover how the microbiome can be used to fight disease. Read Carl Zimmer's article How Microbes Defend and Define Us for more details.

Cures from the Ocean

"Jewels in the Mud" is an encouraging story about how marine biomedicine can fight drug resistance and disease. A microbe found on seaweed by William Fenical and his team at the University of California San Diego's Scripps Institution of Oceanography has led to the drug Plinabulin, which blocks blood vessels in tumors from getting the nourishment they need, leading to their death, while leaving the healthy cells alone.

Professor Fenical is Director of the Center for Marine Biotechnology and Biomedicine (CMBB) at Scripps. His group "conducts research relevant to defining the roles and biomedical applications of the unique organic molecules produced by marine life. Programs are integrated to isolate and define chemical compounds which function as chemical defenses and molecules used for communication, and to assess the potential of these same compounds in the treatment of human and animal diseases. In drug discovery, a major focus is upon cancer, inflammatory diseases and in the discovery of new anti-infectives." Dr Fenical receives financial support for his research from the National Cancer Institute, the National Science Foundation, the National Sea Grant Program, the California BioStar Program and from a number of pharmaceutical companies.