Genetic blueprint of bacteria causing Lyme disease unraveled

Benjamin Luft, M.D., Professor of Medicine, Stony Brook University Medical Center, and a team of medical researchers have determined the genetic blueprint of 13 strains of the bacteria that cause Lyme disease. The finding is crucial to advancing research on Lyme disease, the most frequent tick-borne infection in North America and Europe, and may lead to better diagnostics and a vaccine

How the Neutrophil Both Kills and Protects the Lyme Spirochete, Borrelia Burgdorferi

My research focuses on the functions of phagocytic cells, both macrophages and neutrophils, and their interaction with the Lyme disease spirochete, Borrelia burgdorferi. We are exploring the paradox of spirochete persistence in vivo despite rapid and efficient killing by phagocytes in vitro.