Virology News and Research

Latest Virology News and Research

New 'reporter viruses' make it easier to observe SARS-CoV-2 in real time

A version of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19 disease, has been successfully modified to glow brightly in cells and animal tissues, providing a real-time way to track the spread and intensity of viral infection as it happens in animal models, researchers at Texas Biomedical Research Institute report in the journal The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

27 Sep 2021

Researchers investigate dynamic changes in mosquitoes and their viromes in Wuhan during 2020

Announcing a new article publication for Zoonoses journal. Researchers from Key Laboratory of Special Pathogens and Biosafety, Wuhan Institute of Virology, Wuhan, China, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China, Jinan University, Shenzhen, China and Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China consider dynamic surveillance of mosquitoes and their viromes in Wuhan during 2020.

27 Sep 2021

SARS-CoV-2 entry inhibitors show antiviral activity

A new study used a combination of a computer-aided drug design approach and cell-based in vitro assays to identify five potential SARS-CoV-2 inhibitors.

27 Sep 2021

Research shows ozone as a potential disinfectant agent in public transport

The Hydrens team of researchers developed a numerical model that estimates the ozone concentration needed to meet the disinfection criteria. To do this, it takes into account the geometry and volume of the space to be treated, the type of materials inside it and their capacity to absorb ozone, and the characteristics of the impulsion-distribution system used.

24 Sep 2021

Hypertonic saline solution shown to inhibit replication of SARS-CoV-2

Researchers at the University of São Paulo (USP) in Brazil have shown that a hypertonic saline solution inhibits replication of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, and have elucidated the biochemical mechanism involved.

22 Sep 2021

Unique tiny Ilamas antibodies could be used for treatment of COVID-19

A unique type of tiny antibody produced by llamas could provide a new frontline treatment against Covid-19 that can be taken by patients as a simple nasal spray.

22 Sep 2021

Researchers provide structural insights into HCV receptor binding and entry

In a new paper published in Nature, scientists from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health, describe the structure of a key protein on the surface of the hepatitis C virus (HCV) and how it interacts with its receptor found on some human cells.

21 Sep 2021

UW Medicine enrolls volunteers for COVID-19 booster vaccine trial

Researchers at the University of Washington School of Medicine are enrolling volunteers for a COVID-19 booster vaccine trial.

18 Sep 2021

Evolved SARS-CoV-2 viruses gain higher infectivity and cause more rapid infection spread

Viruses accumulate mutations as they replicate in infected cells. Repeated replication can lead to viral strains that show attenuated virulence. Such strains may act as vaccines if the attenuated virus can produce immunity without serious disease.

16 Sep 2021

A family of proteins may be able to outwit emerging and re-emerging viruses

A family of proteins best known for their role in diminishing HIV infectivity may have the goods to outwit other emerging and re-emerging viruses, scientists have found.

15 Sep 2021

Severe COVID-19 linked to increase in autoantibodies

Hospitalized COVID-19 patients are substantially more likely to harbor autoantibodies -;antibodies directed at their own tissues or at substances their immune cells secrete into the blood -; than people without COVID-19, according to a new study.

14 Sep 2021

Functional impairment of HIV-specific T cells precedes aborted virus control

HIV is a master of evading the immune system, using a variety of methods to prevent the body from being able to find and kill it.

13 Sep 2021

Scientists model the process of capsid disassembly in hepatitis B virus at atomic level

With up to 2.4 million U.S. cases and over 250 million chronic cases globally, hepatitis B infection persists despite the availability of a vaccine.

8 Sep 2021

Mystery deaths of children blamed on insanitary conditions and poor resources in India

While authorities in Uttar Pradesh are narrowing down on dengue as the 'mystery disease' behind the deaths of more than 50 people, mostly children, in the last fortnight, they are not ruling out scrub typhus or other monsoon-related infections.

6 Sep 2021

New computational approach may predict how individuals are likely to respond to vaccines

In an advance that sheds light on why certain vaccines may influence people differently, a new computational approach developed at the University of Michigan may predict how individual patients are likely to respond.

2 Sep 2021

Number of adults with hypertension has doubled in the last thirty years

The number of adults aged 30–79 years with hypertension has increased from 650 million to 1.28 billion in the last thirty years, according to the first comprehensive global analysis of trends in hypertension prevalence, detection, treatment and control, led by Imperial College London and WHO, and published today in The Lancet.

25 Aug 2021

Study pinpoints an enzyme with a significant impact on SARS-CoV-2 replication

By applying a systems biology approach, a recent bioRxiv* preprint research paper by scientists from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York unveils interactions between the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‑CoV‑2) and p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway responsible for regulating the expression of crucial inflammatory mediators in human lung epithelial cells.

23 Aug 2021