Virus News and Research

Latest Virus News and Research

Pain-free microneedle patch can capture biomarkers from interstitial fluid

Blood draws are no fun. They hurt. Veins can burst, or even roll - like they're trying to avoid the needle too, Oftentimes, doctors use blood samples to check for biomarkers of disease: antibodies that signal a viral or bacterial infection, such as SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for COVID-19, or cytokines indicative of inflammation seen in conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis and sepsis.

26 Jan 2021

Mutations in the SARS-CoV-2 receptor-binding domain analyzed

Using more than 100,000 virus genome sequences uploaded in the GISAID database, researchers found around 9,000 mutations in the virus spike protein RBD.

26 Jan 2021

Rapid reopening crucial in promoting the second wave of COVID-19

The spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has affected almost a hundred million people, with over two million deaths being attributed to this illness over the past 12 months or so. The only means to counter this so far has been through non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs).

26 Jan 2021

Antibodies and inflammatory markers may help identify COVID-19 cases and predict severity

A new preprint appearing on the medRxiv server describes the changes that occur in numerous antibodies and inflammatory molecules with age and at varying stages, or severity, of the infection and resulting illness. The results may help to predict the risk in individual cases.

26 Jan 2021

Microwaves used to inactivate aerosolized pathogens

As the pandemic has continued to spread globally, studies indicate the COVID-19 virus may be contained in aerosols that can be generated and spread through breathing, coughing, sneezing, or talking by infected individuals.

26 Jan 2021

Moderna vaccine fully neutralizes new SARS-CoV-2 variants, study shows

Researchers in the United States have conducted a study showing that Moderna’s mRNA-1273 vaccine neutralizes all circulating variants of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) tested to date.

26 Jan 2021

Air purifiers may increase the spread of airborne virus transmission in confined spaces

The positions of air inlets and outlets in confined spaces, such as elevators, greatly affect airborne virus transmission. In Physics of Fluids, by AIP Publishing, researchers from University of Nicosia in Cyprus show while air purifiers would be expected to help, they may actually increase the spread.

26 Jan 2021

NIH launches database to collect information about COVID-19-related neurological problems

A new database will collect information from clinicians about COVID-19-related neurological symptoms, complications, and outcomes as well as COVID-19 effects on pre-existing neurological conditions.

26 Jan 2021

Why even presidential pressure might not get more vaccine to market faster

Americans are dying of covid-19 by the thousands, but efforts to ramp up production of potentially lifesaving vaccines are hitting a brick wall.

26 Jan 2021

California’s top hospital lobbyist cements influence in covid crisis

As intensive care units filled and coronavirus cases surged over the holidays, Carmela Coyle invoked a World War II-era quote attributed to British Prime Minister Winston Churchill to rally her own troops: "If you're going through hell, keep going."

26 Jan 2021

New approach to mapping viral mutations that escape antibodies used to treat COVID-19

A new approach to mapping viral mutations that "escape" leading clinical antibodies has revealed mutations in the SARS-CoV-2 virus that allow it to evade treatments, including a single amino-acid mutation that fully escapes Regeneron's antibody cocktail.

26 Jan 2021

Big business boosts vaccine effort, but it’s ‘complex choreography’ to get shots in arms

As states await the promise of a renewed federal pandemic response and expand the number of Americans who qualify for a shot, some governors are trying to scale up their covid vaccine operations — and smooth out the kinks — with the help of the private sector.

26 Jan 2021

‘We’re not controlling it in our schools’: Covid safety lapses abound across US

Computer science teacher Suzy Lebo saw covid-19 dangers frequently in her Indiana high school: classes with about 30 students sitting less than 18 inches apart. Students crowding teachers in hallways. Students and staff members taking off their masks around others.

26 Jan 2021

Codon frequency optimization shows SARS-CoV-2 antiviral potential

A study conducted by researchers in the US has revealed that optimization of codon for bacterial expression causes the production of an inactive enzyme non-structural protein 12 (Nsp12), a catalytic subunit of RNA-dependent RNA polymerase of SARS-CoV-2.

26 Jan 2021

Researchers engineer antibody that broadly neutralizes a range of clade 1 sarbecoviruses

Researchers have engineered an antibody that neutralizes SARS-CoV-2 with a potency that "rivals" current lead SARS-CoV-2 clinical neutralizing antibodies, and that also broadly neutralizes a range of clade 1 sarbecoviruses.

26 Jan 2021

SARS-CoV-2 rapidly adapts to Vero E6 cell culture propagation

Researchers at the Erasmus Medical Centre in the Netherlands and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in the US found that SARS-CoV-2 rapidly adapts to Vero E6 cell culture propagation and that this can be prevented by using cell lines with an active serine protease-mediated entry pathway.

26 Jan 2021

Study shows several peridomestic mammal species are potential spreaders of SARS-CoV-2

Researchers from the US and Australia show that several common peridomestic species (including deer mice, striped skunks and bushy-tailed woodrats) are amenable to infection with SARS-CoV-2.

26 Jan 2021

New UK SARS-CoV-2 variant circulating in US since November, says study

A new study by researchers at the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Arizona, showed that the new variant has circulated in the US since November.

26 Jan 2021

New SARS-CoV-2 variant must be curbed to protect UK health services, warn experts

A new research project called REACT-1 – launched by researchers at the Imperial College London, Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, and Ipsos MORI – has aimed to better understand the dynamics of SARS-CoV-2’s viral spread across the UK.

26 Jan 2021

Accelerating vaccine rollout may provide greatest reduction in COVID-19 mortality

A thought-provoking preprint research paper posted to the medRxiv server suggests that among several factors that could potentially contribute to the design of an optimal vaccine strategy aimed at the most significant possible reduction in COVID-19 mortality, timing is likely to be the most important factor.

26 Jan 2021

Virus News and Research

Latest Virus News and Research

Pain-free microneedle patch can capture biomarkers from interstitial fluid

Mutations in the SARS-CoV-2 receptor-binding domain analyzed

Rapid reopening crucial in promoting the second wave of COVID-19

Antibodies and inflammatory markers may help identify COVID-19 cases and predict severity

Microwaves used to inactivate aerosolized pathogens

Moderna vaccine fully neutralizes new SARS-CoV-2 variants, study shows

Air purifiers may increase the spread of airborne virus transmission in confined spaces

NIH launches database to collect information about COVID-19-related neurological problems

Why even presidential pressure might not get more vaccine to market faster

California’s top hospital lobbyist cements influence in covid crisis

New approach to mapping viral mutations that escape antibodies used to treat COVID-19

Big business boosts vaccine effort, but it’s ‘complex choreography’ to get shots in arms

‘We’re not controlling it in our schools’: Covid safety lapses abound across US

Codon frequency optimization shows SARS-CoV-2 antiviral potential

Researchers engineer antibody that broadly neutralizes a range of clade 1 sarbecoviruses

SARS-CoV-2 rapidly adapts to Vero E6 cell culture propagation

Study shows several peridomestic mammal species are potential spreaders of SARS-CoV-2

New UK SARS-CoV-2 variant circulating in US since November, says study

New SARS-CoV-2 variant must be curbed to protect UK health services, warn experts

Accelerating vaccine rollout may provide greatest reduction in COVID-19 mortality

A new way of characterising biomolecules eBook

The CAR T Veteran: A Journey of Resilience, Remission, and Advocacy

Innovating for impact: Jordi Labs on aligning methodologies with FDA expectation

Exploring the role of confocal-based high-content imaging in advancing core facilities

Virus News and Research

Latest Virus News and Research

A new way of characterising biomolecules eBook

The CAR T Veteran: A Journey of Resilience, Remission, and Advocacy

Innovating for impact: Jordi Labs on aligning methodologies with FDA expectation

Exploring the role of confocal-based high-content imaging in advancing core facilities

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