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Researchers report isolation of potently neutralizing antibodies against highly transmissible SARS-CoV-2 variants

A recent preprint discusses using a combinatorial phage-display library approach to COVIID-19 antibodies.

18 Jan 2022

Broad cross-neutralization antibodies found to be effective against SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant

A new study aimed to explore whether there is a way to induce the production of potent neutralizing antibodies capable of neutralizing all SARS-CoV-2 variants - including Omicron.

7 Jan 2022

Study analyzes the contribution of AI to cancer patient care and vaccine design

Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning (AI/ML) is the development of computer systems that are able to perform tasks that would normally require human intelligence. AI/ML is used by people every day, for example, while using smart home devices or digital voice assistants.

8 Dec 2021

Systematic survey of human SARS-CoV-2 monoclonal antibodies

Scientists have mined information from several research publications and patents to create a dataset of approximately 8000 human antibodies to the SARS-CoV-2 spike from more than 200 donors.

2 Dec 2021

High prevalence of germline variants in Japanese patients with pheochromocytoma and paraganglioma

Certain kinds of tumors can be inherited within families. Identifying the underlying genetic cause is important in treatment, but most studies on these tumors have been carried out on Caucasian populations.

19 Nov 2021

Mechanisms and strategies for antibody binding and escape in SARS-CoV-2

A new study investigated the mechanisms for binding and strategies to escape several hNAbs used by SARS-CoV-2 strains through molecular simulations.

10 Nov 2021

Study points to a new, effective treatment option for patients with mesothelioma

Combining the immunotherapy agent durvalumab with the chemotherapy agents pemetrexed and cisplatin or carboplatin may provide a new treatment option for patients who have inoperable pleural mesothelioma, a cancer of the tissues lining the lungs, according to a phase II clinical trial led by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center and the Bloomberg~Kimmel Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy.

8 Nov 2021

Discovery of potent neutralizing antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 variants

In a recent study, the researchers identify and characterize mAbs that are effective against the wild-type SARS-CoV-2 strain and B.1.351 variant.

8 Nov 2021

CHOP-led network receives NIH-supported resources to unlock mysteries behind pediatric brain tumors

Unlocking the genetic mysteries behind pediatric brain tumors is at the heart of the mission of the Center for Data Driven Discovery in Biomedicine (D3b) at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP). The Children's Brain Tumor Network (CBTN), a multi-institutional brain tumor research program with its operations center housed at D3b, has collected tumor samples from patients all over the world.

3 Nov 2021

Study suggests seropositive individuals produce anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies with improved potency and breadth

Researchers isolated single cells among individuals with and without prior infection with the SARS-CoV-2 vaccinated with BNT162b2 mRNA vaccine and compared the nature of the neutralizing antibody response against the original Wuhan virus and the subsequent variants.

25 Oct 2021

Underexpression of specific metabolic enzyme is a common feature in kidney cancer, study shows

A team of investigators has discovered that the underexpression of a specific metabolic enzyme is a common and adverse epigenetic modulating feature in clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC), according to a recent study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

20 Oct 2021

Nucleoside modifications suppress the potential of RNA to activate dendritic cells

A new paper shows that human TLR3, TLR7, and TLR8 receptors are activated with naturally occurring RNA, but this is eliminated once modified nucleosides such as m5C, m6A, m5U s2U, or pseudouridine are incorporated.

12 Oct 2021

SARS-CoV-2 beta variant elicits variant specific and cross-reactive antibodies

One recent study assessed the serum of Beta variant infected patients to determine whether major non-VOC antibodies could neutralize this virus.

5 Oct 2021

Study identifies broadly neutralizing antibody panel against SARS-like viruses

A recent study describes 40 broadly neutralizing antibodies from two individuals with a history of COVID-19 who were recently immunized against the virus.

13 Sep 2021

Discovery of diverse sarbecovirus broadly neutralizing antibodies from SARS-CoV-2 “infected-vaccinated” humans

Scientists were inspired by the robust serum nAb responses in people who recovered from natural SARS-CoV-2 infection and were later vaccinated using mRNA vaccine. They isolated and characterized bnAbs from two COVID-19 convalescent donors who were recently vaccinated. These isolated bnAbs were found to be highly potent against sarbecoviruses. This research is available on the bioRxiv* preprint server.

13 Sep 2021

Study uncovers new mechanism for memory transfer between individual roundworms

When an organism encounters a threat in its environment, it is to the species' advantage to warn others of the peril.

4 Sep 2021

Studies offer insight into how the human body develops and acquires mutations throughout life

New insights into how the human body develops from one cell into trillions, and the genetic mutations that cells pick up along the way, have been generated by two studies from scientists at the Wellcome Sanger Institute, the University of Cambridge and their collaborators.

26 Aug 2021

Vaccinating previously infected induces more potent antibodies less susceptible to escape from SARS-CoV-2 variants

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) is the causal agent of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, which has claimed more than 4.3 million lives worldwide. Even after implementing various measures, such as vaccination and social restrictions, SARS-CoV-2 and its variants of concern (VoC) leave the world's public health systems and economies in turmoil.

16 Aug 2021

Discovery of highly potent neutralizing monoclonal antibodies against SARS-CoV-2

A new study published in the journal Nature Communications has reported two neutralizing antibodies, namely, nCoVmab1 and nCoVmab2, which are potent against SARS-CoV-2.

13 Aug 2021

Natural vs. vaccine-induced COVID-19 immunity

A new paper discusses the protection offered by immunity against COVID-19 following vaccination as compared to natural infection.

10 Aug 2021