Pathogen News and Research

RSS

Quick, inexpensive leptospirosis test strip kit to help lower death and disability risk

The Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University has brought out a quick, inexpensive, and easy-to-use leptospirosis test strip kit to help lower the risk of disability from internal organ failure and death, with the hopes of distributing them to community hospitals across the country.

14 Aug 2021

Scientists document person-to-person transmission of antimicrobial-resistant pneumonic plague

Although the world is focused on the COVID-19 pandemic, there are many other dangerous pathogens still out there, like Yersinia pestis, which causes plague – the deadly disease that killed tens of millions of people during the infamous Black Death in the 14th century.

13 Aug 2021

WHO outlines the next series of studies on the origins of SARS-CoV-2 virus

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, WHO has been working with the Member States and the scientific community to better understand how this pandemic began so that we can be better prepared for the next one.

13 Aug 2021

Breakthrough SARS-CoV-2 infections in patients with systemic rheumatic diseases

A recent study discusses the clinical characteristics and outcomes of patients with SARDs who were previously vaccinated against SARS-CoV-2.

11 Aug 2021

Emerging biosensing technologies could revolutionize the diagnosis of neonatal sepsis

Sepsis in newborn infants can be fatal. Early diagnosis is thus key to effectively manage the infection. Conventional diagnostic methods are, however, time-consuming.

11 Aug 2021

Plant-based virus-like particle vaccine induces durable immune response against SARS-CoV-2 variants

Scientists from Germany and Belgium have recently described the immunogenicity of a plant-based virus-like particle vaccine against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The vaccine induces robust antibody and T cell responses for at least 6 months. Moreover, the vaccine demonstrates potent neutralizing efficacy against the B.1.1.7, B.1.351, and P1 variants of SARS-CoV-2.

11 Aug 2021

Controlling the spread of SARS-CoV-2 at a large public university

Researchers from the U.S. recently reported a multimodal "SHIELD: Target, Test, and Tell" program that helped mitigate the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 at a large public university. The program also prevented community transmission and helped the continuation of in-person classes during the pandemic. This study is available on the medRxiv* preprint server.

9 Aug 2021

Scientists identify calpeptin as potential inhibitor of SARS-CoV-2

A team of US-based scientists has recently conducted a robust high-throughput screening to identify potential entry inhibitors of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The screening identifies calpeptin as a potent and highly specific inhibitor of SARS-CoV-2 and its variants. The study is currently available on the bioRxiv* preprint server.

9 Aug 2021

New phylogenomic platform identifies increased recombination rates in SARS-CoV-2

Researchers in the United States, Australia and the UK have developed a novel method that enables the evolutionary ancestry (phylogeny) of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) to be comprehensively searched for recombinant lineages.

8 Aug 2021

New study describes SARS-CoV-2 ExoN enzyme that promotes antiviral resistance

A new study describes the structure of a crucial enzyme present in SARS-CoV-2.

8 Aug 2021

Researchers reveal how pneumonia-causing bacteria obtain essential nutrient from our bodies

Australian researchers have revealed how the bacterium Streptococcus pneumoniae (pneumococcus) obtains the essential nutrient, manganese, from our bodies, which could lead to better therapies to target what is a life-threatening, antibiotic-resistant pathogen.

6 Aug 2021

Science academies offer recommendations to improve pandemic preparedness in the future

In the run-up to the summit of the G20 states on October 30 and 31, 2021, in Rome/Italy, the science academies of these countries (Science20 Dialogue), including the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina, have published the joint statement "Pandemic preparedness and the role of science".

6 Aug 2021

New study examines B cell receptor repertoires in COVID-19 patients

In a paper recently uploaded to the preprint server bioRxiv* by Kim et al. (August 2, 2021), the B cell receptor repertoire of 1,060 COVID-19 patients is compared to that of an equal number of healthy volunteers in a novel manner, utilizing computational deep-learning-based protein embedding techniques, which demonstrate a resolution capable of tracking the changes in immunity in an individual over the course of infection.

5 Aug 2021

Immunocompromised patients could be potential hosts for immune-escape mutants of SARS-CoV-2

In a recently published article in The New England Journal of Medicine, scientists have described how multi-mutational variants of SARS-CoV-2 may evolve in patients with immunosuppression.

5 Aug 2021

Next-Generation Sequencing and the Diagnosis of Disease

In this interview, Professor John Rossen talks about next-generation sequencing and it's implications for the diagnosis of disease.

From Tecan 4 Aug 2021

Next-generation CRISPR tools and therapies improved by modified RNA guides

A new type of gene-editing tool, CRISPR-Cas13, has shown promise in RNA targeting. Previous studies have shown the tool as a potential treatment method for viral diseases, including coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

3 Aug 2021

SARS-CoV-2 Delta and Delta AY.1 variant show similar Covaxin-induced neutralization

A new study from India suggests that the Indian-made Covaxin whole-virus inactivated vaccine against the SARS-CoV-2 retains significant efficacy against the newer delta variants of the virus.

3 Aug 2021

Purifying selection drives time-dependency of short-term mutation rates in SARS-CoV-2 and pH1N1 influenza

A new paper, available on the medRxiv* preprint server, indicates the adaptation undergone by the SARS-CoV-2 molecular genome and the pH1N1 influenza pandemic strain during the first year of their spread, separately. Using statistical and phylogenetic skills, the researchers present a picture of the emergence, rates of change, and of growth, of these two viruses as time passes.

3 Aug 2021

Unvaccinated and vaccinated have similar viral load in communities high in SARS-CoV-2 delta

The findings reveal that vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals exhibit similar viral loads following delta infection and that vaccine breakthrough cases have the potential to transmit infection to others. The study is currently available on the medRxiv* preprint server.

3 Aug 2021

Researchers discover titanium oxide nanoparticle that recognizes SARS-CoV-2’s non-structural protein 1

A pioneering study reports on the interaction of a tailored titanium oxide nanoparticle (NP) with the full-length SARS-CoV-2 non-structural protein 1 (nsp1). This should be of value in developing new therapeutic tools against coronaviruses that act by targeting their proteins. It could also help map the structure of activated proteins.

2 Aug 2021

Pathogen News and Research

Quick, inexpensive leptospirosis test strip kit to help lower death and disability risk

Scientists document person-to-person transmission of antimicrobial-resistant pneumonic plague

WHO outlines the next series of studies on the origins of SARS-CoV-2 virus

Breakthrough SARS-CoV-2 infections in patients with systemic rheumatic diseases

Emerging biosensing technologies could revolutionize the diagnosis of neonatal sepsis

Plant-based virus-like particle vaccine induces durable immune response against SARS-CoV-2 variants

Controlling the spread of SARS-CoV-2 at a large public university

Scientists identify calpeptin as potential inhibitor of SARS-CoV-2

New phylogenomic platform identifies increased recombination rates in SARS-CoV-2

New study describes SARS-CoV-2 ExoN enzyme that promotes antiviral resistance

Researchers reveal how pneumonia-causing bacteria obtain essential nutrient from our bodies

Science academies offer recommendations to improve pandemic preparedness in the future

New study examines B cell receptor repertoires in COVID-19 patients

Immunocompromised patients could be potential hosts for immune-escape mutants of SARS-CoV-2

Next-Generation Sequencing and the Diagnosis of Disease

Next-generation CRISPR tools and therapies improved by modified RNA guides

SARS-CoV-2 Delta and Delta AY.1 variant show similar Covaxin-induced neutralization

Purifying selection drives time-dependency of short-term mutation rates in SARS-CoV-2 and pH1N1 influenza

Unvaccinated and vaccinated have similar viral load in communities high in SARS-CoV-2 delta

Researchers discover titanium oxide nanoparticle that recognizes SARS-CoV-2’s non-structural protein 1

Industry Focus: Infectious Diseases eBook

Latest eBooks

Industry Focus eBook - Analytical Chemistry (3rd edition)

Industry Focus eBook - Microbiome (1st edition)

Industry Focus eBook - Cell biology (5th edition)

Advancing degrader and proximity-based drug development

Bringing real-time analytics to downstream bioprocess monitoring

Designing fluidic architecture for scalable diagnostic platforms

Evaluating new approaches for rare disease genomics