Mutation News and Research

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Mutated European strain of coronavirus more contagious but less potent

The coronavirus pandemic is far from over as it actively spreads across the globe. The infection toll has reached a staggering 10.84 million people since it emerged in late December 2019 in Wuhan City, China. The virus that has left the city has now spread to 188 countries and territories and has mutated, becoming more infectious.

3 Jul 2020

Newer form of SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus dominates global infections

Research out today in the journal Cell shows that a specific change in the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus virus genome, previously associated with increased viral transmission and the spread of COVID-19, is more infectious in cell culture.

2 Jul 2020

Structure of the full SARS-CoV-2 RNA genome in infected cells

The current COVID-19 pandemic caused by a single-stranded RNA virus, thought to have jumped across species barriers to infect humans, has spread rapidly across the globe infecting over 10 million individuals. The virus, now known as the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), is the causative agent of COVID-19 disease. COVID-19 disease is a respiratory illness where symptoms can range from very mild to severe and include fever, coughing, a sore throat, and shortness of breath.

2 Jul 2020

Novavax SARS-CoV-2 vaccine candidate shows promise in animal models

A new study published on the preprint server bioRxiv in June 2020 shows that a candidate spike protein vaccine can induce neutralizing antibodies, antiviral T cell responses, and protection against infection.

2 Jul 2020

Researchers develop a potential treatment approach for Pelizaeus-Merzbacher disease

A team led by Case Western Reserve University medical researchers has developed a potential treatment method for Pelizaeus-Merzbacher disease (PMD), a fatal neurological disorder that produces severe movement, motor and cognitive dysfunction in children.

1 Jul 2020

Irresistin: a ‘poison arrow’ to defeat antibiotic resistance

News-Medical speaks to Dr. James Martin and Dr. Zemer Gitai from Princeton University about their research which led to the discovery of a new antibiotic.

1 Jul 2020

Striking CryoEM image of SARS-CoV-2

A new study by researchers from the UK and Germany and published on the preprint server bioRxiv in June 2020 reports the results of a detailed study of the S protein on the intact virus, using cryoelectron microscopy (cryoEM) and tomography. This could help understand the conformation of the S protein on the virion and how it interacts with neutralizing antibodies.

30 Jun 2020

Specific SARS-CoV-2 genetic elements found in different insect species

In a recent bioRxiv paper, researchers from Norway and the US demonstrate the presence of a highly conserved, mobile genetic element (thus far with unknown function) in genomes of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and a large number of insects – opening the door for hitherto unexplored treatment opportunities.

30 Jun 2020

Genomic sequencing to provide precision medicine for aromatase deficiency

An international team of scientists from Switzerland Spain, has studied the genetic basis of aromatase deficiency, a rare metabolic disorder that prevents the production of estrogens in humans, according to new research in JCEM.

30 Jun 2020

Spike protein and human ACE2 binding ability shows SARS-CoV-2 viral adaptation

A new study published on the preprint server bioRxiv in June 2020 reports some important findings that could shed light on this question. As the pandemic marches on, having claimed over 500,000 lives and caused well over 10 million infections to date, the task of defining and predicting factors that predispose to infectivity across species becomes ever more critical.

30 Jun 2020

Engineered immune cells attack solid-tumor cancer cells from humans and mice

A method known as CAR-T therapy has been used successfully in patients with blood cancers such as lymphoma and leukemia.

30 Jun 2020

Scientists discover osmotic stress as stimulator of cellular waste disposal

Cellular waste disposal, where autophagy and lysosomes interact, performs elementary functions, such as degrading damaged protein molecules, which impair cellular function, and reintroducing the resulting building blocks such as amino acids into the metabolic system.

29 Jun 2020

New model helps study human hippocampal neurons

Neuroscientists and stem cell researchers at Lund University in Sweden have developed a research model that allows studying human hippocampal neurons, the brain cells primarily affected by Alzheimer's disease pathology.

29 Jun 2020

Genomics used to trace origin of SARS-CoV-2 in Canada

A new study published in June 2020 on the preprint server bioRxiv discusses the use of phylogenetic analysis to trace the origin of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), and its spread into and then within Canada. The study findings may help optimize public health policies in the case of future outbreaks.

28 Jun 2020

Researchers identify a novel mutation through whole-exome sequencing

Long QT syndrome (LQTS), caused by an ion channel-related gene mutation, is a malignant heart disease with a clinical course of a high incidence of ventricular fibrillation and sudden cardiac death in the young.

27 Jun 2020

New rapid genomic testing can improve therapy selection for colorectal cancer patients

Genomic mutation testing is critical to therapeutic selection and management of patients with colorectal cancer. In a new multicenter study, researchers compared a new cartridge-based laboratory testing device called the Idylla automated system (Biocartis) to current standard-of-care testing methods.

26 Jun 2020

Towbin receives NIH grant to study modifier genes in cardiomyopathy

Jeffrey A. Towbin, MD, of Le Bonheur Children's Hospital and the University of Tennessee Health Science Center was awarded a Research Project Grant (R01) from the National Institutes of Health with co-principal investigators Enkhsaikha Purevjav, MD, PhD and Lu Lu, MD, MS.

26 Jun 2020