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CDC researchers analyze the earliest batch of COVID-19 tests

The earliest batch of COVID-19 tests distributed by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) exhibited false positive reactivity of negative controls due to flaws in assay design and contamination in one of the assay components, according to a CDC internal investigation published this week in the open-access journal PLOS ONE.

15 Dec 2021

Novel bioinformatics pipeline for fast and scalable analysis of large viral phylogenies

A team of researchers recently developed a bioinformatics approach to analyze viral phylogenetic clusters.

15 Dec 2021

Australian researchers develop new technique to uncover genes involved in congenital heart disease

One in every 100 babies is born with a congenital heart disease (CHD), and CHD is the major cause of death in newborns – however the genetic cause of these developmental disorders is not fully understood, hindering the development of accurate pre-natal genetic testing.

15 Dec 2021

Containing a Nipah virus outbreak amidst the COVID-19 pandemic

A new study deals with a single case of Nipah virus that occurred in 2021, with no discoverable chain of transmission, apparently ending with the death of the index patient in Kerala.

15 Dec 2021

Exploring the impact of DNA nanoswitches in RNA purification

A new study reports a tool to enable RNA purification by sequence, helping to determine the structure, chemical modifications, and interactions between different RNA molecules.

15 Dec 2021

Depixus Raises EUR 30.6M (USD 35.4M) in Series A Financing

Depixus®, a biotechnology company, today announces it has raised EUR 30.6 million in an oversubscribed Series A financing.

From Depixus® 15 Dec 2021

How fast has the Omicron strain been spreading in South Africa?

Scientists have shown the exponential growth of the Omicron strain found in Gauteng. They reported the doubling time of this strain to be equal to 3.38 days by analyzing its growth from November 8 to December 5, 2021. Based on the mutation accumulation profile, researchers revealed that this strain began to diverge between October 28 and November 5, 2021.

15 Dec 2021

Study provides new insights into molecular drivers of treatment resistance in prostate cancer

An international research team co-led by scientists at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center and The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute has identified an important accelerator of treatment-resistant prostate cancer.

14 Dec 2021

Interaction between SARS-CoV-2 N-protein and Parkinson's protein speeds up amyloid formation

Case reports of relatively young COVID-19 patients who developed Parkinson's disease within weeks of contracting the virus have led scientists to wonder if there could be a link between the two conditions.

14 Dec 2021

Omicron evades immunity more than other SARS-CoV-2 variants

Researchers find that the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant shows a much more extensive escape from vaccine-elicited immunity.

14 Dec 2021

Correlation between idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and COVID-19

A new study investigates the genetic overlap between COVID-19 and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis to identify possible shared biological mechanisms.

14 Dec 2021

Nanotrap particles can improve current sequencing workflows of SARS-CoV-2

New research uses an affinity-based magnetic hydrogel particle enrichment technology (Nanotrap particle enrichment technology) that can concentrate viral particles, leading to improved detection of many viral agents including SARS-CoV-2

14 Dec 2021

Flawed genetic switches could be at the origin of malformations or developmental diseases

Embryonic development follows delicate stages: for everything to go well, many genes must coordinate their activity according to a very meticulous scheme and tempo. This precision mechanism sometimes fails, leading to more or less disabling malformations.

14 Dec 2021

Omicron variant may strike double vaccinated

Largely, scientists are skeptical that the Omicron variant can infect vaccinated individuals. However, a new study published on the medRxiv* preprint server has conducted neutralization assays using an Omicron isolate obtained from patients residing in the United Kingdom.

13 Dec 2021

CRISPR-Cas enzyme-based diagnostics to detect SARS-CoV-2 infection

A recent review in the journal Life provided a detailed description of CRISPR-Cas-based diagnostic techniques to identify severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection, but also emphasized the potential use of this technology towards developing effective molecular diagnostic platforms for any future pandemic.

13 Dec 2021

Scientists describe dynamic genomic landscape of tumor heterogeneity in hepatocellular carcinoma

Clinician scientists and scientists from the National Cancer Centre Singapore and A*STAR's Genome Institute of Singapore, in collaboration with Singapore General Hospital, the National University Health System, Duke-NUS Medical School, Nanyang Technological University, and collaborators from China, Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines, have described a dynamic genomic landscape of tumour heterogeneity in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

13 Dec 2021