Chimpanzee News and Research

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Experts discover a rare heart bone in chimpanzees

Experts from the University of Nottingham have discovered that some chimpanzees have a bone in their heart, which could be vital in managing their health and conservation.

10 Jun 2020

Designing a prototype spike protein vaccine for SARS-CoV-2

A recent study published on the preprint server bioRxiv in June 2020 reports the development of a prototype vaccine containing multiple antigenic sites, based on the spike protein of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) that is causing the current COVID-19 pandemic. If successful, this could lead to the development of an effective, non-allergenic vaccine that induces both humoral and cellular immunity.

4 Jun 2020

A vectored vaccine candidate against SARS-CoV-2

The current pandemic of COVID-19 is caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), a betacoronavirus similar to that which caused the SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV earlier. Scientists are pursuing therapeutic drugs and vaccines to counter the relentless spread of the virus, but so far, none has been established to be effective. However, several are in clinical trials in various parts of the world.

2 Jun 2020

Chimpanzee communication provides clues to human speech-rhythm evolution

One of the most promising theories for the evolution of human speech has finally received support from chimpanzee communication, in a study conducted by a group of researchers led by the University of Warwick.

27 May 2020

Oxford University vaccine prevents SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia in rhesus macaques

As the world continues to grapple with the coronavirus pandemic, many scientists, institutions, and pharmaceutical companies are working hard to develop an effective vaccine.

18 May 2020

Study: Regulatory switches involved in knee development also play a role in osteoarthritis

The human knee is a triumph of design. The joint, which evolved fairly rapidly from our common ancestor with the chimpanzee to accommodate our bipedalism, likely contributed to our success as a species.

8 Apr 2020

Study highlights a new way to identify antibiotic resistance genes

Apes in U.S. zoos host bacterial communities in their intestinal tracts that are more similar to those of people who eat a non-Western diet than to the gut makeup of their wild ape cousins, according to a new study from Washington University in St. Louis.

7 Apr 2020

Tiger with SARS-CoV-2 infection demostrates reverse zoonosis

Some viruses come from animals and jump to humans to cause disease. In the case of the novel coronavirus, now known as the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), it is thought to have come from bats, jumped to an intermediate animal host, and then onto humans. But can the virus leap from humans to other animals?

6 Apr 2020

Altruism may begin in infancy

A new study published in February 2020 n the open-access journal Scientific Reports, from the Nature Publishing group, reports that altruism may be born rather than cultivated in human beings. The study was carried out by researchers at the University of Washington's Institute for Learning & Brain Sciences, or I-LABS, and centers around the act of giving food away sacrificially.

4 Feb 2020

GlobalData: China can use the lessons learnt from SARS epidemic to control Wuhan coronavirus

Following the news that cases of people infected with the Wuhan coronavirus rose to more than 270 laboratory-confirmed cases and the virus may spread from human-to-human.

22 Jan 2020

Study on chimpanzees shows maternal presence, maternal social status can impact offspring

The prolonged periods of juvenility and nutritional dependence that are characteristic of human development are thought to facilitate brain and somatic growth in children, as well as provide opportunities to learn and accumulate skills required for a productive adult life. In chimpanzees, the benefits of continuing to associate with mothers after becoming nutritionally independent are less well understood.

7 Jan 2020

Competition between groups has negative effects on wild chimpanzees' reproductive success

Both species, humans and chimpanzees, can be extremely territorial, and territorial disputes between groups can turn violent, with individuals killing each other. In humans, such between-group competition can escalate to war and devastating loss of human life.

3 Jan 2020

Wild polio virus strain 3 finally conquered say scientists

World Polio day is observed on the 24th of October. This year on the day officials announced that one of the three strains of the wild polio virus has been finally wiped out due to persistent vaccination efforts across the globe.

26 Oct 2019

Improved mapping of genomes from 1,000 Swedish individuals

In so-called whole genome sequencing, surveys are made of the total genome of an individual. It is still relatively rare in healthcare today, but it occurs at an increasing rate, for example in order to make an accurate diagnosis in the case of a rare disease.

25 Sep 2019

Study uncovers new DNA sequences in Swedish genomes

People - or more specifically just Swedes - are more like chimpanzees than previously known. This is indicated in a genetic mapping of one thousand Swedish individuals, where new DNA sequences that should be included in the reference genome have been identified.

24 Sep 2019

Community-based wildlife mortality surveillance program could help prevent Ebola outbreaks

Human Ebola epidemics, like the current outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo, are known to start from a contact with wildlife infected with Ebola virus. In

29 Aug 2019

Monkey-infecting virus shows promise as potential component of future HIV vaccine

A protein from Simian Immunodeficiency Virus, which can infect monkeys and apes, has shown promise as a potential component of a vaccine against Human Immunodeficiency Virus, in a new study from scientists at Scripps Research in La Jolla, California.

22 May 2019

Groundbreaking research could lead to a simple, inexpensive test for Ebola virus

In a breakthrough that could lead to a simple and inexpensive test for Ebola virus disease, researchers have generated two antibodies to the deadly virus.

7 May 2019

Universal pan-filovirus T-cell vaccine could offer protection against Ebola and Marburg

Vaccines that induce protective T-cell responses could protect against members across the filovirus family, according to a study published February 28 in the open-access journal PLOS Pathogens by Tomáš Hanke of the University of Oxford, Bette Korber of the Los Alamos National Laboratory, and colleagues.

4 Mar 2019

New study provides insights into developmental organization of the brain

What makes us human, and where does this mysterious property of "humanness" come from? Humans are genetically similar to chimpanzees and bonobos, yet there exist obvious behavioral and cognitive differences.

13 Feb 2019