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New SARS-CoV-2 variants resistant to convalescent sera and and monoclonal antibodies

Researchers studying the effect of convalescent sera and monoclonal antibodies from recovered patients found the UK and South African SARS-CoV-2 variants are more resistant to neutralization compared to the wild-type virus.

25 Jan 2021

World's first fully reversible manipulation of the circadian clock

The Nagoya University Institute of Transformative Bio-Molecules research team of Designated Associate Professor Tsuyoshi Hirota, Postdoctoral Fellow Simon Miller, Professor Kenichiro Itami and graduate student Tsuyoshi Oshima (Research Fellowship for Young Scientists, JSPS), in collaboration with the group of Professor Ben Feringa and Postdoctoral Fellow Dušan Kolarski of Groningen University in the Netherlands, have achieved a world first: fully reversible manipulation of the period of the circadian clock using light, by exchanging part of a compound with a light-activated switch.

25 Jan 2021

New drug screening platform identifies inhibitors of SARS-CoV-2

Researchers in the UK and the United States have developed a stem-cell-based screening platform for identifying compounds that inhibit infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) – the causative agent for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

25 Jan 2021

UK COVID-19 death to case ratio increased in December 2020, say researchers

Researchers in Scotland have conducted a study showing that the proportion of deaths due to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) resulting from infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) increased in the UK after November 2020.

25 Jan 2021

Scientists develop a model to track viral load in COVID-19 patients

Scientists from the University of Alberta, Canada, have developed a model to determine patient-specific viral load curves for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The data obtained from this model can be used in other higher-level models to evaluate the physiological and pathological impacts of virus infection and determine patient risks.

25 Jan 2021

Bispecific antibody shows efficacy against new SARS-CoV-2 variants

A team of international scientists has recently developed a bispecific antibody that can bind two non-overlapping regions of the spike receptor-binding domain of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and completely prevent the viral-host interaction.

25 Jan 2021

European soccer players may have up to 3.5 times higher risk for COVID-19

As efforts are underway to keep the season going under existing restrictions, a preprint research paper appearing on the medRxiv server describes the estimated incidence and the risk of infection with the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) among European soccer players.

25 Jan 2021

Study identifies early warnings of COVID-19 outbreak on Twitter posts

Even before public announcements of the first cases of COVID-19 in Europe were made, at the end of January 2020, signals that something strange was happening were already circulating on social media.

25 Jan 2021

Study looks at anxiety of HCW during the COVID-19 pandemic

The study reveals that healthcare workers from Saudi Arabia suffer from a high level of anxiety due to a higher risk of acquiring severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection. The study is currently available on the medRxiv* preprint server.

24 Jan 2021

Transcriptional regulator BRD2 as a potential therapeutic target for COVID-19

A team of international scientists has demonstrated that therapeutic inhibition of a transcriptional regulator BRD2, required for the endogenous expression of angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2), can potentially suppress severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection. The study is currently available on the bioRxiv* preprint server.

24 Jan 2021

Researchers show how to estimate long-term efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines

Researchers at the University of North Carolina and the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Washington have developed a way to evaluate vaccines' long-term efficacy against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) – the agent that causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

24 Jan 2021

Study examines risk factors for developing ME/CFS in college students after infectious mononucleosis

Many college students fully recover from infectious mononucleosis (which is almost always caused by Epstein-Barr virus) within 1-6 weeks, but some go on to develop chronic fatigue syndrome, also called myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME/CFS).

22 Jan 2021

Lack of sleep, stress, mental health problems can lead to PCS-like symptoms

A new study suggests that a lot of people might be going through life with symptoms that resemble concussion - a finding supporting researchers' argument that athletes recovering from a brain injury should be assessed and treated on a highly individualized basis.

22 Jan 2021

Novel neutralizing antibodies targeting SARS-CoV-2 N-terminal domain discovered

A new study by US-based researchers shows the presence of protective antibodies that target the N-terminal domain (NTD) of the spike instead of the spike receptor-binding domain (RBD).

22 Jan 2021

How have new SARS-CoV-2 strains become more transmissible?

A new study discusses the effect of specific mutations on the sensitivity of SARS-CoV-2's spike protein to elastase, and on the intramolecular conformational changes.

22 Jan 2021

Researchers update automated computation tool for SARS-CoV-2 genome analysis

Researchers updated a previous version of an automated tool to include SARS-CoV-2 genome analysis. Genome analysis using the freely available software could help track the evolution of the virus and promptly identify variants that increase viral transmission or virulence.

22 Jan 2021

SARS-CoV-2’s nonstructural proteins dysregulate immune responses, study finds

Researchers provide an overview of SARS-CoV-2 and its life cycle pathways, addressing the functional changes in the viral proteins, providing important strategic clues to help that may help in the ongoing development of therapies against COVID-19.

22 Jan 2021

Does hypertension always lead to severe COVID-19?

Researchers have developed some prognostic factors to predict the severity of COVID-19 among hypertensive patients.

22 Jan 2021

Study identifies a host of agents with anti-SARS-CoV-2 potential

A team of researchers at the Genomics Research Center, Academia Sinica, in Taiwan, evaluated the efficacy of 2,855 agents against SARS-CoV-2.

22 Jan 2021

A traditional Chinese medicine could help treat COVID‐19 symptoms

A team of researchers in China – at Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine and Yunnan University of Chinese Medicine – recently explored the therapeutic properties of Yinqiao powder in treating COVID-19 symptoms. Their findings were recently published in Phytotherapy Research.

22 Jan 2021