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Remnants of bird ovaries can be preserved in the fossil record, confirms study

A research team led by Dr. Alida Bailleul from the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (IVPP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has put one controversy to rest: whether or not remnants of bird ovaries can be preserved in the fossil record.

29 Jul 2020

Basigin/CD147 discarded as an accessory SARS-CoV-2 binding receptor

By using specialized assays customized to detect specific receptor interactions, researchers from the Wellcome Sanger Institute in Cambridge UK find no evidence for direct binding of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) spike protein to a transmembrane glycoprotein known as basigin.

28 Jul 2020

Experimental vaccine rapidly controls coronavirus in the upper and lower airways of nonhuman primates

Two doses of an experimental vaccine to prevent coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) induced robust immune responses and rapidly controlled the coronavirus in the upper and lower airways of rhesus macaques exposed to SARS-CoV-2, report scientists from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health. SARS-CoV-2 is the virus that causes COVID-19.

28 Jul 2020

Moderna coronavirus vaccine candidate moves to phase 3 with 30,000 participants

The world’s most significant coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine study is underway in the United States, with a planned 30,000 volunteers. The phase 3 clinical trial aims to examine the efficacy and safety of the candidate vaccine developed by the National Institutes of Health and Moderna Inc.

28 Jul 2020

Study provides insight into evolution of amyloid-β oligomer with temporary salt crystals

Alzheimer's disease is the leading cause of dementia worldwide and a major cause of disability. Now, researchers at Osaka University and Hokkaido University have shown that repeated precipitation-dissolution events of salt crystals do occur even at low salt concentrations in nanoscales, and that it can accelerate the aggregation of the neurotoxic amyloid-β peptides implicated in its pathogenesis.

27 Jul 2020

National clinical trial to test potential vaccine against SARS-CoV-2

UC San Diego Health and the Altman Clinical and Translational Research Institute, part of UC San Diego School of Medicine, will be sites for an accelerated national clinical trial to assess the efficacy and immunogenicity of a vaccine intended to protect against SARS-CoV-2, the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19.

25 Jul 2020

Study captures unexpected features of SARS-Cov-2 spike protein

The rod-like spike proteins on the surface of SARS CoV-2 are the tip of the spear of the COVID-19 pandemic.

22 Jul 2020

Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine elicits both neutralizing antibodies and T cell response

A new study published on the preprint server medRxiv by a research group from the U.S. and Germany indicates that a novel BNT162b1 RNA-based vaccine against coronavirus disease (COVID-19) induces functional and proinflammatory T cell responses in almost all participants – marking another landmark achievement for this promising vaccine candidate.

21 Jul 2020

A multi-omics single cell analysis on COVID-19

Now, a new study published on the preprint server medRxiv aims to analyze the immune response over time, using multi-omics in the study of a single cell.

21 Jul 2020

Doctor in Israel reinfected with COVID-19 three months after recovering

There is still a lot to learn about coronavirus disease (COVID-19), which is currently ravaging across the globe. Though scientists are slowly gaining a better understanding of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), it is still unclear if being infected once may provide long-lasting immunity against the novel coronavirus.

20 Jul 2020

Harvard scientists uncover the real reason behind goosebumps

If you've ever wondered why we get goosebumps, you're in good company -- so did Charles Darwin, who mused about them in his writings on evolution.

20 Jul 2020

Involvement of nicotine receptors in COVID-19

Researchers from the University of Bristol, Oxford Brookes University and the University of California San Diego neatly demonstrated how the spike protein of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) exhibits high affinity for nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs), with significant implications for coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pathology and infectivity. Their findings are published on the bioRxiv* preprint server.

20 Jul 2020

'Smart nanosheets' can help quickly isolate new types of proteins from mixtures

An interdisciplinary team from Frankfurt and Jena has developed a kind of bait with which to fish protein complexes out of mixtures.

20 Jul 2020

A new method for mechanical stimulation of neural cells

In addition to responding to electrical and chemical stimuli, many of the body's neural cells can also respond to mechanical effects, such as pressure or vibration.

20 Jul 2020

China's Ad5 vectored COVID-19 vaccine safe and induces immune response

A phase 2 trial of an Ad5 vectored COVID-19 vaccine candidate, conducted in China, has found that the vaccine is safe and induces an immune response, according to new research published in The Lancet.

20 Jul 2020

UC Riverside scientist to shed light on worm infections that escape detection by immune systems

It's likely that billions of people are unaware they have been infected with parasitic worms. A UC Riverside scientist has won $1.8 million to try and understand why.

20 Jul 2020

Hydroxychloroquine is not indicated for COVID-19 under any circumstances

The drug Hydroxychloroquine has long been studied as a treatment for malaria and autoimmune diseases. When the coronavirus pandemic spread across the globe, many countries resorted to using the drug in the hopes that it would improve outcomes of hospitalized patients affected by the coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

19 Jul 2020

Researchers determine how SARS-CoV-2 inhibits protein synthesis

Researchers from Munich and Ulm have determined how the pandemic coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 inhibits the synthesis of proteins in infected cells and shown that it effectively disarms the body's innate immune system.

19 Jul 2020

Novel nanospectroscopy measures biomolecular changes induced by drugs in human cells

Synchrotron InfraRed Nanospectroscopy has been used for the first time to measure biomolecular changes induced by a drug (amiodarone) within human cells (macrophages) and localized at 100 nanometre scale, i.e. two orders of magnitude smaller than the IR wavelength used as probe.

17 Jul 2020

Common antioxidant enzyme catalase as COVID-19 treatment

A new paper by researchers from the USA and China and published on the preprint server bioRxiv in July 2020 discusses a new drug based on the catalase enzyme, which could play a vital part in reducing the inflammation associated with progressive and severe COVID-19 disease.

17 Jul 2020