Genetic Recombination News and Research

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Does SARS-CoV-2's ability to infect humans stem from its evolutionary past?

Study challenges the hypothesis of genetic recombination in SARS-CoV-2's evolution, suggesting its ancestral virus already possessed human-infecting traits, based on analyses of over 100 viral genomes.

7 Jan 2024

Scientists warn of potential pitfalls when using the Cre-LoxP system in cancer research

A new editorial paper was published in Oncoscience (Volume 10) on November 14, 2023, entitled, "Be mindful of potential pitfalls when using the Cre-LoxP system in cancer research."

1 Dec 2023

New tool provides insight into the developmental history of certain immune cells

A new tool that can uncover the developmental history of certain immune cells is now freely available worldwide. The tool provides insights into the stages that immune cells go through in a healthy individual and how this can be impacted in disease.

13 Apr 2023

Researchers review bacteriophage treatment

Researchers presented an overview of bacteriophage treatment, including mechanisms, types, design and applications of bacteriophage therapy.

10 Jan 2023

Research explores cell receptors for bat viruses to understand emergence of zoonotic diseases

New research shows that the closest bat virus relatives of the human Middle-East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) coronavirus efficiently bind to bat ACE2 receptors as an entry point into these cells.

8 Dec 2022

Scientists investigate the evolutionary origin of SARS-CoV-2 using recombination-aware phylogenetic analysis

A study has employed Bacter to identify recombination events with the RBD regions of the Sarbecovirus genome.

25 Nov 2022

Survey assesses prevalence of H5N8 influenza in birds

The prevalence of the avian influenza H5N8 virus among birds and its pervasiveness based on geographical locations and time-point.

13 Nov 2022

UAB researchers report lack of predictability for fecal microbial transplants without prior antibiotic therapy

A fecal microbial transplant -; giving a recipient fecal matter from a donor to change the recipient's gut microbial community in the colon -; has been a successful last resort therapy for people with recurrent Clostridium difficile infection after multiple rounds of suppressive antibiotics have eliminated the recipient microbial community.

4 Nov 2022

Study detects ten avian influenza A viruses in poultry from four provinces in China

Researchers identified 10 avian influenza A(H5N6) viruses in poultry from four Chinese provinces, with immune-evasion and complex genetic recombination potential.

14 Jul 2022

SARS-CoV-2 recombinant isolated from chronic COVID-19 patient

A new research paper in the journal Viruses reports the isolation of a recombinant strain in a patient infected with the virus for over a year.

13 Jun 2022

Better understanding of hybrid parasite strains could improve Chagas disease diagnosis

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden have mapped how the parasite Trypanosoma cruzi forms new variants that are more effective at evading the immune system and causing disease.

10 May 2022

Evolution of SARS-CoV-2 variants

Research has demonstrated the evolutionary process and biology of SARS-CoV-2, the causative pathogen of the COVID-19 pandemic.

21 Apr 2022

Study investigates recombinant SARS-CoV-2 variants in immunocompromised individuals

Researchers identified the recombination of two SARS-CoV-2 variants.

28 Mar 2022

Multiple inter-variant recombination events identified in Omicron subvariants

Newly emerging and circulating Omicron subvariants have originated partially through recombination with other variants.

20 Mar 2022

Study finds co-infected individuals carrying two distinct lineages of SARS-CoV-2 in Argentina

Researchers used molecular surveillance to identify cases of co-infection with SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern Delta and Omicron reported in Argentina during December 2021 and January 2022.

17 Mar 2022

Computational study identifies key areas of the SARS-CoV-2 genome prone to mutation

By retrieving 329,942 severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) records from the GISAID database, researchers from a software company in Cambridge described genetic variability of SARS-CoV-2 in order to inform further studies. Their findings are currently available on the bioRxiv* preprint server while it undergoes peer review.

9 Aug 2021

New study examines B cell receptor repertoires in COVID-19 patients

In a paper recently uploaded to the preprint server bioRxiv* by Kim et al. (August 2, 2021), the B cell receptor repertoire of 1,060 COVID-19 patients is compared to that of an equal number of healthy volunteers in a novel manner, utilizing computational deep-learning-based protein embedding techniques, which demonstrate a resolution capable of tracking the changes in immunity in an individual over the course of infection.

5 Aug 2021

Novel coronavirus found in UK horseshoe bats

A coronavirus related to the virus that causes Covid-19 in humans has been found in UK horseshoe bats - according to new collaborative research from the University of East Anglia, ZSL (Zoological Society of London), and Public Health England (PHE).

19 Jul 2021

Researchers develop random priming amplification method for whole-genome sequencing of SARS-CoV-2 and H1N1

Researchers from the UK recently compared the performance of 4 different random priming amplification methods to recover SARS-CoV-2 RNA. In method 1 (H-P), the reverse transcriptase (RT) step included random hexamers, whereas, in methods 2-4, RT incorporated an octamer primer with a known tag. This study is published on the bioRxiv preprint server.

5 Jul 2021

Could the high rate of mutations bring about SARS-CoV-2's extinction in India?

A new study published on the preprint server bioRxiv in August 2020 shows the importance of uncovering the dynamics of the virus with particular attention to geographic variation.

19 Aug 2020