Pathogen News and Research

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LGC acquires The Native Antigen Company, strengthening its offer to the IVD sector

Today, LGC announced the acquisition of The Native Antigen Company (NAC), one of the world’s leading suppliers of high quality infectious disease antigens and antibodies.

9 Jul 2020

Ozone gas can provide a safe means to disinfect personal protective equipment

A new study shows that ozone gas, a highly reactive chemical composed of three oxygen atoms, could provide a safe means for disinfecting certain types of personal protective equipment that are in high demand for shielding health care personnel from Covid-19.

9 Jul 2020

Tracing adaptation to ACE2 use in sarbecoviruses

A detailed study published on the preprint server bioRxiv in July 2020 argues that recombination accounts for the appearance of the ability of both SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2 to use the human angiotensin-converting enzyme (hACE) 2 as the binding receptor mediating viral infection of human cells.

8 Jul 2020

A biomaterial vaccine for SARS-CoV-2 - quick and scalable

A recent 'tour-de-force' research endeavor, led by scientists from Harvard University, explored the propensity of a biomaterial vaccine based on mesoporous silica rods to spawn highly protective humoral responses against relevant antigens of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2).

8 Jul 2020

New technology can rapidly disrupt existing biofilms that account for chronic diseases

Chronic and recurrent bacterial diseases are treatment-resistant due to the ability of the pathogens to establish biofilms, which act as fortresses built of extracellular DNA and proteins to protect populations of the bacteria.

8 Jul 2020

EPA approves Lysol products that kill SARS-CoV-2 on surfaces

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) just approved two disinfection sprays that can kill severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the virus that causes the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), on surfaces.

8 Jul 2020

Coronavirus study shows herd immunity is infeasible

Herd immunity has been one of the key topics amid the coronavirus pandemic. Previous reports show that when a large proportion of the population gets immune to the novel coronavirus, through vaccination, herd immunity can be achieved.

7 Jul 2020

Faulty immune response to SARS-CoV-2 one of the main causes of death

A new study published on the preprint server medRxiv in July 2020 describes the organ and tissue-specific spread of the virus causing the current COVID-19 pandemic, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2).

7 Jul 2020

$5 million gift aims to propel Lyme disease research and education

To the Fairbairns, the symptoms--debilitating fatigue, joint pain, cognitive problems--were as worrisome as they were mystifying. All four members of the family had them.

6 Jul 2020

Researchers find possible cause for SARS-CoV-2 reactive T cells in uninfected individuals

The current pandemic of COVID-19 is caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) -2, leading to severe pneumonia, acute respiratory distress syndrome, and death in a sizable minority of cases. However, the most significant number are asymptomatic or have only mild infection from which they rapidly recover.

2 Jul 2020

Ceftolozane/tazobactam combo broadens the range of antibiotic therapy, but shows no hint of added benefit

The combination of ceftolozane with tazobactam broadens the range of antibiotic therapy in adults with severe infections of the lungs, the urinary tract, the renal pelvis and the abdominal cavity.

2 Jul 2020

Researchers unravel how the body fights off urinary tract infections

Anyone who has ever had cystitis knows that urinary tract infections of this kind are annoying and painful. They can be well treated by antibiotics, but may be fatal if left untreated.

2 Jul 2020

Scientists find coronavirus' Achilles' heel

A team of scientists at the University of California San Francisco has found out how SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) invades proteins in the cells that serve as master regulators of key cellular processes.

1 Jul 2020

New tool to increase accessibility for COVID-19 testing

A research group from the University of California Santa Barbara recently demonstrated a cost-effective, simple, and much less toxic method to isolate host and pathogen nucleic acids and proteins in order to streamline the detection of DNA and RNA viruses – including the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2).

1 Jul 2020

Researchers discover a protein that protects B cells from stress-induced cell death

Whenever a germ gets into the human body, the immune system usually responds immediately to fight off the enemy attacker. One of our defense system's most important strategies involves B lymphocytes, also known as B cells, which produce antibodies that target and neutralize pathogens.

1 Jul 2020

UMass Amherst biostatistician awarded federal grants to support research on pandemic forecasting

University of Massachusetts Amherst biostatistician Nicholas Reich has been awarded grants from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to support innovation and expansion in his groundbreaking pandemic forecasting work.

1 Jul 2020

Study reveals a new target for tuberculosis drug development

Biology students and faculty members from The University of Texas at El Paso have discovered a new target for tuberculosis drug development.

1 Jul 2020

SARS-CoV-2 circulating in Brazil back in November 2019

The finding, published on the preprint server medRxiv in June 2020, shows that it has been causing infection in Brazil long before the first case was reported in the Americas, North and South, in January 2020, and certainly before the first case in this Brazilian region.

1 Jul 2020

New approach holds incredible potential for developing new therapeutics

Nearly every drug that is, or has ever been, used was derived from nature -- harnessing compounds created by organisms over eons to fight diseases. But decades ago, biochemists postulated that it might be possible to design a new drug from scratch by linking up amino acids in precise ways.

30 Jun 2020

'Mini-brains' can be infected by SARS-CoV-2 virus

A multidisciplinary team from two Johns Hopkins University institutions, including neurotoxicologists and virologists from the Bloomberg School of Public Health and infectious disease specialists from the school of medicine, has found that organoids (tiny tissue cultures made from human cells that simulate whole organs) known as "mini-brains" can be infected by the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19.

30 Jun 2020