Pathogen News and Research

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Viewpoint: Could infectious pathogens play a role in Alzheimer's disease?

For researchers investigating Alzheimer's Disease (AD), a devastating neurodegenerative illness afflicting close to 6 million Americans, it is the best and worst of times.

18 Mar 2020

COVID-19 epidemic is the product of natural evolution, study finds

The novel SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus that emerged in the city of Wuhan, China, last year and has since caused a large scale COVID-19 epidemic and spread to more than 70 other countries is the product of natural evolution, according to findings published today in the journal Nature Medicine.

17 Mar 2020

Can you get the coronavirus twice?

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has rippled across the globe, spanning 155 countries with infections. The virus has touched all continents, except Antarctica, making it a global pandemic. The novel coronavirus has now infected more than 196,000 worldwide, while more than 7,800 have succumbed to the viral infection.

17 Mar 2020

Experts provide evidence to support the feasibility of coronavirus mobile app for instant contact tracing

A team of medical research and bioethics experts at Oxford University are supporting several European governments to explore the feasibility of a coronavirus mobile app for instant contact tracing.

17 Mar 2020

New type of artificial binding proteins for blocking sugar structures on cell surfaces

The laboratory directed by Arne Skerra, Professor of Biological Chemistry, has its focus on designing artificial binding proteins for therapeutic applications.

17 Mar 2020

You can now donate to a COVID-19 WHO, UN response fund

Now that the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is officially a global pandemic, everyone has one common goal, keep everybody safe from the deadly disease. To strengthen the response against the rapid spread of the virus, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations have partnered to curb the pandemic, as they launched the COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund.

16 Mar 2020

UK walks back from ‘herd immunity' plan

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak is running rampant across the globe, with more people infected and dying from the contagious disease. Europe is now considered the new epicenter of the global pandemic as Italy and Spain reports thousands of infections occurring every day.

16 Mar 2020

Bacteria multiply and grow into biofilms like settlers form cities

Microbiologists have long adopted the language of human settlement to describe how bacteria live and grow: They "invade" and "colonize." Relations dwelling in close proximity are "colonies."

13 Mar 2020

Max Planck researchers identify mechanistic basis of antigen receptor gene assembly

Adaptive immunity is a powerful defense mechanism in vertebrates. A finely tuned interplay of different cell types provides a pathogen-specific immune response to eliminate for example bacteria and viruses.

13 Mar 2020

Could rushing a coronavirus vaccine cause more harm?

Amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic that is rapidly spreading worldwide, scientists are becoming more concerned that rushing vaccine production to prevent the infection may do more harm than good to patients.

12 Mar 2020

COVID-19 spares children but they play a crucial role in its spread – What can be done?

The new coronavirus (COVID-19) mysteriously spares children from severe disease, but it does not mean they do not get it. Though children and teens do not appear so far to get sick COVID-19, they play a pivotal role in the spread of the deadly pathogen.

12 Mar 2020

Potential targets for immune responses to novel coronavirus identified

Within two months, SARS-CoV-2, a previously unknown coronavirus, has raced around globe, infecting over a 100,000 people with numbers continuing to rise quickly.

11 Mar 2020

Researchers discover human protein that potently inhibits coronavirus

A protein produced by the human immune system can potently inhibit several coronaviruses, including the one behind the current COVID-19 outbreak, an international team of investigators reports today. The research reveals that the LY6E protein impairs the coronavirus' ability to initiate infection, which could lead to treatments for the illness.

10 Mar 2020

CRISPR-Cas system can be used to effectively target colitis pathogen

Research at North Carolina State University shows that the CRISPR-Cas system can be used to effectively target and eliminate specific gut bacteria, in this case Clostridioides difficile, the pathogen that causes colitis - a chronic, degenerative disease of the colon.

10 Mar 2020

Individual responsibility to prevent the spread of COVID-19 is equally vital as government action

How individuals respond to government advice on preventing the spread of COVID-19 will be at least as important, if not more important, than government action, according to a new commentary from researchers at the University of Oxford and Imperial College London in the UK, and Utrecht University and the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment in the Netherlands.

7 Mar 2020

Researchers find previously unknown response within gut microbiome

The gut microbiome, which is a collection of numerous beneficial bacteria species, is key to our overall well-being and good health. Recent studies have linked the gut microbiome with several beneficial properties, such as aiding in the development of our immune system and warding off pathogen infections.

5 Mar 2020

Molecule-sized drills can target diseased cells and kill them in minutes

Molecule-sized drills do the damage they are designed to do. That's bad news for disease.

5 Mar 2020

Research shows how Chlamydia pathogen invades human cells

Together with scientists from Paris and Munich, a team of researchers working under Prof. Dr. Johannes Hegemann and Dr. Katja Moelleken has published these findings in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

5 Mar 2020