Virology News and Research

Latest Virology News and Research

GenVec announces data from respiratory syncytial virus vaccine program

GenVec, Inc. (Nasdaq: GNVC) announced today that data were presented on GenVec's respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine program at the "Keystone Symposium on Viral Immunity and Host Gene Influence", which is taking place in Keystone, Colorado from March 21-26, 2012.

26 Mar 2012

Researchers identify gene that influences how we respond to flu infection

A genetic finding could help explain why influenza becomes a life-threating disease to some people while it has only mild effects in others. New research led by the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute has identified for the first time a human gene that influences how we respond to influenza infection.

26 Mar 2012

Alcohol linked to 25% increase in liver disease deaths

The first report from the fledgling National End of Life Care Intelligence Network warns that the victims of liver disease are getting younger, with deaths increasing among people in their forties. Deaths rose from 9,231 in 2001 to 11,575 in 2009; some 60% of these were men, and 90% of them were under 70. Deaths are more common in England's northern regions marked by high unemployment and low educational achievement.

25 Mar 2012

China SFDA approves Taibang's clinical trials for human fibrinogen

China Biologic Products, Inc., one of the leading plasma-based biopharmaceutical companies in the People's Republic of China, today announced that its indirectly owned subsidiary, Shandong Taibang Biological Products Co., Ltd., recently received approval from the China State Food and Drug Administration to begin clinical trials for its human fibrinogen to be used to treat congenital fibrinogen deficiency and acquired fibrinogen deficiency.

23 Mar 2012

Emergent receives NIAID grant to advance development of MVA85A TB vaccine

Emergent BioSolutions Inc. today announced that it has received a multi-year grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, to advance the development of MVA85A, a candidate vaccine against tuberculosis.

23 Mar 2012

VOA News examines polio eradication efforts in Pakistan

VOA News examines polio vaccination efforts in Pakistan, where "authorities say national pride is now at stake for polio eradication and they are hoping to overcome years of setbacks from natural disasters, misinformation and war."

22 Mar 2012

Extreme norovirus flexibility may allow for broad antibody recognition

Twenty million Americans get sick from norovirus each year according to data released last week by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Often called vomiting illness, it can spread rapidly on cruise ships, and in dormitories and hospitals. Recent data from the CDC shows deaths from gastrointestinal infections have more than doubled and have become a particular threat to the elderly.

22 Mar 2012

U of S professor receives Canada Gairdner Wightman Award

University of Saskatchewan Professor Emeritus Lorne Babiuk has been awarded the prestigious Canada Gairdner Wightman Award in recognition of his accomplishments over three decades that include leading the U of S Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization (VIDO) to become a world centre for vaccine research, training and development.

22 Mar 2012

New method for in vivo study of unknown selenium metabolism

Spanish and Danish researchers have developed a method for the in vivo study of the unknown metabolism of selenium, an essential element for living beings. The technique can help clarify whether or not it possesses the anti-tumour properties that have been attributed to it and yet have not been verified through clinical trials.

22 Mar 2012

Study finds higher death rate in calorie-restricted models of IBD

In a surprising result, Michigan State University researchers looking at the effects of diet on bowel disease found that mice on a calorie-restricted diet were more likely to die after being infected with an inflammation-causing bacterial pathogen in the colon.

21 Mar 2012

Cannabinoid drugs can directly inhibit HIV in late-stage AIDS

Mount Sinai School of Medicine researchers have discovered that marijuana-like chemicals trigger receptors on human immune cells that can directly inhibit a type of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) found in late-stage AIDS, according to new findings published online in the journal PLoS ONE.

21 Mar 2012

GeoVax enters into definitive agreements to sell Series A convertible preferred stock

GeoVax Labs, Inc., an Atlanta-based biopharmaceutical firm developing vaccines to prevent and fight Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infections, announced today that it has entered into definitive agreements with certain institutional investors, pursuant to which the Company has agreed to sell shares of its Series A convertible preferred stock at an aggregate purchase price of approximately $2.2 million and Series A warrants to purchase up to an aggregate of 2,933,333 shares of GeoVax common stock with an exercise price of $1.00 per share and a term of five years.

21 Mar 2012

Jennerex initiates JX-594 plus irinotecan Phase 1/2 trial in metastatic colorectal cancer

Jennerex, Inc., a private clinical-stage biotherapeutics company focused on the development and commercialization of first-in-class targeted oncolytic virus products for cancer, today announced that the first patient has been treated in a Phase 1/2 clinical trial of JX-594 in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer who have become refractory to chemotherapy and are either refractory to or ineligible for cetuximab.

20 Mar 2012

Chemists produce first high resolution structure of HCV viral RNA-inhibitor complex

Chemists at the University of California, San Diego have produced the first high resolution structure of a molecule that when attached to the genetic material of the hepatitis C virus prevents it from reproducing.

20 Mar 2012

Mayo Clinic researchers train mouse immune systems to eradicate skin cancer from within

Mayo Clinic researchers have trained mouse immune systems to eradicate skin cancer from within, using a genetic combination of human DNA from melanoma cells and a cousin of the rabies virus. The strategy, called cancer immunotherapy, uses a genetically engineered version of the vesicular stomatitis virus to deliver a broad spectrum of genes derived from melanoma cancer cells directly into tumors.

20 Mar 2012

Study identifies new hypervariable regions in human gut viruses

A growing body of evidence underscores the importance of human gut bacteria in modulating human health, metabolism, and disease. Yet bacteria are only part of the story. Viruses that infect those bacteria also shape who we are. Frederic D. Bushman, PhD, professor of Microbiology at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, led a study published this month in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that sequenced the DNA of viruses -- the virome -- present in the gut of healthy people.

20 Mar 2012

Groundbreaking cystic fibrosis clinical trial to proceed after renewed funding

The team of scientists based in Edinburgh, Oxford and London were developing a treatment which involves putting genes into the lungs of patients suffering the fatal, inherited wasting disease, passed early clinical trials in 2010. But the recession badly affected the Cystic Fibrosis Trust, the charity that had funded the programme, and work had to stop last year just as the consortium was closing in on its goal.

19 Mar 2012

Largest ever academic-industry research project to find new drugs for ASD

An international consortium of scientists, led by Roche, King's College London, and Autism Speaks, is collaborating on one of the largest ever academic-industry research projects to find new methods for the development of drugs for autism spectrum disorder.

From CSL Ltd 19 Mar 2012

Study reveals how Bdnf gene mutation contributes to severe obesity

Researchers at Georgetown University Medical Center have revealed how a mutation in a single gene is responsible for the inability of neurons to effectively pass along appetite suppressing signals from the body to the right place in the brain. What results is obesity caused by a voracious appetite.

19 Mar 2012

DA4S's fifth annual networking conference and EXPO to take place from May 21-23

On May 21-23, 2012, Diversity Alliance for Science, Inc., a non-profit organization created to support, mentor, and develop minority-, woman-, veteran/service-disabled-, HUBZone-, and LGBT-owned, life sciences businesses, will host its fifth annual networking conference and EXPO event.

17 Mar 2012