Virology News and Research

Latest Virology News and Research

Virotherapy treatment kills prostate cancer cells

A new study appearing in The Prostate has found that certain measles virus vaccine strain derivatives, including a strain known as MV-CEA, may prove to be an effective treatment for patients with advanced prostate cancer.

21 Jan 2009

Potential new target in the war on HIV/AIDS

The study revealed that a variant of a protein involved in HIV pathogenesis can suppress production of an HIV protein, known as Nef. Nef is required for the human immunodeficiency virus to develop into AIDS through a series of complex events involving viral elements and cellular proteins. Nef has never been a target for drug treatment in HIV patients.

21 Jan 2009

Topical microbicide protects against genital herpes

A topical microbicide that silences two genes can safely protect against genital herpes infection for as long as one week, according to a joint study by researchers at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University and Harvard Medical School.

21 Jan 2009

Engineered virus targets and kills apparent cancer stem cells in neuroblastoma

After identifying an apparent population of cancer stem cells for neuroblastoma, researchers successfully used a reprogrammed herpes virus to block tumor formation in mice by targeting and killing the cells.

21 Jan 2009

Newly discovered protein acts as virus alarm

The Center for Molecular Medicine of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (CeMM) announces the discovery of a new molecular sensor in human cells capable of recognizing infecting viruses and transmitting an alarm signal to the body.

21 Jan 2009

Biotech venture seeks West Nile virus treatment from antibodies in geese

Rich Glynn, a straight-talking entrepreneur from South Dakota, doesn't mince words when explaining why a partnership between his fledgling goose operation and the University of North Dakota is a match made in heaven.

21 Jan 2009

Hope for a rabies eradication strategy in Africa

Most of the rabies virus circulating in dogs in western and central Africa comes from a common ancestor introduced to the continent around 200 years ago, probably by European colonialists.

21 Jan 2009

Queensland Dengue epidemic continues unabated

As the Dengue fever outbreak in Cairns continues unabated a health official has said the outbreak is the worst in Queensland since World War II times.

21 Jan 2009

Breakthrough in treatment of cancers and infectious diseases

Dr. André Veillette, a researcher at the Institut de recherches cliniques de Montréal (IRCM), and his team led by postdoctoral fellow Dr. Mario-Ernesto Cruz-Munoz, will publish in the upcoming issue of the prestigious journal Nature Immunology of Nature Publishing Group.

19 Jan 2009

CSL Behring receives FDA approval of RiaSTAP

CSL Behring announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted marketing approval for RiaSTAP(TM), the first and only treatment of acute bleeding episodes in patients with congenital fibrinogen deficiency, including afibrinogenemia and hypofibrinogenemia.

19 Jan 2009

Bird flu returns to China and claims another life

This latest outbreak has claimed the life of a young woman in eastern China and a young girl in the north of the country remains critically ill.

19 Jan 2009

Mutant host cell protein sequesters critical HIV-1 element

Scientists have identified a new way to inhibit a molecule that is critical for HIV pathogenesis.

19 Jan 2009

European viral epidemic linked to global warming

An epidemic of the viral disease nephropathia epidemica (NE) has been linked to increases in the vole population caused by hotter summers, milder winters and increased seedcrop production by broadleaf trees.

19 Jan 2009

Biologically tagged nanowires integrated onto circuit chips

A handheld, ultra-portable device that can recognize and immediately report on a wide variety of environmental or medical compounds may eventually be possible, using a method that incorporates a mixture of biologically tagged nanowires onto integrated circuit chips, according to Penn State researchers.

19 Jan 2009

Advaxis wins European patent case involving Lovaxin-C vaccine

The European Patent Court in Munich, Germany has ruled in favor of Advaxis Incorporated and reversed a patent challenge made by Anza Therapeutics, Inc., formerly Cerus Corp.

15 Jan 2009

Infection with hepatitis C virus may increase pancreatic cancer risk

A new study shows that infection with hepatitis C virus (HCV) increases a person's risk for a highly fatal cancer of the biliary tree, the bile carrying pathway between the liver and pancreas.

13 Jan 2009

Open plan offices a health hazard!

Australian researchers have found evidence which supports the sneaky suspicion held by many that working in an open plan office could be a health hazard.

13 Jan 2009

Blood type - new weapon in battle against HIV infection

Researchers have discovered a potentially important new resistance factor in the battle against HIV: blood types.

12 Jan 2009

Researchers solve structure of key Ebola protein

Research led by Iowa State University scientists has them a step closer to finding a way to counter the Ebola virus.

12 Jan 2009

Less than seven hours of sleep may mean more colds

Individuals who get less than seven hours of sleep per night appear about three times as likely to develop respiratory illness following exposure to a cold virus as those who sleep eight hours or more, according to a report in the January 12 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine , one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

12 Jan 2009