Virus News and Research

Latest Virus News and Research

Improving gene therapy safety with human kidney organoids

Ryuji Morizane, MD, PhD, of the Department of Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital, is the senior/corresponding author of a new paper published in Signal Transduction and Targeted Therapy, "AAV for gene therapy drives a nephrotoxic response via NFκB in kidney organoids."

19 Aug 2025

New strategies to tackle resistant foodborne pathogens

Innovative approaches in food and beverage analysis are transforming pathogen detection and control, emphasizing the role of natural compounds and sequencing.

19 Aug 2025

How a Réunion Island outbreak sparked France’s record chikungunya season

Mainland France recorded its earliest-ever local chikungunya outbreaks in May 2025, with 10 clusters (27 cases) across five regions, driven by travelers importing the virus from Réunion Island. The surge highlights growing vulnerability to mosquito-borne diseases in Europe as Aedes albopictus expands northward.

18 Aug 2025

Laboratory reagent contamination threatens accuracy of infectious disease research

A new study warns that contamination from laboratory reagents could be misleading scientists worldwide in their hunt for emerging infectious diseases.

18 Aug 2025

Bacteria and viruses team up to target cancer

Researchers at Columbia Engineering have built a cancer therapy that makes bacteria and viruses work as a team.

18 Aug 2025

It’s almost flu season. Should you still get a shot, and will insurance cover it?

For parents of school-aged children, the fall to-do list can seem ever-growing. Buy school supplies. Fill out endless school forms.

18 Aug 2025

Study links COVID-19 infection to accelerated blood vessel aging in women

A Covid infection, particularly in women, may lead to blood vessels aging around five years, according to research published in the European Heart Journal on 18th August, 2025.

18 Aug 2025

New AAV gene therapy reverses age-related macular degeneration

Neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD) is a progressive eye disease characterized by choroidal neovascularization and subretinal hemorrhage and exudation, leading to vision impairment. Current first-line treatment for nAMD are anti-VEGF agents, which has shown promising therapeutics outcomes.

18 Aug 2025

2025 Chikungunya outbreak: A global health challenge

Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) is a mosquito-borne alphavirus causing fever, severe joint pain, rash, and muscle aches, mainly transmitted by Aedes mosquitoes. As of 2025,

From Sino Biological Inc. 18 Aug 2025

Weill Cornell Medicine leads $14.9 million effort to develop personalized HIV cures

A multi-institutional team led by Weill Cornell Medicine has received a five-year, $14.9 million grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health, to find ways to remove latent HIV from the cells of individuals with HIV.

17 Aug 2025

New generation of CRISPR shows safer path to treating genetic diseases

A new generation of CRISPR technology developed at UNSW Sydney offers a safer path to treating genetic diseases like Sickle Cell, while also proving beyond doubt that chemical tags on DNA - often thought to be little more than genetic cobwebs - actively silence genes.

17 Aug 2025

Respiratory viruses awaken dormant breast cancer cells and raise relapse risk

Respiratory viruses such as influenza and COVID-19 can reactivate dormant breast cancer cells in the lungs, raising the risk of metastasis. The process is driven by IL-6–induced cell changes and immune suppression, with the highest recurrence risk soon after infection.

14 Aug 2025

GIPR signaling opens brain’s gate for GLP-1 weight-loss therapy

A Cell Metabolism study reveals that GIPR signaling in oligodendrocytes enhances brain access and weight-loss efficacy of GLP-1R agonists by increasing vascular permeability and targeting appetite-regulating neurons. This mechanism may explain why GIPR/GLP-1R co-agonists outperform single-agent therapies.

14 Aug 2025

Gene editing restores hearing and balance in adult mice with DFNA41 deafness

Zheng-Yi Chen, DPhil, associate scientist at the Eaton-Peabody Laboratories, and Ines and Fredrick Yeatts Chair in Otolaryngology, at Mass Eye and Ear, is the senior and co-corresponding author of a paper published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, "Single Dose Genome Editing Therapy Rescues Auditory and Vestibular Functions in Adult Mice with DFNA41 Deafness."

14 Aug 2025

COVID-19 increases risk of asthma and sinusitis while vaccination offers protection

People who have had COVID-19 are at increased risk of developing certain inflammatory diseases of the airways, such as asthma, hay fever and chronic sinusitis.

14 Aug 2025

Rare immune mutation unlocks universal antiviral protection

For a few dozen people in the world, the downside of living with a rare immune condition comes with a surprising superpower-the ability to fight off all viruses.

14 Aug 2025

‘Alternative facts’ aren’t a reason to skip vaccines

President Donald Trump's administrations have been notorious for an array of "alternative facts" — ranging from the relatively minor (the size of inaugural crowds) to threats to U.S. democracy, such as who really won the 2020 election.

14 Aug 2025

Study shows economic benefits of continued COVID-19 vaccination

As the nation gears up for the rollout of an updated COVID-19 vaccine, a new study shows the economic benefits of continued broad vaccination in adults.

14 Aug 2025

New diagnostic tool offers rapid, low-cost blood test for multiple diseases

Researchers at Arizona State University have developed a breakthrough diagnostic tool that could transform how quickly and reliably we detect illnesses like COVID-19, Ebola, AIDS or Lyme disease. The test uses just a single drop of blood, costs a couple of dollars and delivers results in only 15 minutes.

13 Aug 2025

Rising human adaptive potential seen in 2.3.4.4b clade of H5N1

In recent years, there has been growing concern over the H5N1 influenza virus. It was first identified in birds three decades ago and has now gradually found its way to humans.

12 Aug 2025