Virus News and Research

Latest Virus News and Research

Monash expert can discuss the significance of R number in COVID-19 infections

A Monash University expert is available to discuss the significance of rate of virus speed (R number), and how the delta variant R number differs from other COVID-19 strains.

2 Jul 2021

Expanding covid-19 symptom list could help improve the UK’s pandemic response

The UK should expand its official list of symptoms for defining covid-19 to prevent cases being missed and help improve the UK’s pandemic response, say experts in The BMJ today.

2 Jul 2021

Stool transplant may be worth exploring as treatment option for COVID-19

It might be worth exploring stool transplant to treat COVID-19 infection, suggest doctors in a letter published online in the journal Gut, after they used the procedure in two patients to prevent the recurrence of another bacterial infection.

2 Jul 2021

Unprecedented lobbying effort scores big win for California public health

After more than a decade of fruitless entreaties from public health advocates, Democratic lawmakers have secured a landmark agreement that promises $300 million a year in new state funding to fortify and reimagine California's hollowed-out public health system, a complex network of services shouldered largely by the state's 61 local health departments.

2 Jul 2021

Replication of SARS-CoV-2 in nasal ciliated cells could provide a new vaccination target

Researchers have found that nasal ciliated cells are targeted at the onset of COVID-19 infection, which may help to establish nasal mucosal immunity.

2 Jul 2021

Immunity to SARS-CoV-2 could last longer than originally believed

One year after infection by SARS-CoV-2, most people maintain anti-Spike antibodies regardless of the severity of their symptoms, according to a study with healthcare workers co-led by the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), the Catalan Health Institute (ICS) and the Jordi Gol Institute (IDIAP JG), with the collaboration of the Daniel Bravo Andreu Private Foundation.

2 Jul 2021

SwabSeq platform offers a potential solution for massive COVID-19 testing

In an article appearing in Nature Biomedical Engineering, a team of scientists from the UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine and UCLA School of Engineering report real-world results on SwabSeq, a high-throughput testing platform that uses sequencing to test thousands of samples at a time to detect COVID-19.

2 Jul 2021

Vaccines grown in eggs can lead to an off-target antibody response

Over years of studying antibody responses against the flu in the Wilson lab at the University of Chicago, researchers kept coming up with a strange finding: antibodies that seemed to bind not only to the flu virus but to every virus the lab could throw at them.

2 Jul 2021

Research associates prior encounter with seasonal coronavirus to milder COVID-19 symptoms

A study by Stanford University School of Medicine investigators hints that people with COVID-19 may experience milder symptoms if certain cells of their immune systems "remember" previous encounters with seasonal coronaviruses -- the ones that cause about a quarter of the common colds kids get.

2 Jul 2021

Is there a link between circadian rhythms and COVID-19 severity?

This study showed that the time of day of SARS-CoV-2 infection could impact the severity of the viral infection and the host immune response.

1 Jul 2021

Engineered T cells prevent translational shutdown in SARS-CoV-2 infected cells

In a paper recently uploaded to the preprint server bioRxiv* by Schamel et al. (June 25th, 2021) engineered T cells against SARS-CoV-2 are tested against a range of cells in vitro, finding that the treatment could be used to restore cellular immune function and suppress SARS-CoV-2.

1 Jul 2021

Mutations in the spike proteins of SARS-CoV-2 select for amino acid changes, increasing protein stability

A team of researchers recently demonstrated that mutations in the S protein of SARS-CoV-2 select for amino acid changes that result in a more stable protein than would otherwise be expected.

1 Jul 2021

Cryo-EM structure of neutralizing antibody 5-7 in complex with SARS CoV-2 spike

Researchers from the US recently reported the 3.7 Å resolution cryo-EM structure of an NTD-directed neutralizing antibody 5-7 that forms a complex with SARS-CoV-2 spike protein. They also presented the neutralization data against VOC and studied the recognized epitope.

1 Jul 2021

Mustard seed, wall rocket and turmeric extracts show potential against SARS-CoV-2 in vitro

Researchers in Spain have identified plant extracts that may be of interest in the search for treatments of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and serve as a basis for future chemical, in vivo, and clinical trials.

1 Jul 2021

Anti-malarial drug shows promise in the battle against COVID-19

In the "war" that the world has been fighting against COVID-19, scientists have been scanning their arsenals of previously used drugs in hopes of finding any that can be used to treat the disease.

1 Jul 2021

Grapevine leaf extract inhibits SARS-CoV-2 and HSV-1 replication in the lab

Researchers in Italy have shown that leaf extract from the common grapevine – Vitis vinifera – exhibits significant antiviral activity against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) – the agent that causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

1 Jul 2021

Smell loss patients are being failed by healthcare professionals, study reveals

People who have lost their sense of smell are being failed by healthcare professionals, new research has revealed.

1 Jul 2021

Study highlights the importance of T cell cross reactivity in stopping severe COVID-19 infections

Researchers at La Jolla Institute for Immunology have found that T cells from people who have recovered from COVID-19 or received the Moderna or Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines are still able to recognize several concerning SARS-CoV-2 variants.

1 Jul 2021

Scientists uncover features of T cells that distinguish fatal COVID-19 from non-fatal cases

While vaccines are doing a remarkable job of slowing the COVID-19 pandemic, infected people can still die from severe illness and new medications to treat them have been slow to arise.

1 Jul 2021

Study explores lectins from plants, fungi, algae and cyanobacteria as pan-coronavirus inhibitors

In a recently published article scientists have provided a detailed description of the utility of mannose-specific lectins in preventing coronavirus infections. They have specifically explained how mannose-specific lectins derived from plants, algae, fungi, and bacteria selectively bind N-glycans present on the surface of viral spike protein and how such interactions can be medically utilized to control coronavirus transmission.

1 Jul 2021

Virus News and Research

Latest Virus News and Research

Monash expert can discuss the significance of R number in COVID-19 infections

Expanding covid-19 symptom list could help improve the UK’s pandemic response

Stool transplant may be worth exploring as treatment option for COVID-19

Unprecedented lobbying effort scores big win for California public health

Replication of SARS-CoV-2 in nasal ciliated cells could provide a new vaccination target

Immunity to SARS-CoV-2 could last longer than originally believed

SwabSeq platform offers a potential solution for massive COVID-19 testing

Vaccines grown in eggs can lead to an off-target antibody response

Research associates prior encounter with seasonal coronavirus to milder COVID-19 symptoms

Is there a link between circadian rhythms and COVID-19 severity?

Engineered T cells prevent translational shutdown in SARS-CoV-2 infected cells

Mutations in the spike proteins of SARS-CoV-2 select for amino acid changes, increasing protein stability

Cryo-EM structure of neutralizing antibody 5-7 in complex with SARS CoV-2 spike

Mustard seed, wall rocket and turmeric extracts show potential against SARS-CoV-2 in vitro

Anti-malarial drug shows promise in the battle against COVID-19

Grapevine leaf extract inhibits SARS-CoV-2 and HSV-1 replication in the lab

Smell loss patients are being failed by healthcare professionals, study reveals

Study highlights the importance of T cell cross reactivity in stopping severe COVID-19 infections

Scientists uncover features of T cells that distinguish fatal COVID-19 from non-fatal cases

Study explores lectins from plants, fungi, algae and cyanobacteria as pan-coronavirus inhibitors

A new way of characterising biomolecules eBook

Redefining control and consistency in anaerobic microbiome workflows

AI in Healthcare: How generative tools are transforming clinical practice

The future of automation: Machine learning–driven hepatocyte and organoid counting

Virus News and Research

Latest Virus News and Research

A new way of characterising biomolecules eBook

Redefining control and consistency in anaerobic microbiome workflows

AI in Healthcare: How generative tools are transforming clinical practice

The future of automation: Machine learning–driven hepatocyte and organoid counting

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