Virus News and Research

Latest Virus News and Research

Bat and pangolin coronavirus structure sheds light on SARS-CoV-2 evolution

Researchers at Tsinghua University, Beijing, have conducted a study providing possible new insights into the evolution and cross-species transmission of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the agent responsible for the current coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

23 Sep 2020

UV-C irradiation rapidly inactivates SARS-CoV-2 on surfaces

Researchers at University Hospital Tübingen, Germany, have shown that ultraviolet C (UV-C) irradiation effectively inactivates surface-dried preparations of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the agent that causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

23 Sep 2020

Researchers develop a cheaper, faster and accurate COVID-19 test

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet have developed a method for fast, cheap, yet accurate testing for COVID-19 infection. The method simplifies and frees the testing from expensive reaction steps, enabling upscaling of the diagnostics.

23 Sep 2020

'Silent' wave of neurological consequences may be on its way due to COVID-19

Is the world prepared a wave of neurological consequences that may be on its way as a result of COVID-19? This question is at the forefront of research underway at the Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health.

23 Sep 2020

OXGENE launches a scalable, plasmid-free manufacturing system for AAV

OXGENE™, a biotechnology company designing and developing scalable gene therapy technologies, has today announced the launch of its scalable, plasmid-free manufacturing system for AAV.

From OXGENE 23 Sep 2020

Bioinformatics analysis reveals genes and pathways shared in COVID-19 disease and comorbidities

Using bioinformatics approaches, researchers have identified genes and pathways shared among patients with comorbidities and having severe COVID-19. The research is published on the preprint server bioRxiv in September 2020.

23 Sep 2020

Infants born to women with COVID-19 show few adverse outcomes

Infants born to women with COVID-19 showed few adverse outcomes, according to the first report in the country of infant outcomes through eight weeks of age.

23 Sep 2020

Innovative robot automates nasal swabbing needed to diagnose COVID-19

A group of clinicians from the National Cancer Centre Singapore (NCCS), Singapore General Hospital (SGH) and Duke-NUS Medical School has partnered Biobot Surgical Pte Ltd, one of Singapore's pioneers in the field of medical robotics technology, to develop a robot that automates nasal swabbing needed to diagnose COVID-19.

23 Sep 2020

HIV drugs cause immune-system changes that can improve resistance to viral infections

Drugs currently used to keep the HIV virus in check also cause immune-system changes that might make humans better able to resist viral infections – but might also cause harmful inflammation, according to a study published today in Cell Reports Medicine.

23 Sep 2020

NIST researchers develop 3D-printing technique to fabricate gels and soft materials

Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have developed a new method of 3D-printing gels and other soft materials. Published in a new paper, it has the potential to create complex structures with nanometer-scale precision.

23 Sep 2020

Children exhibit distinct immune system responses against COVID-19

Children and adults exhibit distinct immune system responses to infection by the virus that causes COVID-19, a finding that helps explain why COVID-19 outcomes tend to be much worse in adults, researchers from Yale and Albert Einstein College of Medicine report Sept. 18 in the journal Science Translational Medicine.

23 Sep 2020

A subunit SARS-CoV-2 vaccine may offer broader protection against virus

A new study published in the preprint server bioRxiv in September 2020 reports on the structure of this protein, as revealed by cryo-electron microscopy (cryoEM).

23 Sep 2020

Molecular dynamic simulations reveal detailed spike-ACE2 interactions

The current COVID-19 pandemic has spread throughout the world. Caused by a single-stranded RNA betacoronavirus, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), which is closely related to but much more infectious than the earlier highly pathogenic betacoronaviruses SARS and MERS-CoV, has impacted social, economic, and physical health to an unimaginable extent.

23 Sep 2020

Common genetic variants may influence susceptibility to COVID-19

Researchers in the United States and Japan have conducted a study suggesting that a commonly occurring genetic variant influences susceptibility to infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the agent that causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

23 Sep 2020

Study suggests herd immunity to COVID-19 in Brazilian city of Manaus

According to the study estimates, the transmission of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) – the agent that causes COVID-19 – rapidly increased in Manaus between March and April, before slowly declining between May and September.

22 Sep 2020

Baseline T cell signatures predict clinical outcomes of SARS-CoV infection

In a recent bioRxiv preprint paper, researchers from the Department of Medical Informatics and Clinical Epidemiology, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR, and Department of Global Health, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, discuss their study in mice that undergo detailed immunophenotyping before getting infected with SARS-CoV.

22 Sep 2020

Research explains why flu is dangerous for pregnant women

A team of researchers at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) University explains why flu can lead to potentially fatal complications during pregnancy, suggesting that the virus does not only stay in the respiratory tract but spreads throughout the body.

22 Sep 2020

Expert warns that COVID-19 cases in the UK could reach 50,000 per day

In the United Kingdom, health experts said that the country could face an exponentially growing death rate from COVID-19 within weeks unless urgent action is taken to control the spread of the virus. At present, the country has the highest official COVID-19 death toll in Europe and the fifth-largest across the globe.

22 Sep 2020

CDC withdraws guideline on SARS-CoV-2 airborne spread

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently published a new guideline, recognizing that the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) can spread via aerosols. Now, the health agency takes back its statement by deleting the updates published on Sept. 18.

22 Sep 2020

Hospitalized COVID-19 patients may face increased risk for kidney injury

Hospitalized patients with COVID-19 may face an increased risk for kidney injury, a dreaded complication for those suffering from infection with the novel 2019 coronavirus, an observational study led by University of Michigan researchers has found.

22 Sep 2020