Virus News and Research

Latest Virus News and Research

Researchers report promising Phase 1 results for first oral polio vaccine in 50 years

Before being halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a relentless vaccination campaign had nearly succeeded in eradicating polio from the world.

24 Apr 2020

Biosero and Scripps Research Institute offer automated lab screening for COVID-19 drug therapy candidates

Biosero has designed and implemented an automated lab workflow for Scripps Research Institute so researchers can accelerate the screening of COVID-19 drug therapy candidates.

24 Apr 2020

Scientists are developing synthetic COVID-19 antibody to treat sick patients

A team of researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, in collaboration with GenScript, is developing a synthetic antibody to SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes coronavirus disease (COVID-19). This antibody is intended to block the virus from entering human lung cells, and would be another potential treatment option for COVID-19.

24 Apr 2020

Study highlights a new way to increase crop production

During the past few weeks, empty supermarket shelves, without pasta, rice and flour due to panic buying, has caused public concerns about the possibility of running out of food.

24 Apr 2020

CytoSMART to donate 100 mini live-cell imagers to help combat COVID-19

CytoSMART Technologies is to donate 100 mini live-cell imaging systems to researchers in high containment labs worldwide.

24 Apr 2020

NEC leverages its AI prediction platforms to design blueprints for SARS-CoV-2 vaccines

NEC Corporation today announced analysis results from efforts using AI prediction platforms to design blueprints for SARS-CoV-2 vaccines that can drive potent T-cell responses in the majority of the global population.

24 Apr 2020

Researchers use mathematical curves to predict evolution in COVID-19 outbreak

Efforts to contain the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic are now the top priority of governments across the globe. As they make these life-saving decisions, it is particularly crucial for policymakers to accurately predict how the spread of the virus will change over time.

24 Apr 2020

UM researchers awarded $2.5 million to develop COVID-19 vaccine candidate

Researchers in the Center for Translational Medicine at the University of Montana have been awarded $2.5 million in funding from the National Institutes of Health to identify and advance a COVID-19 vaccine candidate.

24 Apr 2020

UAB to join international effort to test drugs for COVID-19

The University of Alabama at Birmingham will join an international effort coordinated by Scripps Research to test drugs for COVID-19.

24 Apr 2020

Top biochip firms speed up development of fast, reliable COVID-19 test

Surfix B.V., together with its shareholders Qurin Diagnostics B.V. and LioniX International B.V., already successfully developing bio-photonic nanochips for cancer detection and other applications, today announces an accelerated development plan to allow mass-scale COVID-19 diagnosis and immunity detection with the financial support and in close collaboration with PhotonDelta.

24 Apr 2020

Sweden may reach ‘herd immunity’ in weeks as the country resists total lockdown

Herd immunity is a form of indirect protection against infectious diseases where a population develops sufficient immunity to a disease that that infection cannot spread within the group. A population can reach herd immunity if a large proportion has been exposed to the virus. Now, Sweden resisted total lockdown measures, unlike its neighboring countries, while experts believe herd immunity will be achieved in Stockholm within weeks.

24 Apr 2020

First COVID-19-related clinical trial to start in Germany

German regulators have approved the first clinical trial of a coronavirus vaccine. Developed by BioNTech SE, an immunotherapy company, and Pfizer, a pharmaceutical company, the potential coronavirus vaccine has completed pre-clinical studies in Germany.

24 Apr 2020

Fraunhofer SCAI is opening a new knowledge space with information and analysis tools on COVID-19

With the new website "covid19-knowledgespace.de", Fraunhofer SCAI - together with Fraunhofer IME, Fraunhofer IAIS, the Information Center for Life Sciences ZBMED and other research partners - is opening a new kind of knowledge space with analysis tools and information on COVID-19.

24 Apr 2020

Research looks at best ways to tackle coronavirus crisis

A new study published in the journal Frontiers in Microbiology in April 2020 discusses the most attractive approaches among the broad spectrum of experimental and theoretical strategies being worked on to counter the COVID-19 pandemic.

24 Apr 2020

SARS-CoV-2 targets specific cells in the lung, nasal passage, and intestine

Now, the researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have identified specific types of cells that are targets of the SARS-CoV-2 that causes the COVID-19 pandemic. The findings of the study published in the journal Cell may help in developing novel therapeutics to combat the deadly viral infection.

23 Apr 2020

Minimizing COVID-19 infection through controlled exposure

A new study published in the preprint journal medRxiv in April 2020 explores the possibilities of launching smaller waves of voluntary social exposure in a controlled way, to avoid the occurrence of a single large and probably unmanageable second wave of infection.

23 Apr 2020

Poor quality testing could increase number of COVID-19 infections

A new study published in the preprint open-access journal medRxiv in April 2020 assesses the value of untargeted testing for infection or immunity in COVID-19 vs. high-quality targeted testing in keeping down the number of infections while slowly relaxing lockdown measures.

23 Apr 2020

Researchers create a low-cost ventilatory system for COVID-19 patients

A research team in Leeds, UK, has come up with a way of creating a ventilatory system for COVID-19 patients that can be made rapidly on a 3D printer.

23 Apr 2020

1.7 billion people at higher risk from COVID-19, study says

The COVID-19 pandemic affecting 185 countries and territories the world over has already claimed over 190,000 lives and sickened well over 2.7 million as of April 24, 2020. Research shows that most of these fatalities are in older people or those who have underlying medical conditions.

23 Apr 2020

U.S. may have to spend hundreds of billions treating COVID-19

A new study published in the journal Health Affairs in April 2020 quantifies the financial and resource burden which could be placed on the U.S. healthcare system at varying levels of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV2) community spread.

23 Apr 2020