Virus News and Research

Latest Virus News and Research

Disease X: an unknown disease that could claim millions of lives

Dubbed ‘Disease X’, scientists believe a future epidemic of the influenza virus could cause millions of deaths worldwide.

25 Feb 2019

Penn researchers cure nine HCV patients following heart transplants from infected donors

Nine patients at Penn Medicine have been cured of the Hepatitis C virus (HCV) following lifesaving heart transplants from deceased donors who were infected with the disease, according to a study published in the American Journal of Transplantation.

25 Feb 2019

Five international leaders appointed as Co-Chairs for HIVR4P 2020

The International AIDS Society, secretariat for the 4th biennial HIV Research for Prevention (HIVR4P 2020) conference, has announced the appointment of five international leaders in HIV prevention research, implementation and advocacy as Co-Chairs for the meeting.

25 Feb 2019

Researchers engineer 'antibody-like' T cell receptors to combat deadly virus

Researchers have engineered "antibody-like" T cell receptors that can specifically stick to cells infected with cytomegalovirus, or CMV, a virus that causes lifelong infection in more than half of all adults by age 40.

23 Feb 2019

Reduced antibody adaptability may make the elderly more vulnerable to influenza

The influenza vaccine may be less effective in the elderly because their B cells are less capable of producing antibodies that can adapt to protect against new viral strains, researchers report February 19 in the journal Cell Host & Microbe.

21 Feb 2019

Researchers discover a new promising target to improve HIV vaccines

In the quest to develop an effective HIV vaccine, researchers have focused attention on identifying and targeting the region of the virus's outer envelope where a lineage of antibodies are able to dock and neutralize the virus.

21 Feb 2019

Viruses in the intestinal tracts can lead to islet autoimmunity and Type 1 diabetes

Researchers at the Center for Infection and Immunity at the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health and the University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia, provide new evidence supporting an association between elevated levels of enteroviruses in the intestinal tracts of children and islet autoimmunity, a precursor to Type 1 diabetes.

20 Feb 2019

Bat influenza viruses could potentially attack the cells of humans and livestock

Bats don't only carry the deadly Ebola virus, but are also a reservoir for a new type of influenza virus.

20 Feb 2019

First gene therapy operation for macular degeneration is a success

A new treatment is the first to target the underlying genetic cause of AMD, which affects more than 600,000 people in the UK alone.

20 Feb 2019

Researchers take closer look at how viruses bind cells and cause infection

Researchers at Cardiff University have used x-ray crystallography and computer simulation to get a closer look at how viruses bind cells and cause infection.

20 Feb 2019

Newly developed gene therapy helps decelerate aging process

Aging is a leading risk factor for a number of debilitating conditions, including heart disease, cancer and Alzheimer's disease, to name a few. This makes the need for anti-aging therapies all the more urgent. Now, Salk Institute researchers have developed a new gene therapy to help decelerate the aging process.

20 Feb 2019

Study reveals how helper T cells support memory cells to function optimally

The immune system's killer T cells are crucial in fighting viral infections. A fraction of them, called 'memory cells', live on once infection is controlled in order to fight re-infection by the same virus. They are of great interest as the basis of T cell-based vaccination and immunotherapies.

20 Feb 2019

Anti-cancer immunotherapy could be used to fight HIV

Researchers at the University of Montreal Hospital Research Centre have shown that immunotherapy treatments against cancer could reduce the amount of virus that persists in people on triple therapy.

19 Feb 2019

Influenza and common cold are completely different diseases, study shows

There is a lack of information about the difference between influenza, "real" flu, and the common cold. Most people struggle to distinguish between these two diseases and this often leads to irritation and the perpetuation of myths.

19 Feb 2019

CRISPR technology creates pluripotent stem cells that are 'invisible' to the immune system

UC San Francisco scientists have used the CRISPR-Cas9 gene-editing system to create the first pluripotent stem cells that are functionally "invisible" to the immune system, a feat of biological engineering that, in laboratory studies, prevented rejection of stem cell transplants.

18 Feb 2019

Large-scale clinical trial begins to study liver transplantation between people with HIV

The first large-scale clinical trial to study liver transplantation between people with HIV has begun at clinical centers across the United States. The HOPE in Action Multicenter Liver Study will determine the safety of this practice by evaluating liver recipients for potential transplant-related and HIV-related complications following surgery.

15 Feb 2019

Sleep could be the best medicine to fight off an infection

Sleep has been underrated as the best medicine to fight off disease say researchers working on a new study. The study titled, “Gαs-Coupled Receptor Signaling and Sleep Regulate Integrin Activation of Human Antigen-Specific T Cells,” was published this week in the Journal of Experimental Medicine.

14 Feb 2019