Virus News and Research

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A virus is a microscopic infectious agent that can reproduce only inside a host cell. Viruses infect all types of organisms: from animals and plants, to bacteria and archaea. Since the initial discovery of tobacco mosaic virus by Martinus Beijerinck in 1898, more than 5,000 types of virus have been described in detail, although most types of virus remain undiscovered. Viruses are ubiquitous, as they are found in almost every ecosystem on Earth, and are the most abundant type of biological entity on the planet. The study of viruses is known as virology, and is a branch of microbiology.

Gut Bacteria Shape Our Defense Against Respiratory Viral Infections

The composition of microbiota found in the gut influences how susceptible mice are to respiratory virus infections and the severity of these infections, according to researchers from the Center for Translational Antiviral Research in the Institute for Biomedical Sciences at Georgia State University.

31 Jan 2024

Scientists Reveal HIV's Secret Weapon for Invading Cell Nucleus

Around one million individuals worldwide become infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, each year.

27 Jan 2024

QIAGEN Announces Partnership With Penn State University to Advance Microbiome Sciences

QIAGEN (NYSE: QGEN; Frankfurt Prime Standard: QIA) today announced a first-in-kind collaboration with Penn State University in the United States to create a shared research and education facility for the fast-developing microbiome sciences.

From Qiagen 27 Jan 2024

New Virus Targets Dormant Bacteria, Boosting Antibiotic Power

In nature, the majority of bacteria adhere to a minimalistic lifestyle. When faced with nutrient scarcity or stress, they initiate a controlled shutdown of their metabolism, entering a resting state.

22 Jan 2024

LJI Researchers Identify Late-Rising T Cells Crucial for CMV Control

Cytomegalovirus (CMV) is a pathogen that likes to lurk. Most adults already carry CMV, and they show no symptoms at all.

22 Jan 2024

Glowing COVID-19 Diagnostic Test Prototype Produces Results in One Minute

Cold, flu and COVID-19 season brings that now-familiar ritual: swab, wait, look at the result. But what if, instead of taking 15 minutes or more, a test could quickly determine whether you have COVID-19 with a glowing chemical?

19 Jan 2024

Live-Cell Imaging Reveals How STING Activates Innate Immunity

When pathogens attack the body, the innate immune system goes to work protecting against the invading disease.

12 Jan 2024

EBV-Targeting T-Cells Linked to Early MS Damage

The body's immune response to Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) may play a role in causing damage in people with multiple sclerosis, according to a new study led by UTHealth Houston.

12 Jan 2024

Novel Zebrafish Model Offers Efficient Tool for Norovirus Research

Food virologists from the National University of Singapore (NUS) have successfully propagated the human norovirus using zebrafish embryos, providing a valuable platform to assess the effectiveness of virus inactivation for the water treatment and food industries.

2 Jan 2024

Study Provides a Systematic View of the Diversity and Function of Supraglacial DNA Viruses

Supraglacial environments mainly consist of four main types of habitats for microbes and viruses, including snow, ice, meltwater, and cryoconites (the granular sediment on glacier surfaces).

2 Jan 2024

Zebrafish Embryo Model Unveils Breakthrough Cultivation Method

Researchers at the National University of Singapore (NUS) specializing in food virology have achieved successful cultivation of the human norovirus using zebrafish embryos.

29 Dec 2023

Structural Insights Unmask Novel Adaptations and Functions of Human LINE-1 ORF2

Martin Taylor, MD, PhD, a physician investigator in the Department of Pathology at Massachusetts General Hospital and an instructor in Pathology at Harvard Medical School, is the lead corresponding author of a new study in Nature, Structural Analysis and Inhibition of Human LINE-1 ORF2 Protein Reveals Novel Adaptations and Functions.

20 Dec 2023

How Next-Gen Sequencing is Revolutionizing Infection Diagnosis

Scientists from Necker-Enfants Malades Hospital (AP-HP), the Institut Pasteur, Université Paris Cité, Inserm, Université Paris-Est Créteil and the Alfort National Veterinary School, coordinated by Professor Marc Eloit and Dr. Anne Jamet in collaboration with Dr. Jacques Fourgeaud and Beatrice Regnault, studied the role of global genetic characterization of samples (or non-targeted metagenomics) using next-generation sequencing (mNGS) in diagnosing infections.

19 Dec 2023

Omicron's Cellular Senescence May Explain Cytokine Storms and Long-COVID

A new research paper was published on the cover of Aging (listed by MEDLINE/PubMed as "Aging (Albany NY)" and "Aging-US" by Web of Science) Volume 15, Issue 23, entitled, "Uncovering a unique pathogenic mechanism of SARS-CoV-2 omicron variant: selective induction of cellular senescence."

18 Dec 2023