Pandemic News and Research

RSS

A pandemic is a global disease outbreak. During a pandemic, transmission can be anticipated in the workplace, not only from patient to workers in health care settings, but also among co-workers in general work settings. A pandemic would cause high levels of illness, death, social disruption, and economic loss. Everyday life would be disrupted because so many people in so many places become seriously ill at the same time. Impacts could range from school and business closings to the interruption of basic services such as public transportation and food delivery.

Hydrogel Therapy: A Novel Defense Against Viral Infections

Vaccines remain the gold standard of protection against dangerous pathogens, but take considerable time and vast resources to develop.

24 Apr 2024

Revealing the Genetic Mechanisms Driving SARS-CoV-2 Variants

The SARS-CoV-2 virus, responsible for COVID-19, exhibits a troubling tendency to produce variants frequently.

23 Apr 2024

Unlocking the Potential of CRISPR/Cas13 for Antiviral Therapy

RNA viruses like SARS-CoV-2 demand new solutions. CRISPR/Cas13 tools work well against these viruses in the cell's nucleus, but not in the cytoplasm, where many replicate.

15 Apr 2024

Different Chromosomes Found to Have Separate End-Specific Telomere-Length Distributions

We depend on our cells being able to divide and multiply, whether it's to replace sunburnt skin or replenish our blood supply and recover from injury.

12 Apr 2024

Engineering Live Vaccines for Improved Immune Response

Bacterial proteins frequently outsmart the immune system, making it more challenging to fight off the bacteria that cause illnesses like staph infections.

5 Apr 2024

New Virus Offers Hope for Amphibians Ravaged by Fungus

A fungus devastating frogs and toads on nearly every continent may have an Achilles heel. Scientists have discovered a virus that infects the fungus, and that could be engineered to save the amphibians.

4 Apr 2024

SARS-CoV-2 Variants Detected in Flood-Control Channels Near Homeless Encampments

To better understand COVID-19's spread during the pandemic, public health officials expanded wastewater surveillance.

4 Apr 2024

Study may Provide a Roadmap for Addressing Cytokine Storms in Severe COVID-19

A recent USC study provides new information about why SARS-CoV-2, the virus behind the COVID-19 pandemic, may elicit mild symptoms at first but then, for a subset of patients, turn potentially fatal a week or so after infection.

1 Apr 2024

Viruses Pose Unforeseen Threat to Native Desert Ecosystems

Just as many people battle seasonal colds and flu, native plants face their own viral threats. People have long known that plants can succumb to viruses just like humans.

29 Mar 2024

Multi-Tailed Strucrure Expands the Horizons of mRNA Therapeutics

Messenger RNA (mRNA) made its big leap into the public limelight during the pandemic, thanks to its cornerstone role in several COVID-19 vaccines

25 Mar 2024

Avoiding Post-COVID ‘Brain Fog’

Memory loss and difficulties learning are two of the numerous perplexing symptoms in COVID-19 infected patients.

22 Mar 2024

Novel Molecule Targets Coronavirus and Boosts Antiviral Drug

Following the COVID-19 pandemic, researchers have been working hard to create antiviral medications and treatments.

15 Mar 2024

Method Seeks to Eliminate the Need for Frozen mRNA Vaccines

CEPI has provided funding to a public research university in Belgium to investigate whether a novel vaccine stabilization method could eliminate the need for mRNA vaccines to be stored in frozen storage and enable a quick and expanded response to future outbreaks in as little as 100 days.

14 Mar 2024

Investigating the Antibacterial Effects of T1-Spanin on Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria

...

13 Mar 2024

‘Like a PCR Lab in Your Pocket': New Test Strips Raise Game in Gene-Based Diagnostics

Biosensing technology developed by UNSW engineers has made it possible to make portable RAT tests just as accurate as PCR tests carried out in a lab.

7 Mar 2024

Newly Discovered Bacterial Species Shed Light on Antibiotic Resistance

Antibiotic-resistant infection is projected to catch up to cancer as the leading cause of death by 2050, making understanding and limiting the spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria a priority worldwide.

1 Mar 2024

Genomic Study Warns of H5N1 Adaptation to Marine Mammals

The highly pathogenic avian influenza virus H5N1 has adapted to spread between birds and marine mammals, posing an immediate threat to wildlife conservation, according to a study from the University of California, Davis, and the National Institute of Agricultural Technology (INTA) in Argentina.

29 Feb 2024

Newborn T Cells Excel in Immune Response Compared to Adults

Scientists have long believed that a newborn's immune system was an immature version of an adult's, but new research from Cornell University shows that newborns' T cells – white blood cells that protect from disease – outperform those of adults at fighting off numerous infections.

26 Feb 2024

Novel Antibiotic Discovery: Harnessing Energy Compounds to Combat Bacterial Infections

About a decade ago, researchers in UC Santa Barbara chemistry professor Guillermo Bazan's lab began to observe a recurring challenge in their research: Some of the compounds they were developing to harness energy from bacteria were instead killing the microbes.

22 Feb 2024

The Promise of siRNA Nanomedicine for HIV Treatment

Society learned about the usefulness of mRNA during the COVID-19 pandemic when scientists and medical professionals leveraged its power to deliver a vaccine for the virus within a year.

21 Feb 2024