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.

Structure of the complete virion of S. epidermidis–infecting phage revealed

Scientists from the University of Alabama at Birmingham used cryo-electron microscopy to reveal the structure of a bacterial virus in extraordinary detail.

20 Dec 2022

Simple inexpensive test determines the genetic susceptibility to PML

Four genetic mutations have been linked to progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML), a rare but sometimes fatal brain infection that can be provoked by dozens of FDA-approved drugs.

16 Dec 2022

The Native Antigen Company expands infectious disease portfolio to include Sudan Ebolavirus Boniface 1976 Glycoprotein

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From The Native Antigen Company 8 Dec 2022

Insight into the treatment for Crimean Congo Hemorrhagic Fever Virus

The Crimean Congo Hemorrhagic Fever Virus can be prevented by therapeutically relevant human monoclonal antibodies, according to research led by the University of California, Riverside.

30 Nov 2022

Study unravels a novel function of the gene scissors

Many years earlier, the CRISPR/Cas9 gene scissors have been making a sensation in science and medicine. This new tool of molecular biology consists of its origins in an ancient bacterial immune system.

28 Nov 2022

AI creates artificial DNA to control cell protein production

Researchers at Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden have developed synthetic DNA that uses artificial intelligence to control the production of proteins in cells.

25 Nov 2022

Improving potential of cellular therapies with CAR T therapy

CAR T cells, or engineered immune cells, have demonstrated to the world the potential of customized immunotherapies to treat blood cancers. Researchers have just released highly encouraging preliminary data for CAR T therapy in a small group of lupus patients.

25 Nov 2022

Chemically attenuated live DNA virus vaccine prevents viral infection

Rutgers researchers have devised a new way to prevent viral infections: a live-attenuated, replication-defective DNA virus vaccine that utilizes the substance centanamycin to create an altered virus for vaccine development.

From Rutgers University 22 Nov 2022

Atypical antibody shows extremely potent zika-resistant activity

A group of researchers led by Weill Cornell Medicine, New York-Presbyterian, and National Institutes of Health (NIH) investigators has discovered an unusual type of antibody that, even at extremely low concentrations, neutralizes the Zika virus and renders the virus infection undetectable in preclinical models.

22 Nov 2022

Applying “programmable molecular scissors” to combat COVID-19 infection

As an approach that could be used to create a new class of antiviral drugs, synthetic biology was used by Cambridge scientists to artificially create enzymes programmed to attack the genetic code of SARS-CoV-2 and eliminate the virus.

17 Nov 2022

New framework for developing ecological countermeasures to prevent pandemics

Preserving and restoring natural habitats could prevent pathogens that originate in wildlife from spilling over into domesticated animals and humans, according to two new companion studies.

17 Nov 2022

HIV’s covert methods of evading treatment and immunity

According to Duke Health researchers, the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) appears to be driven into a latent state, lurking in cells only to erupt once more. This immune response likely evolved to help fight infections.

15 Nov 2022

IBS team uncovers new antiviral compounds derived from two Korean native plants

Codonopsis lanceolata, more commonly referred to as "deodeok", is used as a medicinal herb in South Korea.

14 Nov 2022

Recognizing how the HIV-1 evades immune system

According to a recent study led by Andrés Finzi, a professor at the Université de Montréal and researcher at the CHUM Research Centre, the type of virus used as a model to study the effectiveness of non-neutralizing antibodies against the virus that causes AIDS, has a crucial role to play.

10 Nov 2022

Providing structural understanding of the influenza virus

The structure of the influenza replication machinery and how it interacts with cellular proteins have been solved by a team of Oxford University scientists using a variety of techniques at Diamond Light Source.

8 Nov 2022

Genetic timestamping tracks the fate of plasma cells over time

Vaccines function by effectively producing immune cells that live for a long time, frequently for decades. These immune cells form a protective barrier that prevents or reduces re-infection, as well as a memory that enables one to identify an old invader, such as a virus, and eliminate it before it causes disease.

1 Nov 2022