Virus News and Research

RSS

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.

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

Penn Researchers Develop Breakthrough Technique for Creating Human Artificial Chromosomes

Human artificial chromosomes (HACs) capable of working within human cells could power advanced gene therapies, including those addressing some cancers, along with many laboratory applications, though serious technical obstacles have hindered their development.

28 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

$1.65 Million Grant Awarded for Advancing Therapeutic RNA Design

A team led by Dr. Samie Jaffrey, the Greenberg-Starr Professor of Pharmacology at Weill Cornell Medicine, has been awarded a three-year, $1.65 million grant for RNA research under a biotechnology-development program run by the U.S. National Science Foundation.

22 Mar 2024

Latest CRISPR-Cas Gene Editing Can Eliminate All Traces of HIV Virus From Infected Cells

New research presented early ahead of this year's European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ECCMID 2024, Barcelona, 27-30 April) from a team of researchers in the Netherlands shows how the latest CRISPR-Cas gene editing technology can be used to eliminate all traces of the HIV virus from infected cells in the laboratory, raising hopes of a cure.

20 Mar 2024

Drug Candidates Show Promise to Reverse HIV's Ability to Escape Immune System Detection

University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine scientists have identified drug candidates that show promise to reverse the ability of HIV to escape detection by the immune system.

20 Mar 2024

Scientists Identify Mechanism Behind Post-Traumatic Fear Responses

Neurobiologists have discovered how stress causes the brain to become fearful in situations like Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and how to stop it.

15 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

Study Deciphers Mechanism That Helps Viruses Choose to Turn Nasty or Stay Friendly

Researchers from the Shmunis School of Biomedicine and Cancer Research at Tel Aviv University have deciphered a novel complex decision-making process that helps viruses choose to turn nasty or stay friendly to their bacterial host.

14 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

NIH Researchers Map Vulnerable Sites on Epstein-Barr Virus gp42 Protein

Studies of interactions between two lab-generated monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) and an essential Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) protein have uncovered targets that could be exploited in designing treatments and vaccines for this extremely common virus.

13 Mar 2024

Multiresolution DNA Simulation in Viral Genome Packaging

Researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign stated in the journal Nature that a computational model of the more than 26 million atoms in a DNA-packed viral capsid broadens the knowledge of virus structure and DNA dynamics, discoveries that potentially open up new research directions and therapeutic targets.

7 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

Microbial Viruses Found to be Key Players in Methane Cycling and Climate Change

In a new study, scientists have discovered that viruses that infect microbes contribute to climate change by playing a key role in cycling methane, a potent greenhouse gas, through the environment.

1 Mar 2024

Researchers Create Groundbreaking RNA and DNA Solutions to Shield Plants from Viral Attacks

Customized RNA or DNA molecules have been shown to effectively combat viral infections in plants, as demonstrated in a recent study conducted by Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU) and published in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences.

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

Research Reveals Conserved Neutralizing Epitope in Herpesvirus gB Protein

Human herpesviruses comprise the alpha, beta, and gamma subfamilies and are a widely prevalent group of DNA-enveloped viruses, capable of establishing lifelong latent infections in humans and causing various diseases.

27 Feb 2024

Gut Microbial Metabolite Linked to Increased Thrombosis Risk in COVID-19 Patients

A gut microbial metabolite called 2-methylbutyrylcarnitine (2MBC) plays a role in exacerbating thrombosis -- the formation of blood clots – researchers report February 23rd in the journal Cell Metabolism.

26 Feb 2024