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.

Scientists Build Live African Swine Fever Virus From Synthetic DNA Using CRISPR

Utilizing CRISPR-Cas9, scientists reconstitute live African swine fever virus from synthetic genomes, accelerating vaccine development for this deadly virus.

2 Apr 2025

New AI Model Helps Predict Future Mutations in SARS-CoV-2 Spike Protein

It's been five years since COVID-19 was declared a global pandemic. As SARS-CoV-2 shifts to endemic status, questions about its future evolution remain.

28 Mar 2025

AI Identifies COVID-19 Molecular Mimics Linked to Autoimmune Disease Risk

COVID-19 infection has been associated with an increased risk of autoimmune disorders, such as rheumatoid arthritis and type 1 diabetes.

27 Mar 2025

Zika and Dengue Virus Use Different Strategies to Infect Dendritic Cells

Zika virus and dengue virus are very close relatives. Both are mosquito-borne flaviviruses, and both specialize in infecting a host's dendritic cells.

26 Mar 2025

Scientists Unlock the Mechanism Behind piRNA's Defense Against Jumping Genes

Adverse genetic mutations can cause harm and are due to various circumstances. "Jumping genes" are one cause of mutations, but cells try and combat them with a specialized RNA called piRNA.

22 Mar 2025

Bispecific antibodies for SARS-CoV-2 variant neutralization

Bispecific antibodies targeting multiple SARS-CoV-2 sites offer enhanced neutralization against emerging variants, advancing COVID-19 treatment strategies.

14 Mar 2025

Study Reveals How Tuberculosis Bacteria Survive Airborne Journey

Tuberculosis bacteria rely on a family of genes that help them survive the challenging journey from one person's lungs to another person's during coughing, sneezing or talking, according to researchers from Weill Cornell Medicine and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

12 Mar 2025

Cryo-EM Reveals 3D Structure of Nipah Virus RNA Polymerase

The replication of the Nipah virus's genetic material in infected cells has been demonstrated for the first time by researchers from the Max Planck Institute (MPI) for Multidisciplinary Sciences and the University Medical Center Göttingen (UMG). In humans, the virus can cause fatal encephalitis.

11 Mar 2025

Dual Antibodies Found to Combat All SARS-CoV-2 Variants

A Stanford-led team has found two antibodies that can work together to defeat all SARS-CoV-2 variants. More research is needed, but the approach could help in the development of treatments to keep pace with evolving viruses.

6 Mar 2025

New Lipid Nanoparticles Deliver mRNA for Lung Tissue Regeneration

New research from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania suggests that a combination of messenger RNA (mRNA) and a novel lipid nanoparticle (LNP) could potentially be used to repair lung damage.

24 Feb 2025

Computational Modeling Streamlines Antiviral Discovery

Viruses, such as those responsible for COVID-19 and HIV, present significant challenges once they enter the human body. Antiviral therapies aim to obstruct a virus or prevent its replication.

17 Feb 2025

Fruit Fly Study Sheds Light on Virus Susceptibility and Host Evolution

A study of fruit flies shows some species are highly susceptible to a wide range of viruses.

8 Feb 2025

Danish Protein Analysis to Revolutionize the Biopharma Industry’s Impurity Control

Since 2007, the contract laboratory Alphalyse A/S has developed and refined a new method of impurity analysis in biological pharmaceuticals based on mass spectrometry (MS).

3 Feb 2025

New Insights into the Structure and Function of a Key Viral Protein

Researchers at Harvard Medical School and Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine have mapped a crucial part of the Nipah virus, a deadly bat-borne infection that has been responsible for human outbreaks every year since its discovery in 1999.

21 Jan 2025

Human H5N1 Bird Flu More Virulent in Mice Than Bovine Strain

Researchers from the Texas Biomedical Research Institute reported in the journal Emerging Microbes & Infections that one of the first strains of bird flu to be isolated from a human in Texas exhibits a distinct set of mutations that allow it to more readily replicate in human cells and inflict more severe disease in mice than a strain found in dairy cattle.

16 Jan 2025