Polio News and Research

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Poliomyelitis (polio) is a highly infectious disease caused by a virus that invades the nervous system and can cause severe paralysis. The virus enters the body through the mouth and multiplies in the intestine. Initial symptoms are fever, fatigue, headache, vomiting, stiffness in the neck, and pain in the limbs. One in 200 infections leads to irreversible paralysis (usually in the legs). Among those paralyzed, 5-10% die when their breathing muscles become immobilized. Polio mainly affects children under five years of age. Naturally occurring polio was eliminated in the U.S. in 1979 and in the Western Hemisphere by 1991; however, worldwide efforts are continuing towards eradication of this contagious and devastating disease.

Genetic Discovery Reveals How Plants Respond to Blue Light and Cold

Plants may be stuck in one place, but the world around them is constantly changing. In order to grow and flower at the right time, plants must constantly collect information about their surroundings, measuring things like temperature, brightness, and length of day.

3 Sep 2025

Plants Activate Immunity Instead of Growth During Drought Recovery

A plant's number one priority is to grow-a feat that demands sunlight, nutrients, and water. If just one of these three inputs is missing, like water in a drought, growth halts.

2 Sep 2025

Salk Researchers Create First Genetic Atlas to Span the Entire Arabidopsis Life Cycle

Nearly everything you know about plants was first discovered in a plant you've likely never heard of. Arabidopsis thaliana, also known as thale cress, is a small, flowering weed that has shaped much of plant biology as we know it.

20 Aug 2025

Minimal Plant Genomes Made Possible by New Genetic Strategy

Ancient events in plant evolution have left behind large, duplicated regions in their genomes.

14 Aug 2025

Salk Scientists Use CRISPR to Uncover Microproteins Linked to Obesity

The obesity rate has more than doubled in the last 30 years, affecting more than one billion people worldwide.

8 Aug 2025

AI Tool Accelerates Hunt for Elusive Genome‐Encoded Microproteins

Proteins sustain life as we know it, serving many important structural and functional roles throughout the body.

1 Aug 2025

Estrogen Related Receptors Identified as Key to Muscle Energy Restoration

A new Salk Institute study suggests estrogen-related receptors could be a key to repairing energy metabolism and muscle fatigue.

13 May 2025

New Tool START Enables Precision Mapping of Neuronal Connectivity

Scientists at the Salk Institute are unveiling a new brain-mapping neurotechnology called Single Transcriptome Assisted Rabies Tracing (START). The cutting-edge tool combines two advanced technologies-;monosynaptic rabies virus tracing and single-cell transcriptomics-;to map the brain's intricate neuronal connections with unparalleled precision.

1 Oct 2024

Astrocyte-Rich Brain Organoid Model Unveils Insights into Neuroinflammation

The brain is typically depicted as a complex web of neurons sending and receiving messages. But neurons only make up half of the human brain.

1 Mar 2024

No more needles? Future vaccines could be delivered by a puff of air

In the future, vaccines may be delivered with a puff of air rather than a needle, according to the promising results of new research presented at a meeting of the American Chemistry Society this March.

27 Mar 2023

Study unravels the mystery of infectious virion formation

Researchers have for the first time identified the way viruses like the poliovirus and the common cold virus 'package up' their genetic code, allowing them to infect cells.

11 Jan 2021

Global warming could lead to evolution of viruses

Enteroviruses and other pathogenic viruses that make their way into surface waters can be inactivated by heat, sunshine and other microbes, thereby reducing their ability to spread disease.

3 Sep 2020

Researchers identify protective antibodies for rare, polio-like disease in children

Researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Purdue University and the University of Wisconsin-Madison have isolated human monoclonal antibodies that potentially can prevent a rare but devastating polio-like illness in children linked to a respiratory viral infection.

6 Jul 2020