Pandemic News and Research

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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.

Analysis of genetic factors contributing to cleft lip and palate

Cleft lip and palate, which are mainly caused by genetic reasons, are two of the most common congenital malformations. It is still unknown which genes are exactly affected.

19 Dec 2022

Three-year interval appropriate between screening for colorectal cancer

Three years after the first negative multi-target stool DNA test, according to a scientific investigation into the best time to screen for colorectal cancer using non-invasive methods for detecting the disease’s targets in the stool, there were no colorectal malignancies discovered.

1 Dec 2022

Acute infection disrupts the healthy balance between the good and bad gut microbes

Rutgers researchers examined the impact of COVID-19 on patients’ microbiomes, the group of microbes that live in and on the human body.

From Rutgers University 30 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

Researchers discover murderous survival strategy of yeast

Yeast is not the simple single-celled microorganism we once thought, but a competitive killer. When starved of glucose, yeast releases a toxin that will poison other microorganisms that have entered its surrounding habitat, even its own clones.

8 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

Potential SARS-CoV-2 therapy based on banana protein

A study praising the development of a potential treatment that might be applied to combat all recognized influenza strains was published online on January 13th, 2020.

25 Oct 2022

Genome Editing Has A New Code

In this interview, we speak to Samantha Maragh, the leader of the genome editing program at NIST, about the genome editing vocabulary and what this means for researchers worldwide.

From National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) 21 Oct 2022

Black death and the development of immune genes

The Black Death, which wiped off up to 50% of the European population in less than five years, was the single-worst mortality catastrophe in recorded history.

21 Oct 2022

Innovative method opens myriad new avenues for understanding the biology behind COVID-19

A highly innovative method using the latest technology has generated a comprehensive list of SARS-CoV-2 viral and human proteins that interact with each other, with one such interaction showing the virus directly influencing proteins that regulate the human immune system.

18 Oct 2022

Brain-resident and recruited macrophages exhibit diverging responses

Prof. Kiavash Movahedi (VUB, VIB) headed a group that outlined how the immune system responds to infections entering the brain. The results offer new information on host-pathogen interactions as well as the long-term effects of brain infections.

14 Oct 2022

Highly effective and safe Zika vaccine technology

Scientists from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) have discovered a Zika vaccine technology that is very safe and effective in preclinical mouse models.

29 Sep 2022

Tiny DNA strand net in a low-cost test platform traps COVID-19 virus

According to a new study, tiny nets made of DNA strands can capture the spike protein of the virus that causes COVID-19, illuminating it for a quick yet accurate diagnostic test and preventing it from infecting cells, suggesting a new potential path to antiviral treatment.

26 Sep 2022

Studying cell membranes’ role in allowing viruses’ spike proteins to infect cells

University of Alberta’s study demonstrates the way cell membranes perform a much bigger role than that was understood in enabling spike proteins on viruses to affect cells.

19 Sep 2022

New study supports bradykinin storm theory of COVID-19's viral pathogenesis

A new paper published in Nature Communications adds further evidence to the bradykinin storm theory of COVID-19's viral pathogenesis -; a theory that was posited two years ago by a team of researchers at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

19 Sep 2022

Breadfruit cultivation shows potential to contribute to climate-resilient food systems

In the face of climate change, breadfruit soon might come to a dinner plate near you.

18 Aug 2022

Mount Sinai and Regeneron Genetics Center launch a large-scale genome sequencing project

Mount Sinai Health System and the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai have launched a new human genome sequencing research project called the Mount Sinai Million Health Discoveries Program with the Regeneron Genetics Center (RGC), part of the industry-leading, New York-based biotechnology company Regeneron.

12 Aug 2022

New biosensor could achieve the speed, efficiency required for COVID-19 testing in future

As the BA.5 omicron variant continues to spread, health experts are increasingly preparing for a future in which such COVID-19 variants emerge, surge and recede similar to seasonal flu.

22 Jul 2022

Challenges in Drug Discovery; Where are we now, and where are we going?

As part of our SLAS Europe 2022 coverage, we speak to Steve Rees, Vice-President of Discovery Biology at AstraZeneca, about the challenges currently faced by the drug discovery sector.

From Society for Laboratory Automation and Screening (SLAS) 8 Jul 2022