Infectious Diseases News and Research

RSS

New AI Model Unlocks the Therapeutic Potential of Lasso Peptides

In the hunt for new therapeutics for cancer and infectious diseases, lasso peptides prove to be a catch.

17 Oct 2025

Structural Insights into Heat Shock Chaperone Complex and Protein Handoffs

The first full-length structures of two heat shock chaperone proteins in a complex reveal the key structural region regulating their function, according to a new study from St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

15 Oct 2025

Study Reveals Tissue-Specific DNA Patterns Used by HIV to Evade Detection

Researchers at Western University and the University of Calgary have discovered how HIV hides in different parts of the body by embedding itself into the DNA of cells in a tissue-specific manner, offering new insights into why the virus is so difficult to eliminate and cure – even decades after infection and treatment.

7 Oct 2025

Breakthrough in Understanding How Tick-Borne Encephalitis Virus Infects Human Brain Cells

The protein on human cells that tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV) uses for infection has now been identified-a major step toward understanding how TBEV causes neurological disease and for developing antiviral drugs.

3 Oct 2025

Enhancing Genome Editing Through Systematic CAST Optimization

Natural systems such as CRISPR-associated transposons (CASTs) offer a targetable, one-step way to edit genomes.

25 Sep 2025

Lipids Play a Regulatory Role in LC3-Associated Phagocytosis

LC3-associated phagocytosis (LAP) is a specialized process for degrading dead cells, microbes or other particles.

23 Sep 2025

Predicting Protein Metal Binding with New Artificial Intelligence Model

Biologists and computational scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory recently refined two artificial intelligence (AI) programs originally built by Meta, the company that owns Facebook, to predict protein shapes.

10 Sep 2025

New Research Reveals Link Between Copper Antimicrobials and Antibiotic Resistance

Copper has emerged as a key ally in the fight against antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Copper sulfate solutions, for example, have been used since the 1700s to combat fungal infections in vineyards, orchards, and a variety of other agricultural contexts.

8 Aug 2025

Small Viral Protein ORF3a Reveals Big Role in SARS-CoV-2 Infectivity

In a recent study published in Nature Communications, researchers from the University of Chicago discovered that the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) uses a small but powerful protein, ORF3a, to assemble the infectious particles, making it more efficient at spreading the disease.

29 Jul 2025

Every Newborn Sequenced Within a Decade: What Does This Mean for Healthcare?

We spoke with Neil Ward from PacBio about England’s plan to introduce whole genome sequencing for every newborn, and how long-read technology is shaping the future of early diagnosis around the world.

29 Jul 2025

Pathogenic Bacteria Choose Food Over Fear in the Human Gut

Bacteria that cause intestinal infections typically avoid a stinky chemical - one that can kill them at high enough concentrations - inside human intestines, but they may actually swim toward it when a hearty meal is the reward.

16 Jul 2025

Ancient DNA Reveals Origins of Human Pathogens and Zoonotic Diseases

A research team led by Eske Willerslev, professor at the University of Copenhagen and the University of Cambridge, has recovered ancient DNA from 214 known human pathogens in prehistoric humans from Eurasia.

10 Jul 2025

Genetic Ancestry Tied to Immune Response in Dengue Infection

For the first time, the extreme variability in dengue fever has been linked to a biological mechanism, potentially opening doors to new treatments and vaccines for the most common mosquito-borne disease worldwide.

1 Jul 2025

How Heterogeneous Antibody Immunity Shapes Strain Evolution

A new study found that person-to-person heterogeneity in antibody immunity influences which influenza (flu) strains dominate in a population.

4 Jun 2025

Blocking Viral Enzyme Boosts Brain Immunity Against HSV-1

Infections caused by herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) can lead to HSV-1 encephalitis-a rare but deadly condition that inflames the brain.

4 Jun 2025

UVA Research Reveals Key to HIV Latency

University of Virginia School of Medicine scientists have uncovered a key reason why HIV remains so difficult to cure: Their research shows that small changes in the virus affect how quickly or slowly it replicates, and how easily or stubbornly it can reawaken from hiding.

30 May 2025

Zika Virus Hijacks Cellular Cleanup to Suppress Immune Response

A new study reveals the biological secret to the Zika virus's infectious success: Zika uses host cells' own "self-care" system of clearing away useless molecules to suppress the host proteins that the virus has employed to get into those cells in the first place.

28 May 2025

Millennia-Old Mutation Provides Clues to Modern HIV Immunity

What connections exist between a millennia-old human from the Black Sea region and contemporary HIV medicine?

12 May 2025

Study Reveals T Cell Plasticity as a Key Driver of Systemic Autoimmunity

After spending years tracing the origin and migration pattern of an unusual type of immune cell in mice, researchers have shown in a new study how activity of "good" microbes in the gut is linked to rheumatoid arthritis and, potentially, other autoimmune diseases.

5 May 2025

Dr. Jeremy Poschmann’s data-driven approach to immune profiling and translational science

Dr. Jeremy Poschmann discusses data-driven approaches in genomics, revealing how immune profiling can predict disease risk and improve patient outcomes.

1 May 2025