Coronavirus News and Research

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Combination drugs for COVID-19 show promise in laboratory tests

Six months into the COVID-19 pandemic, more than 7.4 million people have been infected, and more than 410 000 have died. As yet, there is no treatment or vaccine for the disease.

16 Jun 2020

Potent human antibodies protect against SARS-CoV-2 in animal tests

A team led by Scripps Research has discovered antibodies in the blood of recovered COVID-19 patients that provide powerful protection against SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes the disease, when tested in animals and human cell cultures.

16 Jun 2020

A protein that helps to fight viruses can also inhibit lung tissue repair

Researchers at the Francis Crick Institute have found that a protein which is initially helpful in the body’s immune response to a virus, can later interfere with the repair of lung tissue.

12 Jun 2020

Lungs' immune cells can be activated more easily than previously thought

A significant site of damage during COVID-19 infection is the lungs. Understanding how the lungs' immune cells are responding to viral infections could help scientists develop a vaccine.

12 Jun 2020

Coronavirus (COVID-19) sample tracking packages

To assist labs involved with the essential RT-PCR assay part of the “test, trace and isolate” strategy for dealing with the SARS-CoV-2 virus pandemic – Ziath has introduced two optimized packages for reliable tracking of patient samples submitted for Coronavirus (COVID-19) testing.

From Ziath Ltd 10 Jun 2020

CD8+ T cells can help develop vaccines against Japanese encephalitis, Zika fever

A clinical case of Japanese encephalitis is diagnosed in over 68,000 individuals every year, leading to the death of one in four of these affected patients.

8 Jun 2020

Scientists aim to develop a gene-targeting, antiviral agent to combat COVID-19

A team of scientists from Stanford University is working with researchers at the Molecular Foundry, a nanoscience user facility located at the Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab), to develop a gene-targeting, antiviral agent against COVID-19.

5 Jun 2020

Fate-seq technique shows structural differences between COVID-19 and SARS viruses

Scientists have discovered certain segments of the genetic codes of the SARS and COVID-19 viruses that may support the lifecycle of the viruses.

4 Jun 2020

Approach used against flu could benefit COVID-19 drug development

A new study from researchers at The University of Texas at Austin has found that some antivirals are useful for more than helping sick people get better -- they also can prevent thousands of deaths and hundreds of thousands of virus cases if used in the early stages of infection.

3 Jun 2020

Inhibiting host cell proteases can help prevent COVID-19 infection

How can we prevent the novel coronavirus from invading a host cell in an attempt to prevent infection?

2 Jun 2020

Study identifies potent neutralizing antibodies against SARS-CoV-2

A joint research team led by Sunney Xie, Director of Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Genomics at Peking University has successfully identified multiple highly potent neutralizing antibodies against the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, the causative virus of the respiratory disease COVID-19, from convalescent plasma by high-throughput single-cell sequencing.

29 May 2020

Blue Ocean Robotics recognized with Frost & Sullivan “Best Practices Award” for disinfecting UVD robots

Today, Blue Ocean Robotics announced that it has been selected by Frost & Sullivan for its Best Practice “2020 European Professional Service Robots Product Leadership” Award.

28 May 2020

EKF secures COVID-19 novel sample collection kit manufacturing and supply contracts

EKF Diagnostics, the global in vitro diagnostics company, announces it has secured new contracts for the manufacture and supply of a novel, patented sample collection device which allows COVID-19 samples to be rapidly inactivated in the collection tube, avoiding contamination and preserving RNA without need for refrigeration.

From EKF Diagnostics 26 May 2020

X-ray experiments reveal antibody to block entry of SARS-CoV-2

As scientists across the globe race to develop a vaccine against SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes COVID-19, an international team led by Davide Corti at Vir Biotechnology and David Veesler at the University of Washington has been working around the clock on a complementary approach - identifying neutralizing antibodies that could be used as a preventative treatment or as a post-exposure therapy.

20 May 2020

Cross-neutralization of SARS and COVID-19 coronaviruses by an antibody

An antibody first identified in a blood sample from a patient who recovered from Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome in 2003 inhibits related coronaviruses, including the cause of COVID-19.

19 May 2020

Study shows coronavirus does not induce cross-protective immune antibodies

According to researchers, patients infected with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) or SARS-CoV-2 generate antibodies that adhere to the other coronavirus; however, the cross-reactive antibodies are not actually cross-protective, as far as cell-culture experiments are concerned.

19 May 2020

The Global Hunt To Block COVID-19

A molecular biologist is working with a world leader in artificial intelligence-based drug discovery to help find a molecule that could prevent SARS-CoV-2.

19 May 2020

Study offers a benchmark for testing potential vaccines for COVID-19

Globally, researchers are racing against time to design a vaccine to guard against the COVID-19 infection, and epidemiologists are taking efforts to predict the way the coronavirus pandemic will spread until the availability of such a vaccine.

18 May 2020

Coronavirus attacking microRNA numbers reduce with age

A group of tiny RNA that should attack the virus causing COVID-19 when it tries to infect the body are diminished with age and chronic health problems, a decrease that likely helps explain why older individuals and those with preexisting medical conditions are vulnerable populations, investigators report.

14 May 2020

New study sheds light on enigmatic giant microbes

In the recent past, researchers have uncovered giant viruses in some of the most enigmatic locations in the world, from Siberia’s thawing permafrost to locations unknown under the Antarctic ice.

11 May 2020