Virology News and Research

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Virology is the study of viruses and virus-like agents: their structure, classification and evolution, their ways to infect and exploit cells for virus reproduction, the diseases they cause, the techniques to isolate and culture them, and their use in research and therapy.

Study Reveals Tissue-Specific Effects of JAK1 Signaling in Inflammation

Researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai have gained a deeper understanding of the nuanced roles of JAK inhibitors, or modulators, in inflammation across various cell types and tissues.

26 Dec 2023

Structural Insights Into Coronavirus Spike Proteins

Coronaviruses employ protein “spikes” to latch onto and infect cells. Contrary to their name, these spikes do not have a rigid and pointed structure. Instead, they resemble chicken drumsticks, with the meaty portion facing outward.

27 Nov 2023

Scientists Identify 4,749 Gene Clusters Linked to Cancer Prognosis

Researchers at the Mount Sinai Center for Transformative Disease Modeling have released a groundbreaking study identifying 4,749 key gene clusters, termed "prognostic modules," that significantly influence the progression of 32 different types of cancer.

14 Nov 2023

Research Reveals How Gut Bacteria Influence Distant Organs Through Oxytocin Signaling

The gut microbiome, a community of trillions of microbes living in the human intestines, has an increasing reputation for affecting not only gut health but also the health of organs distant from the gut.

3 Nov 2023

Gene-Edited Chickens in Fight Against Bird Flu

Scientists have used gene editing techniques to identify and change parts of chicken DNA that could limit the spread of the bird flu virus in the animals.

11 Oct 2023

Promoting Viral Propagation with Decreasing Biodiversity

How are environmental changes, biodiversity decline, and disease spread related? The solution is a riddle.

27 Sep 2023

Using Genetic Engineering to Facilitate Mutualistic Relationships Between Plants and Nitrogen-Fixing Microbes

Nitrogen is an essential nutrient for plant growth, but the overuse of synthetic nitrogen fertilizers in agriculture is not sustainable.

27 Sep 2023

Study Finds Diverse Set of Immune Cells Linked to Flu Protection

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital scientists, in collaboration with the Institute of Environmental Science and Research (ESR) Limited, found that immune cells present in people months before influenza (flu) infection could more accurately predict if an individual would develop symptoms than current methods which primarily rely on antibody levels.

18 Aug 2023

RNA-Based CATCH Strategy Aims to Activate Dendritic Cells

Investigators at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai have designed an innovative RNA-based strategy to activate dendritic cells-;which play a key role in immune response-;that eradicated tumors and prevented their recurrence in mouse models of melanoma.

28 Jul 2023

New Method Creates Embryo-Like Structure That Mimics Gastrulation

Gastrulation, the process where an embryo reorganizes itself from a hollow sphere into a multilayered structure, is considered a "black box" of human development.

21 Jul 2023

Novel Drug Slows Development of Antibiotic Resistance

At the Baylor College of Medicine, a research group is gaining ground in its quest for solutions to the global concern of bacterial antibiotic resistance, which was accountable for almost 1.3 million deaths in 2019.

26 Jun 2023

Influenza A Viruses Use "Tactical Strikes" to Hijack Host Cells

Influenza A is one of two influenza viruses that fuel costly annual flu seasons and is a near constant threat to humans and many other animals. It’s also responsible for occasional pandemics that, like the one in 1918, leave millions dead and wreak havoc on health systems and wider society.

23 Jun 2023

Infections with the Fungus Candida auris on the Rise in Germany

Candida auris is an extremely new species among yeasts from the Candida genus that cause infections in humans: it was only reported in 2009, and no evidence has been found prior to the 1990s.

16 May 2023

Microbial Drought Resistance Could Result in Soil Carbon Losses

Soil stores more carbon than plants and the atmosphere combined, and soil microbes are largely responsible for putting it there.

13 Apr 2023

Attacking the HTLV-1 Virus With the Help of Special Gene Scissors

HTLV-1 triggers aggressive forms of leukemia or an incurable spinal cord disease that leads to paralysis: the virus is the often ignored but no less insidious sibling of the HIV virus that causes AIDS and also belongs to the family of retroviruses.

6 Apr 2023

First Steps Driving Antibiotic Resistance Discovered

Antibiotic resistance is a global health threat. In 2019 alone, an estimated 1.3 million deaths were attributed to antibiotic resistant bacterial infections worldwide.

3 Apr 2023

Previously unknown genetic causes of three rare conditions discovered

Using a new computational approach they developed to analyze large genetic datasets from rare disease cohorts, researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and colleagues have discovered previously unknown genetic causes of three rare conditions: primary lymphedema (characterized by tissue swelling), thoracic aortic aneurysm disease, and congenital deafness.

20 Mar 2023

Researchers discover previously unknown genetic causes of three rare conditions

17 Mar 2023

Novel web-based tool deoptimizes genetic sequences based on different codon usage

A new software tool developed by Texas Biomedical Research Institute and collaborators can help scientists and vaccine developers quickly edit genetic blueprints of pathogens to make them less harmful.

16 Mar 2023

Study investigates schizophrenia risk across African ancestry

Researchers have identified two previously unknown genes linked to schizophrenia and newly implicated a third gene as carrying risk for both schizophrenia and autism. Led by the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, the multi-center study further demonstrated that the schizophrenia risk conferred by these rare damaging variants is conserved across ethnicities. The study may also point to new therapeutics.

14 Mar 2023