Virus News and Research

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A virus is a microscopic infectious agent that can reproduce only inside a host cell. Viruses infect all types of organisms: from animals and plants, to bacteria and archaea. Since the initial discovery of tobacco mosaic virus by Martinus Beijerinck in 1898, more than 5,000 types of virus have been described in detail, although most types of virus remain undiscovered. Viruses are ubiquitous, as they are found in almost every ecosystem on Earth, and are the most abundant type of biological entity on the planet. The study of viruses is known as virology, and is a branch of microbiology.

Collaboration across European countries accelerates the characterization of an emergent plant virus

In the 21st century, "collaboration" has become a popular buzzword, but effectively working together across disciplines and countries is easier said than done.

27 Jan 2023

Scientists receive $10 million from HHMI for research on using viruses as therapeutic agents

Taking a bold step into a new era of biology, a team of scientists from the University of California San Diego, the J. Craig Venter Institute and Yale University has been awarded $10 million by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute to support research on using viruses as new therapeutic agents.

27 Jan 2023

Native genome model of a “live” virus replicated

An Aston University scientist has developed the world’s first computer reconstruction of a virus, complete with its native genome.

24 Jan 2023

New revelations on the immune system’s defenses against infections

Cells competing for a place in a germinal center confront a tough admissions process. Germinal centers, which form following exposure to a pathogen or vaccine, serve as a kind of immune system training academy, assisting B cells in refining their response to the threat.

18 Jan 2023

New scalable approach for the diagnosis of multiple respiratory viruses

Cambridge scientists have created a novel test that “fishes” for many respiratory viruses at once using single strands of DNA as “bait” and provides extremely accurate results in under an hour.

18 Jan 2023

Grasping how a biological pathway causes stem cells to regenerate or die

According to a recent study conducted by Cedars-Sinai and the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), altering a cellular process can cause stem cells, which are the cells that give rise to all other types of body cells, to either die or regenerate.

18 Jan 2023

A new-found possibility for viral and cancer drug therapies

Researchers have found that sugar-based molecules can be used to inhibit the activity of a cell receptor that plays a role in the emergence of a variety of viral infections and cancers.

13 Jan 2023

Researchers expand the known defensive abilities of CRISPR–Cas systems

Viruses can infect bacteria and archaea, just as they can humans. These microbes have evolved their own immune defense mechanisms to combat their pathogens. Bacterial defenses, like CRISPR-Cas systems, contain a variety of proteins and functions that aid bacteria in protecting themselves from foreign intruders.

5 Jan 2023

Emerging viruses could be easily detected with a simple nasal swab

As the COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated, potentially harmful new viruses can spread throughout the population long before the system for monitoring global public health can catch them.

5 Jan 2023

Structure of the complete virion of S. epidermidis–infecting phage revealed

Scientists from the University of Alabama at Birmingham used cryo-electron microscopy to reveal the structure of a bacterial virus in extraordinary detail.

20 Dec 2022

Simple inexpensive test determines the genetic susceptibility to PML

Four genetic mutations have been linked to progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML), a rare but sometimes fatal brain infection that can be provoked by dozens of FDA-approved drugs.

16 Dec 2022

The Native Antigen Company expands infectious disease portfolio to include Sudan Ebolavirus Boniface 1976 Glycoprotein

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From The Native Antigen Company 8 Dec 2022

Insight into the treatment for Crimean Congo Hemorrhagic Fever Virus

The Crimean Congo Hemorrhagic Fever Virus can be prevented by therapeutically relevant human monoclonal antibodies, according to research led by the University of California, Riverside.

30 Nov 2022

Study unravels a novel function of the gene scissors

Many years earlier, the CRISPR/Cas9 gene scissors have been making a sensation in science and medicine. This new tool of molecular biology consists of its origins in an ancient bacterial immune system.

28 Nov 2022

AI creates artificial DNA to control cell protein production

Researchers at Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden have developed synthetic DNA that uses artificial intelligence to control the production of proteins in cells.

25 Nov 2022

Improving potential of cellular therapies with CAR T therapy

CAR T cells, or engineered immune cells, have demonstrated to the world the potential of customized immunotherapies to treat blood cancers. Researchers have just released highly encouraging preliminary data for CAR T therapy in a small group of lupus patients.

25 Nov 2022

Chemically attenuated live DNA virus vaccine prevents viral infection

Rutgers researchers have devised a new way to prevent viral infections: a live-attenuated, replication-defective DNA virus vaccine that utilizes the substance centanamycin to create an altered virus for vaccine development.

From Rutgers University 22 Nov 2022

Atypical antibody shows extremely potent zika-resistant activity

A group of researchers led by Weill Cornell Medicine, New York-Presbyterian, and National Institutes of Health (NIH) investigators has discovered an unusual type of antibody that, even at extremely low concentrations, neutralizes the Zika virus and renders the virus infection undetectable in preclinical models.

22 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