Virus News and Research

RSS

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.

Weak Molecular Interactions Trigger Autophagy in Cells

Recycling takes place in our cells at all times: in a process called autophagy, cell components that are no longer needed are enclosed by membranes and broken down into their basic building blocks.

8 Jan 2025

New Mechanism Revealed for Immune Response to DNA Damage

A research team from the University of California, Irvine has revealed a previously unknown mechanism that triggers an inflammatory immune response in cells when their DNA is damaged.

7 Jan 2025

Genetic Sequencing Breakthrough Reveals Rapid Spread of New Pathogens

Researchers have come up with a new way to identify more infectious variants of viruses or bacteria that start spreading in humans - including those causing flu, COVID, whooping cough and tuberculosis.

2 Jan 2025

New Model for Studying Ebola Virus Pathogenesis

Ebola is a fatal hemorrhagic disease caused by a virus that is found in parts of East-Central and West Africa. Most individuals are aware that the major mode of person-to-person transmission is through contact with an infected person’s bodily fluids.

2 Jan 2025

Fruit Flies Evolve New Defense Through Gene Transfer

In the continual arms race between parasites and their hosts, innovation was thought to be the key to a successful attack or defense that one-ups the competition.

26 Dec 2024

Researchers Create 3D Atlas of Brain-Spinal Cord Connections

Signals relayed to motor neurons from the brain enable muscle movement, but these signals typically pass through spinal interneurons before they reach their destination. How the brain and this highly diverse group of "switchboard operator" cells are connected is poorly understood.

24 Dec 2024

Cellular RNA as a Key Modulator of Mitochondrial Antiviral Signaling

Scientists have uncovered a new role for a cell's own RNA in fending off attacks by RNA viruses. Some of the cell's RNA molecules, researchers found, help regulate antiviral signaling. These signals are part of the intricate coordination of immune responses against virus invasion.

20 Dec 2024

New Virus Found to Alter Cell Machinery in Eukaryotic Cells

Julie Thomy, lead author of the study and postdoctoral researcher in the Daniel K. Inouye Center for Microbial Oceanography: Research and Education (C-MORE) and Department of Oceanography in the UH Mānoa School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology (SOEST)

18 Dec 2024

Researchers Map Influenza Virus RNA Protective Coat at Atomic Level

To fight the virus that causes influenza, one of the avenues being explored by scientists is the development of drugs capable of destabilizing its genome, made up of eight RNA molecules.

17 Dec 2024

Targeting Cancer with Nanoparticle-Delivered Gene Therapy

Scientists are literally shining a laser on the energy centers of cancer cells in an attempt to harm these sources of power and cause widespread cancer cell death.

16 Dec 2024

Exosome-Mediated Immune Escape and Tumor Growth in Hepatocellular Carcinoma

The TIME is a dynamic network composed of cancer cells, immune cells, and stromal components. During the early stages of tumorigenesis, the TIME attempts to eliminate abnormal cells through immune surveillance.

12 Dec 2024

CSIRO, Oxitec to Tackle Disease-Spreading Mosquitoes Threatening Mainland Australia

A new venture, Oxitec Australia, is taking on two of the deadliest virus-carrying mosquitos in the Pacific region – Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus – to fight the spread of diseases like dengue, Zika, and yellow fever, which claims hundreds of thousands of lives globally each year.

10 Dec 2024