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Single Mutation Could Make H5N1 Bird Flu More Dangerous to Humans

Avian influenza viruses typically require several mutations to adapt and spread among humans, but what happens when just one change can increase the risk of becoming a pandemic virus?

6 Dec 2024

Peat Bog Fungi as a Reservoir of Anti-Tuberculosis Compounds

An analysis of fungi collected from peat bogs has revealed several species that produce substances toxic to the bacterium responsible for tuberculosis in humans.

4 Dec 2024

Enterococcus Co-Infection Increases Protective Slime in Pathogenic E. coli

A new study finds that two subtypes of pathogenic Escherichia coli (E. coli) produce five to 16 times more protective capsular "slime" when Enterococcus faecalis (EF) is present.

3 Dec 2024

LysoTRAP Strategy Offers Hope for Clearing Viral Infections Across Variants

Researchers from the Institute of Process Engineering (IPE) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences have recently developed a novel lysosomal strategy for clearing viruses and their variants.

28 Nov 2024

Novel Fungal Commensal Shaping Mouse Immune Responses

Researchers from Weill Cornell Medicine have found a fungus in the stomach of mice that may provide a clue to the evolution of fungi in the gastrointestinal tract.

28 Nov 2024

New Tool to Unravel the Secrets of Malaria Parasite Adhesion

To better understand the highly varied characteristics that enable malaria parasites to adhere to red blood cells and elude the immune system, researchers have developed a new tool.

27 Nov 2024

Study Reveals Mystery Behind Extra Genes in Coronaviruses

Viruses are lean, mean, infection machines. Their genomes are tiny, usually limited to a handful of absolutely essential genes, and they shed extra genomic deadweight extremely fast.

20 Nov 2024

Hepatitis E Virus Impairs Neuronal Cells, Reducing Neurite Length

For the first time, scientists can examine the effects of hepatitis E viruses on nerve cells using a novel cell model.

19 Nov 2024

SARS-CoV-2 Outwits Immune System, Prolonging Infection

SARS-CoV-2 inhibits the function of the complement system, a crucial element of early antiviral immunity, by hijacking three crucial host proteins, according to research from the Medical Universities of Vienna and Innsbruck.

11 Nov 2024

A New Understanding of Viral Infection

Scientists studying animal viruses with the potential to infect humans have discovered a critical protein that could facilitate the spread of a family of organisms known as arteriviruses.

1 Nov 2024

Study Links Archaic Gene Variant to Health Risks in First Nations Oceanians

An ancient gene mutation among First Nations inhabitants of Oceania may make them more susceptible to infectious diseases like influenza, according to a new study by scientists at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus.

30 Oct 2024

The Dangers of Zoonotic Diseases

According to a recent study published in Nature, mice and ferrets infected in a high-containment laboratory setting died from a highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5N1 virus that was isolated from the eye of a farm worker who contracted the virus from contact with dairy cows.

29 Oct 2024

New Insights into SARS-CoV-2’s Evasion of Innate Immunity

The novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 has an enzyme that can counteract a cell's innate defense mechanism against viruses, explaining why it is more infectious than the previous SARS and MERS-causing viruses.

23 Oct 2024

EVQ-218: A Promising Candidate for Tackling Superbugs Without Triggering Antimicrobial Resistance

As the United Nations (UN) prepares to address the escalating threat of antimicrobial resistance, EVŌQ Nano is helping raise awareness through an educational infographic depicting a common trigger of antimicrobial resistance and highlighting EVQ-218's novel mechanism of action.

18 Oct 2024

Researchers Develop Innovative Human Macrophage Model for Disease Study

A human cell culture model of the lung's most important immune cells, alveolar macrophages, helped make a key finding that is prompting researchers to rethink the role of another immune protein in infectious disease.

15 Oct 2024

Single-Cell Sequencing Reveals New Insights into Immune Cell Interactions

A new review by Dr. Ruyuan Wang and an international team of researchers explores the complex interactions between the innate and adaptive immune systems, shedding light on regulatory mechanisms in infection, cancer, and autoimmune diseases.

14 Oct 2024

New Discovery Reveals How MX Protein Traps HIV and Herpes Viruses

A group of researchers led by Xavier Saelens and Sven Eyckerman at the VIB-UGent Center for Medical Biotechnology discovered how a protein linked to the human immune system wards off HIV-1 and herpes simplex virus-1 by assembling structures in the cell that lure in these viruses and then trap them or even take them apart.

11 Oct 2024

Researchers Develop Highly Selective SARS-CoV-2 Mpro Inhibitors

New research from The Wistar Institute's Salvino lab -; led by professor Joseph Salvino, Ph.D. -; has identified a novel series of SARS-CoV-2 Mpro inhibitors that may lead to potential new COVID-19 treatments that, according to preclinical testing, effectively inhibits COVID-19 and synergizes with existing anti-COVID therapies.

9 Oct 2024

Innovative Mouse Models Shed Light on SARS-CoV-2 Infection Mechanisms

Scientists at La Jolla Institute for Immunology (LJI) have developed six lines of humanized mice that can serve as valuable models for studying human cases of COVID-19.

4 Oct 2024

Understanding the Impact of Natural Flu Infections on Vaccine Effectiveness

Researchers from the University of Georgia discovered in a recent study supported by the National Institutes of Health that the effectiveness of upcoming influenza vaccinations is significantly influenced by the body's innate immunity from prior flu episodes.

1 Oct 2024