Microbiology

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Study finds how SARS-CoV-2 hijacks human cell machinery to disrupt the immune response

SARS-CoV-2 hijacks human cell machinery to disrupt the immune response, enabling it to cause infection, replicate, and cause disease.

4 May 2021

Researchers describe the internal anatomy of marine worm

The marine worm Ramisyllis multicaudata, which lives within the internal canals of a sponge, is one of only two such species possessing a branching body, with one head and multiple posterior ends.

3 May 2021

Distinctive "spike" proteins of SARS-CoV-2 also play a key role in the disease

Scientists have known for a while that SARS-CoV-2's distinctive "spike" proteins help the virus infect its host by latching on to healthy cells.

3 May 2021

New gene editing tool helps analyze the mysterious quirk of bacteria

While the CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing system has become the poster child for innovation in synthetic biology, it has some major limitations.

3 May 2021

Genetically encoded sensor helps detect hallucinogenic substances

Researchers at the University of California, Davis, have created a genetically encoded sensor for detecting hallucinogenic substances.

29 Apr 2021

Bacterial species in the soil can evolve with climate change

While evolution is normally thought of as occurring over millions of years, researchers at the University of California, Irvine have discovered that bacteria can evolve in response to climate change in 18 months.

29 Apr 2021

Processed diet reduces gut bacteria and promotes encroachment of microbiota into the intestine

Processed diets, which are low in fiber, may initially reduce the incidence of foodborne infectious diseases such as E. coli infections, but might also increase the incidence of diseases characterized by low-grade chronic infection and inflammation such as diabetes, according to researchers in the Institute for Biomedical Sciences at Georgia State University.

29 Apr 2021

SDIR1 enzyme plays a major role in the expression of defense gene in plants

A new study offers evidence that microbes are trying to hijack the plant immune system to induce disease while also offering insights into a new mechanism.

26 Apr 2021

New AI model predicts targets for previously unmapped T cells against coronavirus

A research team has created an AI technique that can bind immune cells to their targets and uncouple the types of white blood cells that identify SARS-CoV-2.

26 Apr 2021

Natural molecule can effectively block the binding of human antibodies to SARS-CoV-2

Researchers have found that a natural molecule can effectively block the binding of a subset of human antibodies to SARS-CoV-2. The discovery may help explain why some COVID-19 patients can become severely ill despite having high levels of antibodies against the virus.

23 Apr 2021

SARS-CoV-2 infection produces antibodies that can destroy infected cells

Research teams investigated the antibodies generated in people with symptomatic or asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection.

23 Apr 2021

Study identifies mechanism that enables SARS viruses to efficiently replicate in infected cells

Researchers have now identified how SARS viruses improve the production of viral proteins in infected cells such that new copies of the virus can be produced.

23 Apr 2021

Study offers new ways to think about the immune system

Scientists have discovered new methods to interpret the immune system, as part of a new study reported in the Nature journal.

21 Apr 2021

Sampling environmental DNA and RNA could help determine the presence of pathogens

Conventional techniques lack the potential to easily sample wider geographical areas and huge numbers of individuals.

21 Apr 2021

Antibodies may not inhibit SARS-CoV-2 variants from minks

It has been known for about a year that minks can become infected with SARS-CoV-2. The virus had been transmitted from humans to farmed mink and mutated in infected animals. Mutations were acquired in the spike protein, which is crucial for the entry of the virus into host cells and represents the central point of attack for antibodies.

20 Apr 2021

Supercomputer simulations reveal the behavior of dominant G form SARS-CoV-2 strain

Large-scale supercomputer simulations at the atomic level show that the dominant G form variant of the COVID-19-causing virus is more infectious partly because of its greater ability to readily bind to its target host receptor in the body, compared to other variants.

19 Apr 2021

New evidence of enriched rearing effects on well-being of aquaculture fishes

Collaborative research of the University of Jyvaskyla and Natural Research Institute Finland presents new evidence of the effects of enriched rearing on well-being of aquaculture fishes.

19 Apr 2021

INRS professor receives $700,000 for research on bacteria of the nasopharynx

Professor Frédéric Veyrier of the Institut national de la recherche scientifique (INRS) has received $711,450 from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) for a project on bacteria of the nasopharynx, including Neisseria.

16 Apr 2021

Study reveals how some antibodies can effectively disable ebolaviruses

Some survivors of ebolavirus outbreaks make antibodies that can broadly neutralize these viruses--and now, scientists at Scripps Research have illuminated how these antibodies can disable the viruses so effectively. The insights may be helpful for developing effective therapies.

16 Apr 2021

Ebola virus protein changes shape by using human RNA

The human genome contains the instructions to make tens of thousands of proteins. Each protein folds into a precise shape--and biologists are taught that defined shape dictates the protein's destined function. Tens of thousands of singular shapes drive the tens of thousands of needed functions.

15 Apr 2021