Coronavirus

Boston, MA — It’s difficult to plan ahead when SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, is so unpredictable. But, there is now a straightforward method for predicting one of the resources needed to slow the spread of COVID-19 in communities.  Researchers at Boston University (BU) developed a real-time method for projecting COVID-19 quarantine needs in […]

Bethesda, MD — A clinical trial has found that the combination of remdesivir plus a highly concentrated solution of antibodies that neutralize SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, is not more effective than remdesivir alone for treating adults hospitalized with the disease. The trial also found that the safety of this experimental treatment may vary […]

Washington, DC – George Washington University researchers have developed a blood test that quickly detects if someone has COVID-19 and predicts how severely the immune system will react to the infection, according to a new study published on Janurary 26 in PLOS One. The findings could one day lead to a powerful tool to help […]

Bethesda, MD — In adults who had previously received a full regimen of any of three COVID-19 vaccines granted Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) or approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), an additional booster dose of any of these vaccines was safe and prompted an immune response, according to preliminary clinical trial results reported […]

Seattle, WA — An international team of scientists has determined the precise structural changes in the spike protein of the omicron variant. Their observations explain how the virus is able to evade antibodies against previous variants and still remain highly infectious. “The findings provide a blueprint that researchers can use to design new countermeasures, whether […]

Seattle, WA — Researchers at the University of Washington have developed a new test for COVID-19 that combines the speed of over-the-counter antigen tests with the accuracy of PCR tests that are processed in medical labs and hospitals. The Harmony COVID-19 test is a diagnostic test that, like PCR tests for COVID-19, detects genetic material […]

Vancouver, BC, Canada — Researchers at UBC’s faculty of medicine have conducted the world’s first molecular-level structural analysis of the Omicron variant spike protein. The findings were published Jan. 20 in Science.  The analysis—done at near-atomic resolution using cryo-electron microscopy—reveals how the heavily mutated Omicron variant attaches to and infects human cells.  “Understanding the molecular […]

Hoboken, NJ — A study published in Indoor Air simulated the transmission of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, on a flight from London to Hanoi and on another flight from Singapore to Hangzhou. When simulating the dispersion of droplets of different sizes generated by coughing, talking, and breathing activities in an airline cabin by […]

Houston, TX and Chicago, IL ― Scientists at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and Northwestern Medicine have identified natural extracellular vesicles containing the ACE2 protein (evACE2) in the blood of COVID-19 patients that can block infection from broad strains of SARS-CoV-2 virus in preclinical studies. The study was published today (Jan. 20) in […]

Beijing, China — COVID-19 waves a spike protein as it roams a host’s body, a hand reaching out to greet cells in a nasty trick. The virus connects to a cell, binding, breaking in and hijacking the molecular machinery to proliferate. Once it happens, via infection or vaccination, the body’s immune system knows how to […]

Urbana, IL — As health and research institutions continue to rapidly develop new methodologies for detecting SARS-CoV-2, researchers from the Holonyak Micro & Nanotechnology Laboratory have found themselves at both forefronts of discovery and featured on the cover of the Journal of the American Chemical Society with their paper: Label-free Digital Detection of Intact Virions by […]

Bethesda, MD — A growing body of scientific evidence, considered together with ecological reality, strongly suggests that novel coronaviruses will continue to infect bats and other animal reservoirs and potentially emerge to pose a pandemic threat to humans. To counter future coronavirus outbreaks, the global scientific and medical research community should focus a major effort […]