SN3 suffers a setback and Crew Dragon is still set to fly. Could Starlink help in the coronavirus lockdowns? It’s Musk Reads: SpaceX Edition #157.
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Category: biotech/medical – Page 1836
No vaccines exist that protect people against infections by coronaviruses, including SARS-CoV-2, which causes COVID-19, or the ones that cause SARS and MERS. As COVID-19 continues to wreak havoc, many labs around the world have developed a laser-like focus on understanding the virus and finding the best strategy for stopping it.
This week in mBio, a journal of the American Society of Microbiology, a team of interdisciplinary researchers describes a promising vaccine candidate against the MERS virus. Since the MERS (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome) outbreak began in 2012, more than 850 people have died, and studies suggest the virus has a case fatality rate of more than 30%.
In the new paper, the researchers suggest that the approach they took for a MERS virus vaccine may also work against SARS-CoV-2. The vaccine’s delivery method is an RNA virus called parainfluenza virus 5 (PIV5), which is believed to cause a condition known as kennel cough in dogs but appears harmless to people. The researchers added an extra gene to the virus so that infected cells would produce the S, or spike, glycoprotein known to be involved in MERS infections.
Presence and location of gray matter in the brain may indicate whether acupuncture is an effective method of treating migraine without aura, according to a study published in Frontiers in Neurology.
Presence and location of gray matter (GM) in the brain may indicate whether acupuncture is an effective method of treating migraine without aura (MwoA), according to a study published in Frontiers in Neurology.
In many countries acupuncture is used as a treatment for migraine, but there is insufficient evidence to claim it is effective for all migraineurs. According to researchers, “about 50% of patients do not achieve substantial improvement after acupuncture.” However, determining which patients may benefit from acupuncture will prevent nonresponders from undergoing time-consuming and unsuccessful treatment.
Japan has earmarked $2.2 billion of its record economic stimulus package to help its manufacturers shift production out of China as the coronavirus disrupts supply chains between the major trading partners.
The extra budget, compiled to try to offset the devastating effects of the pandemic, includes 220 billion yen ($2 billion) for companies shifting production back to Japan and 23.5 billion yen for those seeking to move production to other countries, according to details of the plan posted online.
An ongoing long-term trial suggests high levels of amyloid proteins in the brain do serve as an early sign of Alzheimer’s disease before cognitive decline becomes apparent.
A new study presenting the first data from a long-running US government trial is suggesting high levels of amyloid proteins in the brains of cognitively normal older adults can be an effective presymptomatic sign of early stage Alzheimer’s disease.
Over the last few decades, the amyloid hypothesis has guided the majority of research into an Alzheimer’s disease treatment. The idea is that a build up of toxic amyloid proteins in the brain, called plaques, is the primary degenerative driver behind the disease.
Unfortunately a near-constant parade of failed clinical trials testing anti-amyloid drugs has caused many researchers to begin doubting the amyloid hypothesis. From neuroinflammation to bacterial infection, a broad number of alternative hypotheses are currently being investigated, however, some scientists suspect anti-amyloid treatments could still work, as long as they commence before major degenerative symptoms appear.
Researchers at Lund University in Sweden have succeeded in restoring mobility and sensation of touch in stroke-afflicted rats by reprogramming human skin cells to become nerve cells, which were then transplanted into the rats’ brains. The study has now been published in the research journal PNAS.
“Six months after the transplantation, we could see how the new cells had repaired the damage that a stroke had caused in the rats’ brains,” says Professor Zaal Kokaia, who together with senior professor Olle Lindvall and researcher Sara Palma-Tortosa at the Division of Neurology is behind the study.
Several previous studies from the Lund team and others have shown that it is possible to transplant nerve cells derived from human stem cells or from reprogrammed cells into brains of rats afflicted by stroke. However, it was not known whether the transplanted cells can form connections correctly in the rat brain in a way that restores normal movement and feeling.
Scientists in Argentina decipher complete genome of SARS-Cov-2. Work by ANLIS-Malbrán Institute specialists will allow experts to follow evolution of virus in Argentina, ensure quality of diagnosis and contribute to development of vaccine.
If you’re curious about the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic and its relationship to animals, I’d like to recommend an excellent interview with a bat virus expert who was in Wuhan, China at ground zero in mid-January. He has been involved in a series of investigations of viral epidemics since the mid-1990s.
Ira Pastor, ideaXme life sciences ambassador, interviews Dr. Linfa Wang, director of the Program in Emerging Infectious Diseases at the collaborative Duke-National University of Singapore Medical School in Singapore.
Ira Pastor Comments:
Not only have all the patients survived, according to Pluristem, but four of them showed improvement in respiratory parameters and three of them are in the advanced stages of weaning from ventilators. Moreover, two of the patients with preexisting medical conditions are showing clinical recovery in addition to the respiratory improvement.
“We are pleased with this initial outcome of the compassionate use program and committed to harnessing PLX cells for the benefit of patients and healthcare systems,” said Pluristem CEO and president Yaky Yanay. “Pluristem is dedicated to using its competitive advantages in large-scale manufacturing to potentially deliver PLX cells to a large number of patients in significant need.”
Pluristem’s PLX cells are “allogeneic mesenchymal-like cells that have immunomodulatory properties,” meaning they induce the immune system’s natural regulatory T cells and M2 macrophages, the company explained in a previous release. The result could be the reversal of dangerous overactivation of the immune system. This would likely reduce the fatal symptoms of pneumonia and pneumonitis (general inflammation of lung tissue).