Infectious disease
Protein mapping finds 69 potential treatments for COVID-19.
Many are FDA-approved drugs that could be repurposed.
Category: biotech/medical – Page 2,056
Potential coronavirus vaccine ‘generates enough antibodies to fight off virus’
Dozens of other teams around the world have potential vaccines in development.
But the Pittsburgh research is the first study on a Covid-19 vaccine candidate to be published after critique from fellow scientists at outside institutions.
The scientists were able to act quickly because they had already laid the groundwork during earlier epidemics of coronaviruses: Sars in 2003 and Mers in 2014.
“These two viruses, which are closely related to[Covid-19], teach us that a particular protein, called a spike protein, is important for inducing immunity against the virus. We knew exactly where to fight this new virus,” said Andrea Gambotto, associate professor of surgery at the Pittsburgh School of Medicine.
Vaccine developed by US researchers is injected by 400 ‘microneedles’ stuck onto the skin like a plaster.
We aren’t just stopping coronavirus. We’re building a new world
Can we build a better world with the lessons learned around this pandemic?
There is discussion that globalism will give way to community resilience and local digital manufacture, storage and transportation to provide abundant resources for normal and unanticipated needs.
#CommunityResilience #CommunityResourceCentres
We must pressure our leaders to take the long view in any coronavirus economic recovery package, even if this feels like a short-term emergency.
Physical force alone spurs gene expression, study reveals
Cells will ramp up gene expression in response to physical forces alone, a new study finds. Gene activation, the first step of protein production, starts less than one millisecond after a cell is stretched—hundreds of times faster than chemical signals can travel, the researchers report.
The scientists tested forces that are biologically relevant—equivalent to those exerted on human cells by breathing, exercising or vocalizing. They report their findings in the journal Science Advances.
“We found that force can activate genes without intermediates, without enzymes or signaling molecules in the cytoplasm,” said University of Illinois mechanical science and engineering professor Ning Wang, who led the research. “We also discovered why some genes can be activated by force and some cannot.”
Australia begins coronavirus vaccine tests
Australian government scientists have begun the first stages of testing for a potential vaccine against the SARS CoV-2 coronavirus, which causes the disease COVID-19. Australia’s national science agency CSIRO said Thursday that testing at a biosecurity facility was expected to take three months. The testing is being undertaken in cooperation with the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), a global group that aims to help speedily develop vaccines against emerging infectious diseases.
Australia’s national science agency will test two vaccine candidates over the next three months. It is part of a global race to halt the coronavirus pandemic.
Probiotics, Immunity & Coronavirus (COVID-19)
COVID-19 has caused a sharp increase in interest around immunity supporting products, such as NZMP’s clinically researched probiotic strains. Dr James Dekker, discusses probiotics ability to support immunity and whether their use is appropriate.
Needle in a haystack: MIPT scientists explain why new dangerous viruses are so hard to identify
In a recently published fundamental review dedicated to the diagnostics of viral infections, a Russian research team featuring MIPT researchers was the first to systematically describe and summarize the cutting-edge technologies in the rapidly developing field of genetics. A number of new effective methods of virus detection have been developed over the past few years, including those targeted at unknown pathogens. The authors described the so-called high-throughput next-generation sequencing as a potent new approach. The method promises to revolutionize the detection and analysis of new pathogenic viruses, but it will be at least several years until it is introduced into mainstream clinical practice.
In response to the rapid spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, an authoritative global scientific journal, aptly named Viruses, published a fundamental review of problems related to identifying and studying emerging pathogens, such as the notorious coronavirus.
“There are, by various statistical estimations, over 320,000 various viruses infecting mammals,” said Kamil Khafizov, a researcher at MIPT’s Historical Genetics, Radiocarbon Analysis and Applied Physics Lab and one of the review’s authors. “But up to date, less than 1% of this vast multitude has been studied.”