Virology News

A new paper published today (April 24) in the journal Nature by an international team of 279 scientists led by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew presents the most up-to-date understanding of the flowering plant tree of life.

Scientists at the Leibniz Institute of Plant Biochemistry (IPB) have succeeded for the first time in stably and precisely inserting large gene segments into the DNA of higher plants very efficiently.To do this, they optimized the gene-editing method CRISPR/Cas, commonly known as "genetic scissors."...

Complex systems in nature, like their synthetic counterparts in technology, comprise a large number of small components that assemble of their own accord through molecular interactions. Gaining a better understanding of the principles and mechanisms of this self-assembly is important for the...

Plants are made up of very rigid cells. Much like bricks in a wall, this feature gives them the structural support to maintain their shape and to stand upright against gravity. However, just like any living organism, plants can be injured, for instance, by wind or animal grazing.

Despite their ancient ages, some stars orbiting the Milky Way's central supermassive black hole appear deceptively youthful. But unlike humans, who might appear rejuvenated from a fresh round of collagen injections, these stars look young for a much darker reason.

Sometimes, all you need for a new discovery is some creative math. That was the case for a new paper by Edward Williams and Laurent Montési of the University of Maryland's Department of Geology. They released a brief paper at the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference (LPSC 2024) last month that...

Rotavirus A (RVA) is the leading cause of diarrhea requiring hospitalization in children and causes over 100,000 annual deaths in Sub-Saharan Africa. In order to generate next-generation vaccines against African RVA genotypes, a reverse genetics system based on a simian rotavirus strain was...

Pemgarda, a monoclonal antibody infusion recently authorized by the FDA, could offer a new line of protection for millions of immunocompromised patients.

Background This study examined the correlation of classroom ventilation (air exchanges per hour (ACH)) and exposure to CO2 ≥1,000 ppm with the incidence of SARS-CoV-2 over a 20-month period in a specialized school for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD).

In a striking new study published in Science Advances, a team of synthetic biologists led by Karen Sarkisyan at the MRC Laboratory of Medical Sciences, have reported the discovery of multiple plant enzymes—hispidin synthases—that can perform the most complex reaction of the bioluminescence pathway.

Influenza A viruses (IAVs) possess a segmented genome consisting of eight viral RNAs (vRNAs) associated with multiple copies of viral nucleoprotein (NP) and a viral polymerase complex. Despite the crucial role of RNA structure in IAV replication, the impact of NP binding on vRNA structure is not...

Single-dose, immunogenic DNA (iDNA) vaccines coding for whole live-attenuated viruses are reviewed. This platform, sometimes called immunization DNA, has been used for vaccine development for flavi- and alphaviruses.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection can cause potentially life-threatening coronavirus disease (COVID-19). COVID-19 is a multisystem disease and is associated with significant respiratory distress, systemic hyperinflammation, vasculitis, and multi-organ failure.

The single-celled organism Naegleria fowleri ranks among the deadliest human parasites. Researchers around Matthias Horn and Patrick Arthofer from the Center for Microbiology and Environmental Systems Science at the University of Vienna, in an international collaboration, have discovered viruses...

And there are benefits of plant cell expression systems, notably their impact on the cost of goods sold (COGS).

Viruses need hosts. Whether it's measles, the flu or coronavirus, viral pathogens cannot multiply or infect other organisms without the assistance of their hosts' cellular infrastructure. However, humans are not the only ones affected by viruses: animals, plants and even microorganisms can all...

Earth was long thought to be the only planet in our solar system with an ocean, but it is beginning to look as though there are underground oceans inside even the most surprising icy bodies.

Alaskan waters are a critical fishery for salmon. Complex marine food webs underlie and sustain this fishery, and scientists want to know how climate change is reshaping them. But finding samples from the past isn't easy.

With the introduction of the influenza vaccine in the official immunization schedule of most countries, several data regarding the efficacy, tolerability, and safety of influenza immunization were collected worldwide.

Long coronavirus disease (COVID) syndrome leads to chronic inflammatory state onset that can have a multisystem impact and compromise organ function. Moreover, long COVID syndrome is often characterized by the presence of chronic fatigue, which affects subjects’ daily activities and worsens their...

Study highlights the detection of SARS-CoV-2 RNA and novel spike gene mutations in flood control channels affected by homeless populations, demonstrating the value of environmental surveillance in understanding public health dynamics.

When it launches in October, the agency's Europa Clipper spacecraft will carry a richly layered dispatch that includes more than 2.6 million names submitted by the public.

The highly conserved protease enzyme from SARS-CoV-2 (M^Pro) is crucial for viral replication and is an attractive target for the design of novel inhibitory compounds.M^Pro is known to be conformationally flexible and has been stabilized in an extended conformation in a complex...

mRNA vaccines developed against the spike glycoprotein of severe acute respiratory syndrome type 2 coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2), displayed remarkable efficiency in combating coronavirus 19 (COVID-19).

A comprehensive analysis found no evidence of m6A modifications in the genome of the cytoplasmic RNA viruses CHIKV and DENV, challenging the current notion that m6A modification is a general feature of cytoplasmic RNA viruses.