In this interview with Alessandra Renieri we hear about the GEN-COVID network in Italy working to dsicover the genetic variability in COVID-19 patients who show phenotypic differences and what this means for treating the disease.
Malara parasites showing artemisinin resistance previously seen in South-East Asia have recently emerged in areas of Rwanda in Sub-Saharan Africa. If the mutation causing resistance becomes prevalent across the continent it could have major public health impacts.
Researchers have identified a specific change in the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus spike protein that may increase its transmission, making it more infectious in cell culture.
This month’s top COVID-19 research articles include several studies citing the benefits of facemasks, as well as research investigating adaptive immunity to SARS-CoV-2 and a genome-wide study exploring COVID-19 severity.
Take a peek behind the scenes of a recent article published by Future Virology, titled ‘Pros and cons of the application…
Scientists have investigated the genetic variation in immunity against seven viruses including the SARS-COV-2. The results reveal some HLA variants that may provide the most effective immune response to the viruses.
Researchers have repurposed cancer immunotherapy tools to identify regions of SARS-CoV-2 to target with a vaccine. They believe the use of this strategy could help develop a vaccine that provides long-term protection from COVID-19.
Researchers have demonstrated that cigarette smoke causes an increased expression of Angiotensin Converting Enzyme 2 (ACE2), the SARS-CoV-2 receptor, in the lungs. This suggests that individuals who smoke could be more susceptible to severe SARS-CoV-2 infections.
There has been much contention regarding how the deadly COVID-19 pandemic originated. The first reported case of the disease was in Wuhan (Hubei province, China). The virus – SARS-CoV-2 – is believed to have been passed from animals to humans, but new data reveals pangolins could be linked to COVID-19 transmission.
Novel research suggests that some drugs may prevent the acquisition of resistance genes by preventing the induction of bacterial ‘competence’.
