Researchers have discovered a compound that could reduce lung injury caused by severe influenza A virus infection. Continue reading A Potential Drug to Treat Acute Respiratory Distress Caused by Severe Influenza A Virus
by Ya’el Courtneyfigures by Gracyn Mose COVID-19, the disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, has killed over 1 million Americans from 2020 to 2024. This number is startling, especially considering that the harm of COVID-19 extends beyond loss of life and even beyond the symptoms of acute infection. While most people recover fully from SARS-CoV-2 infection within a week or two, in February 2024, 6.8% … Continue reading Long COVID: The latest in a series of unexplained post-acute infectious syndromes?
Researchers have discovered that persistent COVID infections may contribute to viral evolution and long COVID. Continue reading Long COVID and Persistent Infections and Future Re-Infections, Oh My!
Researchers have discovered how HIV-1 transports its viral contents into our cell nucleus. Continue reading How does HIV-1 squeeze itself into a cell nucleus?
Researchers have discovered and characterized new types of immune cells in the thymus, a small gland found in the space between our lungs. Continue reading Newly discovered cells expand our understanding of the immune system
by Ya’el Courtneyfigures by MacKenzie Maugeredited by Yuli Lily Hsieh January 2023 marked the third anniversary of the discovery of SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic that halted life as we knew it. It overwhelmed hospitals worldwide, and is still infecting around 250,000 people daily across the globe in February 2023. Over these three years, many countries have struggled to monitor the rapidly … Continue reading Something in the Sewage: What watching our wastewater can tell us about infectious diseases
Inhibiting a protein involved in programmed cell death leads to reduced coronavirus replication Continue reading Coronaviruses use programmed cell death to facilitate viral replication
by Misha Guptafigures by Xiaomeng Han For close to two centuries, humans have been studying the biological past using fossil records. In recent history, we have added the ability to reconstruct the sequence of our DNA to our arsenal. Furthermore, phylogenetic trees (structures that define the evolutionary relationships in the line of descent from a common ancestor) have been created for all manners of organisms, … Continue reading Viral Fossil Records: A Look into the Past! (and the Future?)
Evidence of a respiratory infection was discovered in a 150 million year old dinosaur providing further understanding of prehistoric disease acquisition Continue reading Even Dinosaurs Get Sick: Discovery of the Oldest Lung Infection in a Dinosaur
by Edward Chen The COVID-19 pandemic has catalyzed rapid technological advancements as scientists and engineers mobilize to combat its toll on human lives. Time is of the essence, and after rigorous testing for safety and effectiveness, there are now 3 vaccines with emergency approval in the United States that are all based on relatively new concepts. Two of the vaccines are based on messenger RNA … Continue reading How do COVID-19 vaccines work? Hear from a researcher who helped develop the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.