Virology News

April 24, 2024

Top Headlines

World's Chocolate Supply Threatened by Devastating Virus

Apr. 23, 2024 — A rapidly spreading virus threatens the health of the cacao tree and the dried seeds from which chocolate is made, jeopardizing the global supply of the world's most popular treat. Researchers have developed a new strategy: using mathematical data ...

Odor-Causing Bacteria in Armpits Targeted Using Bacteriophage-Derived Lysin

Apr. 23, 2024 — A research team has synthesized a lysin that during in vitro experiments targets bacteria responsible for producing odors in human ...

Dengue Fever Infections Have Negative Impacts on Infant Health for Three Years

Apr. 23, 2024 — Dengue infections in pregnant women may have a negative impact on the first years of children's lives, new research has ...

New Research Defines Specific Genomic Changes Associated With the Transmissibility of the Monkeypox Virus

Apr. 19, 2024 — Scientists have located and identified alterations in the monkeypox virus genome that potentially correlate with changes in the virus's transmissibility observed in the 2022 ...

Latest Headlines

updated 10:54pm EDT

Giant Viruses Infect Deadly Parasite

Apr. 24, 2024 — The single-celled organism Naegleria fowleri ranks among the deadliest human parasites. Researchers have now discovered viruses that infect this harmful microbe. Named Naegleriavirus, these belong to ...

Key Protein Regulates Immune Response to Viruses in Mammal Cells

Apr. 19, 2024 — Researchers have revealed the regulatory mechanism of a specific protein, TRBP, that plays a key role in balancing the immune response triggered by viral infections in mammal cells. These findings ...

Metabolic Health Before Vaccination Determines Effectiveness of Anti-Flu Response

Apr. 18, 2024 — The annual influenza vaccine has become less effective on average over time. One reason may be reduced vaccine efficacy in people with obesity than ...

Honey Bees Experience Multiple Health Stressors out-in-the-Field

Apr. 17, 2024 — It's not a single pesticide or virus stressing honey bees, and affecting their health, but exposure to a complex web of multiple interacting stressors encountered while at work pollinating crops, ...

New Diagnostic Tool Achieves Accuracy of PCR Tests With Faster and Simpler Nanopore System

Apr. 8, 2024 — A new diagnostic tool developed by researchers can test for SARS-CoV-2 and Zika virus with the same or better accuracy as high-precision PCR tests in ...

Real-Time Detection of Infectious Disease Viruses by Searching for Molecular Fingerprinting

Apr. 16, 2024 — Researchers develop breakthrough technology for wide-ranging and ultra-sensitive active nano-spectral sensor, surpassing current ...

How Seaweed Became Multicellular

Apr. 12, 2024 — A deep dive into macroalgae genetics has uncovered the genetic underpinnings that enabled macroalgae, or 'seaweed,' to evolve multicellularity. Three lineages of macroalgae developed multicellularity ...

Innovative Antiviral Defense With New CRISPR Tool

Apr. 12, 2024 — The rise of RNA viruses like SARS-CoV-2 highlights the need for new ways to fight them. RNA-targeting tools like CRISPR/Cas13 are powerful but inefficient in the cytoplasm of cells, where many RNA ...

Scientists Identify Pro-Aging 'Sugar Signature' in the Blood of People Living With HIV

Apr. 10, 2024 — Scientists have identified sugar abnormalities in the blood that may promote biological aging and inflammation in people living with ...

New Drug Prevents Flu-Related Inflammation and Lung Damage

Apr. 10, 2024 — Findings show a newly created drug can prevent runaway inflammation while still allowing the immune system to handle the virus, even when given late into ...

How Mosquito Larva Guts Could Help Create Highly Specific Insecticides

Apr. 8, 2024 — Did you know that the world's deadliest animal is the mosquito? And Aedes aegypti is one of the most dangerous. This bug spreads viruses that cause dengue fever, which was recently declared as ...

New Research Offers Insight Into the Future Understanding of MS and Its Treatments

Apr. 4, 2024 — Researchers have developed a new and unique blood test to measure the immune response to the Epstein Barr Virus (EBV) which is the leading risk factor for developing multiple sclerosis (MS). Their ...

Discovery Could End Global Amphibian Pandemic

Apr. 3, 2024 — A fungus devastating frogs and toads on nearly every continent may have an Achilles heel. Scientists have discovered a virus that infects the fungus, and that could be engineered to save the ...

How the Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever Virus Enters Our Cells

Mar. 28, 2024 — Researchers have identified how the tick-borne Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever virus enters our cells. The results are an important step in the development of drugs against the deadly ...

New Method Developed to Isolate HIV Particles

Mar. 28, 2024 — Researchers have developed a new method to isolate HIV from samples more easily, potentially making it easier to detect infection with the virus. They focus on peptide nanofibrils (PNFs) on magnetic ...

Old Immune Systems Revitalized in Mouse Study, Improving Vaccine Response

Mar. 27, 2024 — Those with aging immune systems struggle to fight off novel viruses and respond weakly to vaccination. Researchers were able to revitalize the immune system in ...

New Testing Approach Improves Detection of Rare but Emerging Powassan Virus Spread by Deer Ticks

Mar. 26, 2024 — Researchers have come up with a new, more accurate method for detecting in ticks the emerging Powassan virus, which can cause life-threatening neuroinvasive disease, including encephalitis and ...

Silicon Spikes Take out 96% of Virus Particles

Mar. 26, 2024 — An international research team has designed and manufactured a virus-killing surface that could help control disease spread in hospitals, labs and other high-risk ...

New Roadmap to Prevent Pandemics Centers on Protecting Biodiversity

Mar. 26, 2024 — An international team of 25 scientists has proposed a roadmap for how to prevent the next pandemic by conserving natural areas and promoting biodiversity, thereby providing animals with enough food, ...

Humans Pass More Viruses to Other Animals Than We Catch from Them

Mar. 25, 2024 — Humans pass on more viruses to domestic and wild animals than we catch from them, according to a major new analysis of viral ...

Research Finds a Direct Communication Path Between the Lungs and the Brain

Mar. 21, 2024 — New research finds a direct communication path between the lungs and the brain which may change the way we treat respiratory infections and chronic conditions. The lungs are using the same sensors ...

Experts Warn Climate Change Will Fuel Spread of Infectious Diseases

Mar. 20, 2024 — Infectious diseases specialists call the medical field to be ready to deal with the impact of climate change on spreading diseases, such as malaria, Valley fever, E. coli and Lyme ...

Craving Snacks After a Meal? It Might Be Food-Seeking Neurons, Not an Overactive Appetite

Mar. 20, 2024 — Psychologists have discovered a circuit in the brain of mice that makes them crave food and seek it out, even when they are not hungry. When stimulated, this cluster of cells propels mice to forage ...

Newborn Piglets Serve as a Model for Studying Influenza

Mar. 18, 2024 — Although prevention and treatment strategies are available for influenza, they are not sufficient for vulnerable populations such as young children and newborns. A team of researchers has studied ...

New Bioengineered Protein Design Shows Promise in Fighting COVID-19

Mar. 14, 2024 — A recent scientific breakthrough has emerged from the work of researchers aiming to combat SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for COVID-19. The study focuses on the design and development of a novel ...

Scientists Find Weak Points on Epstein-Barr Virus

Mar. 12, 2024 — Studies of interactions between two lab-generated monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) and an essential Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) protein have uncovered targets that could be exploited in designing treatments ...

Researchers Open New Leads in Anti-HIV Drug Development, Using a Compound Found in Nature

Mar. 8, 2024 — A team of researchers has successfully modified a naturally occurring chemical compound in the lab, resulting in advanced lead compounds with anti-HIV ...

How Does a Virus Hijack Insect Sperm to Control Disease Vectors and Pests?

Mar. 7, 2024 — A widespread bacteria called Wolbachia and a virus that it carries can cause sterility in male insects by hijacking their sperm, preventing them from fertilizing eggs of females that do not have the ...

First Atom-Level Structure of Packaged Viral Genome Reveals New Properties, Dynamics

Mar. 7, 2024 — A computational model of the more than 26 million atoms in a DNA-packed viral capsid expands our understanding of virus structure and DNA dynamics, insights that could provide new research avenues ...

Children Surpass a Year of HIV Remission After Treatment Pause

Mar. 7, 2024 — Four children have remained free of detectable HIV for more than one year after their antiretroviral therapy (ART) was paused to see if they could achieve HIV remission, according to new research. ...