Category: Science and Tech
How do viruses get into cells? Their infection tactics determine whether they can jump species or set off a pandemic
The Conversation COVID-19, flu, mpox, noroviral diarrhea: How do the viruses that cause these diseases actually infect you? Viruses cannot replicate on their own, so they must infect cells in your body to make more copies of themselves. The life cycle of a virus can thus be roughly described as: get inside a cell, make more […]
Nov 21, 2023
Why does Paxlovid make things taste bitter?
Science The COVID-19 remedy’s unpleasant side effect—known as “Paxlovid mouth”—comes from its effects on the tongue’s taste receptors. Paxlovid can prevent severe illness from COVID-19, but it comes with a price: In many users, the antiviral drug leaves a weird, metallic aftertaste that can last for days—a condition nicknamed “Paxlovid mouth.” Now, researchers say they’ve figured […]
Nov 21, 2023
The Genetic Edge: Unmasking the Secret of COVID-19 “Super Dodgers”
Sci Tech Daily Scientists have discovered a gene variant, HLA-B*15:01, linked to asymptomatic COVID-19 cases, opening potential avenues for new treatments and vaccines. People who contract COVID-19 but never develop symptoms – the so-called super dodgers – may have a genetic ace up their sleeve. They’re more than twice as likely as those who become symptomatic to […]
Nov 14, 2023
How tiny hinges bend the infection-spreading spikes of a coronavirus
Science Daily Disabling those hinges could be a good strategy for designing vaccines and treatments against a broad range of coronavirus infections, including COVID-19. Far from being stiff and pointy, a coronavirus’s infectious spikes are shaped like chicken drumsticks with the meaty part facing out, and the meaty part can tilt every which way on […]
Nov 14, 2023
In a first, scientists see viruses cling to each other
Times of India In a groundbreaking discovery, reported by LiveScience, scientists have observed an unprecedented phenomenon in which one virus attached itself to another. This unique event involves two bacteriophage viruses that are believed to have cooperated in the replication process. “No one has ever seen a bacteriophage — or any other virus — attach […]
Nov 7, 2023
Paxlovid Probably Won’t Cut Your Odds for Long COVID: Study
HealthDay The antiviral drug Paxlovid is great at treating COVID-19 infections, but a new study casts doubt on its effectiveness at preventing symptoms associated with long COVID. Nearly 9,600 veterans given Paxlovid had about the same risk of most post-COVID side effects as vets not treated with the antiviral med, according to findings published Oct. […]
Nov 1, 2023
Anti-COVID drug accelerates viral evolution
Nature Molnupiravir, an antiviral drug used to treat COVID-19, induces numerous mutations in the SARS-CoV-2 genome that can increase the rate at which the virus evolves — yielding viral variants that might survive and be passed on. Drugs are potent weapons against viral pathogens. During the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, there were intensive […]
Oct 24, 2023
Smell loss from COVID fades quickly with help of new pill
Nature The antiviral drug ensitrelvir eases both smell and taste loss, and is one of the few COVID-19 drugs available to people not at high risk of grave illness. New clinical-trial data suggest that an antiviral pill called ensitrelvir shortens the duration of two unpleasant symptoms of COVID-19: loss of smell and taste. The medication is among the first […]
Oct 17, 2023
Holy immunity! Bat genes key against COVID, cancer
CSHL Bats have acquired remarkable traits throughout their evolution. They’re the only mammals that can fly, and they live much longer than other animals their size. But perhaps most impressive is their robust immune system. It protects bats from viruses that wreak havoc in humans, like COVID-19 or Ebola. It also keeps bats relatively cancer-free. How? […]
Oct 17, 2023
Lab Leak Fight Casts Chill Over Virology Research
NYT Scientists doing “gain-of-function” research said that heightened fears of lab leaks are stalling studies that could thwart the next pandemic virus. Questions about whether Covid leaked from a Chinese laboratory have cast a chill over American virus research, drying up funding for scientists who collect or alter dangerous pathogens and intensifying a debate over […]
Oct 17, 2023
