https://phys.org/ en-us Phys.org internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. Some of the most expensive drugs currently in use are gene therapies to treat specific diseases, and their high cost limits their availability for those who need them. Part of the reason for the cost is that the manufacturing process yields as much as 90% non-active material, and separating out these useless parts is slow, leads to significant losses, and is not well adapted to large-scale production. https://phys.org/news/2025-10-crystallization-method-gene-therapy-drugs.html Bio & Medicine Wed, 29 Oct 2025 12:46:04 EDT news680960761 A new study led by Yale scientists shows that the activity of a portion of a human papillomavirus (HPV) protein does not depend on its amino acid sequence or composition. This discovery challenges the widely held belief that protein function is solely determined by a specific amino acid sequence. https://phys.org/news/2023-10-hpv-discovery-yields-breakthrough-protein.html Molecular & Computational biology Thu, 12 Oct 2023 09:43:43 EDT news616322620 Scientists have engineered adeno-associated viruses (AAVs) to package and deliver gene therapies to cells in the body. But the field has struggled to develop AAVs that can efficiently target different cell types and organs such as the brain, driving scientists to look for better ways of developing new viral vectors. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-reprogram-gene-therapy-viral-vectors.html Biotechnology Thu, 20 Jul 2023 11:09:03 EDT news609070141 Most cells can defend themselves against viruses after they have been activated by the body's own messenger substances (interferons). This happens with the help of proteins that recognize invading virus components and interfere with virus replication. One of these proteins is the myxovirus resistance protein B (MxB). It can inhibit many viruses, for example HIV and herpes viruses. But until now it was not clear how it does this. https://phys.org/news/2022-07-therapies-viruses.html Biochemistry Fri, 01 Jul 2022 12:01:56 EDT news575895697 Much remains to be discovered on how the HIV-1 virus infects our cells. Scientists know that it slips past the defenses of our immune system, entering white blood cells to deliver its genetic payload and hijack the cell's transcription machinery that in turn cranks out copies of viral RNA and new HIV-1 viruses. But many of the details remain hazy. https://phys.org/news/2022-06-supercomputing-reveal-weaknesses-hiv-virus.html Biotechnology Thu, 16 Jun 2022 16:40:46 EDT news574616441 Each simple RNA virus has a genome, its "native RNA." This genome dictates how the virus replicates in cells to eventually cause disease. The genome also has the code for making a capsid, the protein shell of a virus that encapsulates the genome and protects it like a nanocontainer. https://phys.org/news/2022-03-simulations-virus-packages-genetic-material.html Molecular & Computational biology Wed, 09 Mar 2022 17:09:50 EST news566068183 For millions of years, viruses have participated in a far-flung, import-export business, exchanging fragments of themselves with both viral and non-viral agents and acquiring new features. What these tiny entities lack in outward complexity, they make up for with their astonishing abilities to swap out modular genomic components and ceaselessly reinvent themselves. https://phys.org/news/2020-11-criss-crossing-viruses-peculiar-hybrid-variants.html Cell & Microbiology Mon, 02 Nov 2020 11:14:34 EST news523538068 A group of University of Chicago scientists announced a groundbreaking study that explores the role of a small molecule, called IP6, in building the HIV-1 virus capsid. https://phys.org/news/2020-10-small-molecule-key-hiv-capsules.html Molecular & Computational biology Mon, 19 Oct 2020 09:00:55 EDT news522316852 Rhesus macaques don't monkey around when it comes to HIV; they have a protein that effectively disables invading HIV particles. https://phys.org/news/2020-05-scientists-uncover-secret-molecule-blocks.html Cell & Microbiology Tue, 05 May 2020 10:27:11 EDT news507893228 Scientists at NPL, working with partners from the University of Cambridge, University of Exeter, King's College London and University College London have developed a mechanism of antibacterial persistence to combat persistent and resistant bacterial infections. https://phys.org/news/2020-02-scientists-artificial-virus-superbugs.html Bio & Medicine Wed, 05 Feb 2020 09:38:32 EST news500117907 The herpesvirus is genetically and structurally one of the most complex viruses. It spreads within the host population efficiently, causing a range of diseases in humans, including congenital disorders and cancers. https://phys.org/news/2018-04-scientists-reveal-cryo-electron-microscopy-herpesvirus.html Biochemistry Thu, 05 Apr 2018 14:00:06 EDT news442140154 Researchers at Purdue University have determined the high-resolution structure of immature Zika virus, a step toward better understanding how the virus infects host cells and spreads. https://phys.org/news/2017-01-immature-zika-virus.html Cell & Microbiology Mon, 09 Jan 2017 14:34:18 EST news403194847 Researchers led by Carnegie Mellon University physicist Markus Deserno and University of Konstanz (Germany) chemist Christine Peter have developed a computer simulation that crushes viral capsids. By allowing researchers to see how the tough shells break apart, the simulation provides a computational window for looking at how viruses and proteins assemble. The study is published in the October issue of The European Physical Journal Special Topics. https://phys.org/news/2016-10-simulation-virus.html General Physics Thu, 20 Oct 2016 16:41:02 EDT news396200426 HIV, or human immunodeficiency virus, is the retrovirus that leads to acquired immunodeficiency syndrome or AIDS. Globally, about 35 million people are living with HIV, which constantly adapts and mutates creating challenges for researchers. Now, scientists at the University of Missouri are gaining a clearer idea of what a key protein in HIV looks like, which will help explain its vital role in the virus' life cycle. Armed with this clearer image of the protein, researchers hope to gain a better understanding of how the body can combat the virus with the ultimate aim of producing new and more effective antiviral drugs. https://phys.org/news/2015-07-scientists-unravel-elusive-hiv-protein.html Biochemistry Wed, 01 Jul 2015 07:33:09 EDT news354954780 Researchers working at the Institut Pasteur in Montevideo (member of the Institut Pasteur International Network), in collaboration with the Uruguayan Medical School, obtained for the first time ever high-resolution images of the Bovine Leukemia Virus (BLV) capsid protein. Their images reveal unprecedented elements of flexibility in this protein, which are key for the assembly of the infectious particle. These findings, reported today in Science, represent a major progress in understanding retrovirus biology, opening new avenues towards the development of antiretroviral therapies. https://phys.org/news/2015-06-first-ever-native-capside-retrovirus.html Cell & Microbiology Wed, 10 Jun 2015 08:54:21 EDT news353145250 Rice University scientists have won a race to find the crystal structure of the first virus known to infect the most abundant animal on Earth. https://phys.org/news/2014-08-scientists-rare-nematode-virus.html Biochemistry Mon, 18 Aug 2014 15:00:07 EDT news327584263 Rice University researchers are making strides toward a set of rules to custom-design Lego-like viral capsid proteins for gene therapy. https://phys.org/news/2013-08-gene-therapy-vectors-combine-benign-viruses.html Biotechnology Mon, 12 Aug 2013 11:12:54 EDT news295524762 Biologists from Indiana University and Montana State University have discovered a striking connection between viruses such as HIV and Ebola and viruses that infect organisms called archaea that grow in volcanic hot springs. Despite the huge difference in environments and a 2 billion year evolutionary time span between archaea and humans, the viruses hijack the same set of proteins to break out of infected cells. https://phys.org/news/2013-06-hot-hiv-protein-complexes-hijacked.html Cell & Microbiology Mon, 10 Jun 2013 17:26:54 EDT news290104000 A new model of the how the protein coat (capsid) of viruses assembles, published in BioMed Central's open access journal BMC Biophysics, shows that the construction of intermediate structures prior to final capsid production (hierarchical assembly) can be more efficient than constructing the capsid protein by protein (direct assembly). The capsid enveloping a virus is essential for protection and propagation of the viral genome. Many viruses have evolved a self-assembly method which is so successful that the viral capsid can self assemble even when removed from its host cell. https://phys.org/news/2012-12-do-it-yourself-viruses.html General Physics Sun, 16 Dec 2012 19:00:06 EST news274902525 Researchers at Rice University and their international colleagues have for the first time described the atomic structure of the protein shell that carries the genetic code of hepatitis E (HEV). Their findings, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, could mean that new ways to stop the virus may come in the not-too-distant future. https://phys.org/news/2009-07-disease-atom-atomic-hepatitis-reveal.html Biochemistry Tue, 21 Jul 2009 15:40:18 EDT news167409574 (PhysOrg.com) -- If a picture is worth a thousand words, then Rice University's precise new image of a virus' protective coat is seriously undervalued. More than three years in the making, the image contains some 5 million atoms -- each in precisely the right place -- and it could help scientists find better ways to both fight viral infections and design new gene therapies. https://phys.org/news/2009-02-image-million-atoms-viral-coat.html Mon, 16 Feb 2009 17:24:13 EST news154027398