http://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. A single mutation in the H5N1 avian influenza virus that affects the pH at which the hemagglutinin surface protein is activated simultaneously reduces its capacity to infect ducks and enhances its capacity to grow in mice according to research published ahead of print today in the Journal of Virology. http://phys.org/news281275783.html Biology Thu, 28 Feb 2013 12:09:55 EST news281275783 New findings on the interaction between an influenza-related virus and the host provide a significant contribution to understanding disease mechanisms behind the serious fish disease Infectious salmon anemia (ISA). http://phys.org/news267698976.html Biology Mon, 24 Sep 2012 09:49:55 EST news267698976 (PhysOrg.com) -- Without a host, a virus is a dormant package of proteins, genetic material and occasional lipids. Once inside a living cell, however, a virus can latch onto cell parts and spring into action - mutating, replicating and spreading into new cells. http://phys.org/news215079906.html Medicine & Health Mon, 24 Jan 2011 08:25:26 EST news215079906 A collaboration between BBSRC and STFC-funded scientists has been using a new form of low energy microscopy to observe how poxviruses interact with components inside live cells. Genetically modified fowlpox viruses have been used extensively in Mexico and southeast Asia to vaccinate chickens against bird flu and the scientists hope that the technique will help them develop more effective vaccines that reduce the chances of healthy birds acting as a reservoir for influenza virus. The research was published in the December 2010 edition of the Journal of Virology. http://phys.org/news213885960.html Medicine & Health Mon, 10 Jan 2011 12:46:22 EST news213885960 Researchers from Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) have identified a mechanism by which specific viruses acting as oncolytic agents can enter and kill cancer cells. This finding, which is currently featured in an online edition of the Journal of Virology, could help lead to the development of more targeted treatments against many types of cancer. http://phys.org/news210436560.html Medicine & Health Wed, 01 Dec 2010 15:10:01 EST news210436560 (PhysOrg.com) -- A variant of last year's pandemic influenza linked to fatal cases carried a mutation that enabled it to infect a different subset of cells lining the airway, according to new research. The study, due to be published next week in the Journal of Virology, suggests that the mutant virus could have impaired the lungs' ability to clear out germs. The researchers behind the study, from Imperial College London, the Medical Research Council National Institute for Medical Research and the University of Marburg said the findings highlight the potential for deadlier strains of flu to emerge and spread. http://phys.org/news206965382.html Medicine & Health Fri, 22 Oct 2010 11:24:30 EST news206965382 Researchers at the University of Minnesota Academic Health Center have identified two drugs that, when combined, may serve as an effective treatment for HIV. http://phys.org/news201535410.html Medicine & Health Fri, 20 Aug 2010 15:03:48 EST news201535410 Following up a pioneering 2007 proof-of-concept study, a University of Utah biochemist and colleagues have developed a promising new anti-HIV drug candidate, PIE12-trimer, that prevents HIV from attacking human cells. http://phys.org/news201359168.html Medicine & Health Wed, 18 Aug 2010 14:20:02 EST news201359168 Scientists have been surprised to learn that, despite thousands of changes that viruses like HIV undergo in rapid fashion to evade the body's immune system, the original version that caused the infection is still present in the body months later. http://phys.org/news197029705.html Medicine & Health Tue, 29 Jun 2010 11:28:46 EST news197029705 (PhysOrg.com) -- An analysis of vaccines undertaken by researchers from 5 institutions has found that 7 of the vaccines' DNA content was pretty much as expected, but surprisingly, one also contained DNA of an apparently benign pig virus. This finding is reported in a paper written by lead author Eric Delwart of Blood Systems Research Institute and 6 co-authors, including three researchers from LLNL. http://phys.org/news190037692.html Medicine & Health Fri, 09 Apr 2010 13:37:17 EST news190037692 (PhysOrg.com) -- A Yale School of Medicine neuroscientist investigating how viruses can be used to attack brain cancers has developed a new method to generate novel, color-coded proteins that can be used by researchers investigating cures for a host of diseases. http://phys.org/news184872176.html Medicine & Health Mon, 08 Feb 2010 18:00:02 EST news184872176 (PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers from the University of Toronto and Mount Sinai Hospital have made significant findings about how a new HIV vaccine candidate (Delta 5) can reduce -- and in some cases stop -- HIV progression by triggering natural immunity. http://phys.org/news183144038.html Medicine & Health Tue, 19 Jan 2010 17:20:59 EST news183144038 Tiny strands of RNA previously dismissed as cellular junk are actually very stable molecules that may play significant roles in cellular processes, according to researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute (UPCI). http://phys.org/news174661464.html Biology Tue, 13 Oct 2009 14:05:41 EST news174661464 (PhysOrg.com) -- Despite the importance of AIDS in human health, scientists still know very little about the diversity and ecology of AIDS-like viruses in nature. http://phys.org/news174145081.html Medicine & Health Wed, 07 Oct 2009 14:39:43 EST news174145081 A search through decades-old frozen infant stool samples has yielded rich dividends for scientists from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health. The team customized a laboratory technique to screen thousands of samples for norovirus, a major cause of acute gastroenteritis outbreaks in people of all ages. What they discovered about the rate of evolution of a specific group of noroviruses could help researchers develop specific antiviral drugs and, potentially, a vaccine against a disease that is very unpleasant and sometimes deadly. http://phys.org/news173615874.html Medicine & Health Thu, 01 Oct 2009 11:38:52 EST news173615874 Researchers have successfully tested first the first time a computer simulation of major portions of the body's immune reaction to influenza type A, with implications for treatment design and preparation ahead of future pandemics, according to work accepted for publication, and posted online, by the Journal of Virology. The new "global" flu model is built out of preexisting, smaller-scale models that capture in mathematical equations millions of simulated interactions between virtual immune cells and viruses. http://phys.org/news161868391.html Medicine & Health Mon, 18 May 2009 12:27:25 EST news161868391 In 1918 a human influenza virus known as the Spanish flu spread through the central United States while a swine respiratory disease occurred concurrently. A Kansas State University researcher has found that the virus causing the pandemic was able to infect and replicate in pigs, but did not kill them, unlike in other mammalian hosts like monkeys, mice and ferrets where the infection has been lethal. http://phys.org/news160309140.html Medicine & Health Thu, 30 Apr 2009 11:24:04 EST news160309140 Rutgers AIDS researchers Gail Ferstandig Arnold and Eddy Arnold may have turned a corner in their search for a HIV vaccine. In a paper just published in the Journal of Virology, the husband and wife duo and their colleagues report on their research progress. http://phys.org/news156075780.html Medicine & Health Thu, 12 Mar 2009 11:23:57 EST news156075780 Two highly lethal viruses that have emerged in recent outbreaks are susceptible to chloroquine, an established drug used to prevent and treat malaria, according to a new basic science study by researchers at Weill Cornell Medical College in the Journal of Virology. Due to the study's significance, it was published yesterday, online, in advance of the first April print issue. http://phys.org/news155480197.html Medicine & Health Thu, 05 Mar 2009 12:57:37 EST news155480197 (PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists at Duke University Medical Center have for the first time isolated an important antibody in human serum that could potentially play a key role in the design of an AIDS vaccine. The research appears as a highlighted feature online in the Journal of Virology. http://phys.org/news154627006.html Medicine & Health Mon, 23 Feb 2009 16:01:14 EST news154627006