Immune evasion is a biological process by which pathogens, tumor cells, or other aberrant cells avoid detection, recognition, or elimination by the host immune system, thereby promoting persistence and proliferation. Mechanisms include antigenic variation, downregulation or loss of major histocompatibility complex (MHC) molecules, expression of immune checkpoint ligands (e.g., PD-L1), secretion of immunosuppressive cytokines, induction of regulatory T cells or myeloid-derived suppressor cells, and shielding of antigens within biofilms or physical barriers. This process critically influences infection chronicity, tumor progression, vaccine efficacy, and the outcome of host–pathogen or host–tumor coevolution.
While the Netherlands was in lockdown because of the coronavirus, Ph.D. candidate Koen Rijpkema began his research into the same virus. In the lab, he developed molecules that can inhibit an important viral enzyme.
Biotechnology
Apr 16, 2026
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The wave-shaped chart Ratul Chowdhury pulls up on a computer monitor in his office captures the evolutionary cat-and-mouse game his research lab is up against. The undulating curves track variants of the porcine reproductive ...
Molecular & Computational biology
Apr 13, 2026
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Some pathogens use temperature as a trigger and activate virulence only after entering the warmer environment of a host. A research team from Ruhr University Bochum, Germany, and the University of Münster, Germany, investigated ...
Cell & Microbiology
Apr 2, 2026
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To survive in the human bloodstream, the African trypanosome parasite wears a "cloak" made of proteins known as a variant surface glycoprotein (VSG). The study, published in Nature Microbiology, identifies the protein that ...
Cell & Microbiology
Mar 30, 2026
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240
The first large-scale genetic study of E. coli's protective armor has identified the five capsule types that are responsible for 70% of all multidrug-resistant bloodstream infections in Europe. Researchers, including those ...
Cell & Microbiology
Mar 25, 2026
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A new paper in Genome Biology and Evolution, indicates that while the COVID-19 virus has developed rapidly since 2019, it has done so within limited genetic channels. These genetic limits have remained unchanged. Despite ...
Evolution
Mar 25, 2026
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A first-of-its-kind University of Stirling study could better inform strategies to control salmon lice, after researchers uncovered major differences in the secretions the parasite produces as larvae. Like other parasites, ...
Molecular & Computational biology
Mar 18, 2026
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Engineers at the University of Pennsylvania have developed a new type of lipid nanoparticle (LNP) that could one day serve as a universal immunotherapy for cancers that form solid tumors, including common variants such as ...
Bio & Medicine
Mar 18, 2026
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The COVID-19 pandemic brought messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines to the forefront of global health care. After their clinical trial stages, the first COVID-19 mRNA vaccine was administered on 8 December 2020 and mathematical models ...
Bio & Medicine
Mar 11, 2026
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63
Plants are constantly on guard. Their roots are equipped with molecular alarm systems that detect invading microbes and trigger immune responses. Yet beneficial soil fungi routinely enter living root cells and establish close ...
Ecology
Mar 11, 2026
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