Viruses are acellular infectious agents that depend entirely on host cellular machinery for replication and are therefore studied as a central topic in microbiology, virology, and infectious disease research. They consist minimally of a nucleic acid genome (DNA or RNA, single- or double-stranded, linear or circular) enclosed in a protein capsid, and in many cases a host-derived lipid envelope containing viral glycoproteins. Viral classification and research focus on genome organization, replication strategies, host range, tropism, mechanisms of cell entry and egress, immune evasion, and evolutionary dynamics, as well as their roles in pathogenesis, horizontal gene transfer, and biotechnology applications such as vectors and phage therapy.
More than 2 billion people worldwide are fully vaccinated against COVID-19. However, many who live in resource-limited countries haven't been able to get vaccines, partly because these areas lack temperature-controlled shipping ...
Bio & Medicine
Sep 22, 2021
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Nanoengineers at the University of California San Diego have developed COVID-19 vaccine candidates that can take the heat. Their key ingredients? Viruses from plants or bacteria.
Bio & Medicine
Sep 7, 2021
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University of Central Florida researchers have developed a nanoparticle-based disinfectant that can continuously kill viruses on a surface for up to seven days—a discovery that could be a powerful weapon against COVID-19 ...
Nanomaterials
Sep 1, 2021
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1096
Viruses kill millions around the world each year. "In addition to the novel coronavirus, leading viral killers include hepatitis, HIV, HPV," said Lela Vukovic, Assistant Professor of Chemistry, University of Texas at El Paso.
Bio & Medicine
Sep 1, 2021
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At the simplest of levels, nanopores are (nanometre-sized) holes in an insulating membrane. The hole allows ions to pass through the membrane when a voltage is applied, resulting in a measurable current. When a molecule passes ...
Nanomaterials
Aug 19, 2021
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89
SARS-CoV-2 nanobodies—microscopic molecules developed at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine that neutralize the virus in animals—are remarkably active against mutations found in variants, including Delta, according ...
Bio & Medicine
Aug 4, 2021
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A pond in summer can reveal more about a fish than a pond in winter. The fish living in icy conditions might remain still enough to study its scales, but to understand how the fish swims and behaves, it needs to freely move ...
Bio & Medicine
Jul 30, 2021
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Scientists have developed a "nanobody"—a small fragment of a llama antibody—that is capable of chasing out human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) as it hides away from the immune system. This then enables immune cells to seek out and ...
Bio & Medicine
Jul 22, 2021
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To date, there are no effective antidotes against most viral infections. An interdisciplinary research team at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) has now developed a new approach: they engulf and neutralize viruses ...
Bio & Medicine
Jul 15, 2021
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Antimicrobials are used to kill or slow the growth of bacteria, viruses and other microorganisms. They can be in the form of antibiotics, used to treat bodily infections, or as an additive or coating on commercial products ...
Bio & Medicine
Jul 13, 2021
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