In 1988, Richard Lenski, a thirty-one-year-old biologist at UC Irvine, started an experiment. He divided a population of a common bacterium, E. coli, into twelve flasks. Each flask was kept at thirty-seven degrees Celsius, and contained an identical cocktail of water, glucose, and other nutrients. Each day, as the bacteria replicated, Lenski transferred several drops [...]

A study conducted at the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, USA, and the Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, USA, has determined the transmission rate, immune escape ability, and infection fatality rate of the B.1.526 variant of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The findings reveal that the [...]

Summary: Magnetic microrobots move against fluid flow and precisely deliver substances to neural materials. Source: Frontiers Would you let a tiny MANiAC travel around your nervous system to treat you with drugs? You may be inclined to say no, but in the future, “magnetically aligned nanorods in alginate capsules” (MANiACs) may be part of an advanced [...]

Summary: Mainly associated with COVID infection in the elderly, researchers report a young, otherwise healthy woman was diagnosed with COVID-19 CNS vasculitis following infection. Source: UCSD Although COVID-19 is primarily treated as a respiratory disease, patients often experience neurological problems, such as headaches, anxiety, depression and cognitive issues, which can persist long after other symptoms have [...]

Summary: A new mathematical model incorporates fear, both of infection and vaccination, to better understand how pandemics occur in multiple waves of infection, as we are witnessing with COVID-19. Source: NYU A new mathematical model for predicting infectious disease outbreaks incorporates fear — both of disease and of vaccines — to better understand how pandemics can occur in multiple waves [...]

As of August 6, 2021, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), which is the virus responsible for the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), has infected over 201 million people and caused the deaths of almost 4.3 million worldwide. The high transmissibility and unpredictable nature of SARS-CoV-2 has supported the rapid development of several [...]

The Delta variant was first identified in the United States in April and by May it was well onto its exponential growth curve, doubling every 10-12 days, as the basis for Covid infections, now reaching over 96% prevalence. Ironically, on 1 May, the CDC announced it would stop monitoring post-vaccination breakthrough infections unless they [...]

The pandemic is not coming to an end soon — given that only a small proportion of the world population has been vaccinated against Covid-19, a well-known epidemiologist told CNBC. Dr. Larry Brilliant, an epidemiologist who was part of the World Health Organization’s team that helped eradicate smallpox, said the delta variant is “maybe [...]

Researchers in Singapore have conducted a study showing that the messenger RNA- (mRNA) based coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccines developed by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna are highly effective at protecting against symptomatic and severe disease following infection with the rapidly spreading B.1.617.2 (delta) variant of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The team conducted [...]

Unlocking the mysteries of the exact origins of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19 and launched a global pandemic in March 2020, has become one of the most burning questions in the scientific community. But the effort, like so many other coronavirus-related issues, has become hotly contested, fraught with implications for international relations and, [...]