A new class of nanosensor developed in Brazil could more accurately identify dengue and Zika infections, a task that is complicated by their genetic similarities and which can result in misdiagnosis. The technique uses gold nanoparticles and can "observe" viruses at the atomic level, according to a study published in Scientific Reports. Belonging to the [...]

Scientists investigating the evolution of the virus that causes Covid19 say that its mutation seems to be directed by human proteins that degrade it, but natural selection of the virus enables it to bounce back. The findings could help in the design of vaccines against the virus. All organisms mutate. You were for example [...]

Biomedical engineers at the Tufts University School of Engineering have developed tiny lipid-based nanoparticles that incorporate neurotranmitters to help carry drugs, large molecules, and even gene editing proteins across the blood-brain barrier and into the brain in mice. The innovation, published today in Science Advances, could overcome many of the current limitations encountered in [...]

UC San Diego recently announced that its health radiologists and other physicians are now leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) to augment lung-imaging analysis in a clinical research study aimed at COVID-19 lung imaging analysis. The cause of death for most COVID-19 patients is pneumonia, which often requires long hospital stays in intensive care units and assistance breathing [...]

The hubbub around mutations in the virus that causes COVID-19—and how they might make it more infectious—has been around since the early phase of the pandemic. A preprint study about a particular mutation involving the “spikes” studding the SARS-CoV-2 pathogen had previously drawn attention, and that investigation has now been peer-reviewed and published in Cell. [...]

Human trials of a potential coronavirus vaccine being developed by scientists in Oxford are reported to have shown promising results. The researchers believe they have made a breakthrough after discovering the jab could provide “double protection” against the virus, the Daily Telegraph reported. The newspaper said the phase 1 trial in healthy adult volunteers, which began in April, showed the [...]

Researchers at MIT and Brigham and Women’s Hospital have designed a new face mask that they believe could stop viral particles as effectively as N95 masks. Unlike N95 masks, the new masks were designed to be easily sterilized and used many times. As the number of new Covid-19 cases in the United States continues [...]

Doctors may be missing signs of serious and potentially fatal brain disorders triggered by coronavirus, as they emerge in mildly affected or recovering patients, scientists have warned. Neurologists are on Wednesday publishing details of more than 40 UK Covid-19 patients whose complications ranged from brain inflammation and delirium to nerve damage and stroke. In [...]

University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers have developed a safer and more efficient way to deliver a promising new method for treating cancer and liver disorders and for vaccination -- including a COVID-19 vaccine from Moderna Therapeutics that has advanced to clinical trials with humans. The technology relies on inserting into cells pieces of carefully designed [...]

Despite its advantages over other vaccine technologies for Covid-19, adenovirus vector vaccines are likely to be tripped up by pre-existing antibodies to the vectors used and the need for a second injection to boost protection. CanSino Biologics’ Ad5-nCoV and Johnson & Johnson’s AdVac platform-based vaccine use a human adenovirus vector, but a significant chunk of people may [...]