Science and Virus - Drug Discovery Digest

Nanorobot hand made of DNA grabs viruses for diagnostics and blocks cell entry

Science Daily: Pharmacology News

NOVEMBER 27, 2024

A tiny, four-fingered 'hand' folded from a single piece of DNA can pick up the virus that causes COVID-19 for highly sensitive rapid detection and can even block viral particles from entering cells to infect them, researchers report.

DNA

DNA Virus Treatment Research

An antiviral chewing gum to reduce influenza and herpes simplex virus transmission

Science Daily: Pharmacology News

APRIL 4, 2025

Low vaccination rates for influenza viruses and the lack of an HSV vaccine underscore the need for a new approach to reduce viral transmission. Researchers have now used a clinical-grade antiviral chewing gum to substantially reduce viral loads of two herpes simplex viruses and two influenza A strains in experimental models.

Virus

Virus Vaccine Research

Virus that causes COVID-19 is widespread in wildlife, scientists find

Science Daily: Pharmacology News

JULY 29, 2024

SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for COVID-19, is widespread among wildlife species, according to new research. The virus was detected in six common backyard species, and antibodies indicating prior exposure to the virus were found in five species, with rates of exposure ranging from 40 to 60 percent depending on the species.

Virus

Virus Research

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Virus that threatened humanity opens the future

Science Daily: Pharmacology News

DECEMBER 25, 2024

Scientists have developed an innovative therapeutic platform by mimicking the intricate structures of viruses using artificial intelligence (AI).

Virus

Viruses are teeming on your toothbrush, showerhead

Science Daily: Pharmacology News

OCTOBER 9, 2024

Microbiologists found that showerheads and toothbrushes are teeming with an extremely diverse collection of viruses -- most of which have never been seen before.

Virus

Giant viruses found on Greenland ice sheet

Science Daily: Pharmacology News

JUNE 4, 2024

Giant viruses found on the Greenland ice sheet probably regulate the growth of snow algae on the ice by infecting them. Knowing how to control these viruses could help us reduce the rate of ice-melt.

Virus

Virus Regulations

Over 160,000 new viruses discovered by AI

Science Daily: Pharmacology News

OCTOBER 9, 2024

161,979 new RNA viruses have been discovered using a machine learning tool that researchers believe will vastly improve the mapping of life on Earth and could aid in the identification of many millions more viruses yet to be characterized.

Virus

Virus RNA Research

Plant virus treatment shows promise in fighting metastatic cancers in mice

Science Daily: Pharmacology News

MAY 13, 2024

An experimental treatment made from a plant virus is effective at protecting against a broad range of metastatic cancers in mice, shows a new study.

Virus

Virus Treatment

How evolution tamed a deadly virus and why we should still worry

Science Daily: Pharmacology News

JULY 25, 2024

Over the last century, a once-deadly mosquito-borne virus has evolved so that it no longer sickens humans. New research shows that changes in the virus's ability to target human cells paralleled the decline in illness and death.

Virus

Virus Disease Research

Infectious H5N1 influenza virus in raw milk rapidly declines with heat treatment

Science Daily: Pharmacology News

JUNE 14, 2024

However, small, detectable amounts of infectious virus remained in raw milk samples with high virus levels when treated at 72 degrees Celsius (161.6 The amount of infectious H5N1 influenza viruses in raw milk rapidly declined with heat treatment in laboratory research.

Virus

Virus Treatment Laboratories Research

Engineering viruses to kill deadly pathogens

Science Daily: Pharmacology News

JANUARY 31, 2024

Antimicrobial resistance is an urgent and growing global crisis. Researchers are exploring phages, viruses that infect bacteria, as a possible solution. In the new study, researchers successfully modified DNA from four types of phages to kill a deadly pathogen. The process can also be used to produce more phage variants for further exploration.

Virus

Virus Engineering DNA Research

What shapes a virus's pandemic potential? SARS-CoV-2 relatives yield clues

Science Daily: Pharmacology News

JULY 30, 2024

Two of the closest known relatives to SARS-CoV-2 -- a pair of bat coronaviruses discovered by researchers in Laos -- may transmit poorly in people despite being genetically similar to the COVID-19-causing virus, a new study reveals.

Virus

Virus Research

Identifying the genes that viruses 'steal' from ocean microbes

Science Daily: Pharmacology News

OCTOBER 17, 2024

A new study gets scientists closer to more fully understanding where viruses fit into the global ocean picture of cycling nutrients such as nitrogen, phosphorus and, of particular interest, carbon.

Virus

Virus Research

Current antivirals likely less effective against severe infection caused by bird flu virus in cows' milk

Science Daily: Pharmacology News

MARCH 17, 2025

Existing antivirals may be less effective against this H5N1 bird flu strain, and prevention measures, such as avoiding raw milk consumption and reducing exposure in dairy workers, may be the most effective way to protect against the virus.

Virus

Decreasing biodiversity may promote spread of viruses

Science Daily: Pharmacology News

SEPTEMBER 26, 2023

Researchers have now described one piece of that puzzle, showing that the destruction of tropical rainforests harms the diversity of mosquito species. At the same time, more resilient species of mosquitoes become more prevalent -- which also means the viruses they carry are more abundant.

Virus

Virus Research

Herpes virus might drive Alzheimer's pathology

Science Daily: Pharmacology News

JANUARY 2, 2025

Viral infections may play a role in Alzheimer's disease.

Virus

Virus Disease

Ventilation in hospitals could cause viruses to spread further

Science Daily: Pharmacology News

JANUARY 31, 2025

Increased use of ventilation and air cleaners, designed to mitigate the spread of viral infections in hospitals, is likely to have unpredictable effects and may cause viral particles to move around more, according to a new study.

Hospitals

Hospitals Virus

Relative of deadly Hendra virus found in the US

Science Daily: Pharmacology News

JANUARY 28, 2025

Researchers have identified the first henipavirus in North America.

Virus

Virus Research

Zika uses human skin as 'mosquito magnet' to spread virus further

Science Daily: Pharmacology News

JANUARY 30, 2025

Zika virus hijacks the skin of its human host to send out chemical signals that lure more mosquitoes to infect and spread the disease further, new research shows.

Virus

Virus Disease Research

A virus could help save billions of gallons of wastewater produced by fracking

Science Daily: Pharmacology News

APRIL 30, 2024

An estimated 168 billion gallons of wastewater -- or produced water -- is generated annually by the Permian Basin fracking industry, according to a 2022 report. The major waste stream has proved both difficult and costly to treat because of the chemical complexity of the water.

Virus

Common cold virus linked to potentially fatal blood clotting disorder

Science Daily: Pharmacology News

AUGUST 10, 2023

A new observation suggests that a life-threatening blood clotting disorder can be caused by an infection with adenovirus, one of the most common respiratory viruses in pediatric and adult patients.

Virus

Virus-like transposons wage war on the species barrier

Science Daily: Pharmacology News

JUNE 29, 2023

Scientists have known for decades that genes can be transferred from one species to another, both in animals and plants. However, the mechanism of how such an unlikely event occurs remained unknown. Now, researchers identify a vector of horizontal gene transfer (HGT) in worms.

Virus

Virus Research

System to auto-detect new variants will inform better response to future infectious disease outbreaks

Science Daily: Pharmacology News

JANUARY 1, 2025

Researchers have come up with a new way to identify more infectious variants of viruses or bacteria that start spreading in humans -- including those causing flu, COVID, whooping cough and tuberculosis.

Virus

Virus Disease Research

New insights on how bird flu crosses the species barrier

Science Daily: Pharmacology News

AUGUST 19, 2024

The avian influenza virus needs to mutate to cross the species barrier and to infect and replicate within mammalian cells. Scientists have now deciphered the structure of the avian influenza virus's polymerase when it interacts with a human protein essential for the virus to replicate within the cell.

Virus

Novel treatment based on gene editing safely and effectively removes HIV-like virus from genomes of non-human primates

Science Daily: Pharmacology News

AUGUST 17, 2023

A single injection of a novel CRISPR gene-editing treatment safely and efficiently removes SIV -- a virus related to the AIDS-causing agent HIV -- from the genomes of non-human primates, scientists now report.

Virus

Virus Treatment Clinical Trials FDA

New drug prevents flu-related inflammation and lung damage

Science Daily: Pharmacology News

APRIL 10, 2024

Findings show a newly created drug can prevent runaway inflammation while still allowing the immune system to handle the virus, even when given late into infection.

Virus

Virus Drugs

Ancient microbes offer clues to how complex life evolved

Science Daily: Pharmacology News

JULY 16, 2024

Researchers have discovered that a single-celled organism, a close relative of animals, harbors the remnants of ancient giant viruses woven into its own genetic code. This finding sheds light on how complex organisms may have acquired some of their genes and highlights the dynamic interplay between viruses and their hosts.

Virus

Virus Research

New drug shows promise in clearing HIV from brain

Science Daily: Pharmacology News

JULY 25, 2024

By targeting infected cells in the brain, drug may clear virus from hidden areas that have been a major challenge in HIV treatment. An experimental drug originally developed to treat cancer may help clear HIV from infected cells in the brain, according to a new study.

Virus

Virus Drugs Treatment

Honey bees experience multiple health stressors out-in-the-field

Science Daily: Pharmacology News

APRIL 17, 2024

It's not a single pesticide or virus stressing honey bees, and affecting their health, but exposure to a complex web of multiple interacting stressors encountered while at work pollinating crops, found new research. This led the research team to wonder if previous studies were missing something by focusing on one stressor at a time.

Virus

Virus Research

Vilnius University Scientists’ Research on Bacterial Defense from Viruses Was Published in Science

Drug Discovery Today

DECEMBER 7, 2023

A team led by Research Professor Gintautas Tamulaitis from Vilnius University Life Sciences Center (VU LSC) revealed a novel protection mechanism in CRISPR-Cas antiviral defense system. The article “Ribosomal stalk-captured CARF-RelE ribonuclease inhibits translation following CRISPR signaling” was published in the journal Science.

Science

Science Virus Research

'Low-sugar' vaccine can provide broad immunity against coronavirus variants

Science Daily: Pharmacology News

MARCH 25, 2025

In addition to creating antibodies that target a specific region of the spike protein that doesn't mutate, the vaccine removes the sugar coat from the virus that allows it to hide in the body.

Vaccine

Vaccine Virus

Drug-like inhibitor shows promise in preventing flu

Science Daily: Pharmacology News

MAY 21, 2024

Currently available flu medications only target the virus after it has already established an infection, but what if a drug could prevent infection in the first place? Now, scientists have designed drug-like molecules to do just that, by thwarting the first stage of influenza infection.

Virus

Virus Drugs

Intranasal herpes infection may produce neurobehavioral symptoms

Science Daily: Pharmacology News

MARCH 10, 2025

The research shows that by exploiting a cellular enzyme, the virus can produce behavioral symptoms. The finding emphasizes the need for prevention and treatment of a virus carried by billions of people worldwide. A study finds that herpes infection through the nose can lead to anxiety, motor impairment and cognitive issues.

Virus

Virus Treatment Research

One genomic test can diagnose nearly any infection

Science Daily: Pharmacology News

NOVEMBER 12, 2024

A genomic test developed by researchers to rapidly detect almost any kind of pathogen -- virus, bacteria, fungus or parasite -- has proved successful after a decade of use.

Virus

Virus Research

Discovery could end global amphibian pandemic

Science Daily: Pharmacology News

APRIL 3, 2024

Scientists have discovered a virus that infects the fungus, and that could be engineered to save the amphibians. A fungus devastating frogs and toads on nearly every continent may have an Achilles heel.

Engineering

Engineering Virus

Bird flu stays stable on milking equipment for at least one hour

Science Daily: Pharmacology News

JUNE 27, 2024

H5N1 virus in unpasteurized milk is stable on metal and rubber components of commercial milking equipment for at least one hour, increasing its potential to infect people and other animals.

Virus

Mosquitoes sense infrared from body heat to help track humans down

Science Daily: Pharmacology News

AUGUST 22, 2024

While a mosquito bite is often no more than a temporary bother, in many parts of the world it can be scary. One mosquito species, Aedes aegypti, spreads the viruses that cause over 100,000,000 cases of dengue, yellow fever, Zika and other diseases every year. Another, Anopheles gambiae, spreads the parasite that causes malaria.

Virus

Virus Disease

Genetic tracing at the Huanan Seafood market further supports COVID animal origins

Science Daily: Pharmacology News

SEPTEMBER 19, 2024

A new study provides a list of the wildlife species present at the market from which SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic, most likely arose in late 2019. The study is based on a new analysis of metatranscriptomic data released by the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Marketing

Marketing Virus Disease

Antibody treatment prevents severe bird flu in monkeys

Science Daily: Pharmacology News

JANUARY 30, 2025

The antibody targets a stable part of the bird flu virus, ensuring that the immune protection can resist new variants and offer long-term protection against the globally spreading airborne infection.

Treatment

Treatment Virus

Blueprints of self-assembly

Science Daily: Pharmacology News

MAY 20, 2024

The advance provides a steppingstone to the eventual construction of sophisticated, self-assembling devices at the nanoscale -- roughly the size of a single virus. The study describes the synthetic construction of a tiny, self-assembled crystal known as a 'pyrochlore,' which bears unique optical properties.

Virus

Old immune systems revitalized in mouse study, improving vaccine response

Science Daily: Pharmacology News

MARCH 27, 2024

Those with aging immune systems struggle to fight off novel viruses and respond weakly to vaccination. Researchers were able to revitalize the immune system in mice.

Vaccine

Vaccine Virus Research

New biosensor can detect airborne bird flu in under 5 minutes

Science Daily: Pharmacology News

MARCH 3, 2025

Newly devised virus trackers can monitor for airborne particles of H5N1. As highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza continues to spread in the U.S., posing serious threats to dairy and poultry farms, both farmers and public health experts need better ways to monitor for infections, in real time, to mitigate and respond to outbreaks.

Virus

New strategy could lead to universal, long-lasting flu shot

Science Daily: Pharmacology News

MAY 1, 2024

An experimental influenza vaccine carrying more than 80,000 variations of hemagglutinin antigens caused the immune system of mice and ferrets to respond more strongly to less variable portions of the virus. This is a big step forward in efforts at the Duke Human Vaccine Institute to develop a universal, long-lasting flu shot.

Vaccine

Vaccine Virus

Study reveals isolation, endogamy and pathogens in early medieval Spanish community

Science Daily: Pharmacology News

AUGUST 28, 2024

Besides isolation and endogamy, the researchers have also identified the variola virus which can offer a new explanation on how smallpox entered Iberia. An archaeogenetic study sheds new light on the isolated medieval community Las Gobas in northern Spain.

Virus

Virus Research

Nanorobot hand made of DNA grabs viruses for diagnostics and blocks cell entry

An antiviral chewing gum to reduce influenza and herpes simplex virus transmission

Webinars

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Virus that causes COVID-19 is widespread in wildlife, scientists find

Webinars

Virus that threatened humanity opens the future

Viruses are teeming on your toothbrush, showerhead

Giant viruses found on Greenland ice sheet

Over 160,000 new viruses discovered by AI

Plant virus treatment shows promise in fighting metastatic cancers in mice

How evolution tamed a deadly virus and why we should still worry

Infectious H5N1 influenza virus in raw milk rapidly declines with heat treatment

Engineering viruses to kill deadly pathogens

What shapes a virus's pandemic potential? SARS-CoV-2 relatives yield clues

Identifying the genes that viruses 'steal' from ocean microbes

Current antivirals likely less effective against severe infection caused by bird flu virus in cows' milk

Decreasing biodiversity may promote spread of viruses

Herpes virus might drive Alzheimer's pathology

Ventilation in hospitals could cause viruses to spread further

Relative of deadly Hendra virus found in the US

Zika uses human skin as 'mosquito magnet' to spread virus further

A virus could help save billions of gallons of wastewater produced by fracking

Common cold virus linked to potentially fatal blood clotting disorder

Virus-like transposons wage war on the species barrier

System to auto-detect new variants will inform better response to future infectious disease outbreaks

New insights on how bird flu crosses the species barrier

Novel treatment based on gene editing safely and effectively removes HIV-like virus from genomes of non-human primates

New drug prevents flu-related inflammation and lung damage

Ancient microbes offer clues to how complex life evolved

New drug shows promise in clearing HIV from brain

Honey bees experience multiple health stressors out-in-the-field

Vilnius University Scientists’ Research on Bacterial Defense from Viruses Was Published in Science

'Low-sugar' vaccine can provide broad immunity against coronavirus variants

Drug-like inhibitor shows promise in preventing flu

Intranasal herpes infection may produce neurobehavioral symptoms

One genomic test can diagnose nearly any infection

Discovery could end global amphibian pandemic

Bird flu stays stable on milking equipment for at least one hour

Mosquitoes sense infrared from body heat to help track humans down

Genetic tracing at the Huanan Seafood market further supports COVID animal origins

Antibody treatment prevents severe bird flu in monkeys

Blueprints of self-assembly

Old immune systems revitalized in mouse study, improving vaccine response

New biosensor can detect airborne bird flu in under 5 minutes

New strategy could lead to universal, long-lasting flu shot

Study reveals isolation, endogamy and pathogens in early medieval Spanish community

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