Tag Archives: SARS-CoV-2

Say hello to Spike. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, CC BY-SA Connor Bamford, Queen’s University Belfast The emergence of a new variant of coronavirus has sparked renewed interest in the part of the virus known as the spike protein. The new variant carries several peculiar changes to the spike protein when compared to other closely related variants – …

Kateryna Kon/Shutterstock Lucy van Dorp, UCL A new variant of SARS-CoV-2, the virus which causes COVID-19, is thought to be driving increased transmission of the disease in parts of the UK. The government has placed some regions including London under new, stricter coronavirus restrictions, known as Tier 4. People in Tier 4 areas will not be able to gather with …

Open windows and doors to boost air flow and help remove airborne particles. Daniela Torres/EyeEm via Getty Images Shelly Miller, University of Colorado Boulder The vast majority of SARS-CoV-2 transmission occurs indoors, mostly from the inhalation of airborne particles that contain the coronavirus. But in spite of the obvious risks posed by being inside, according to the Centers for Disease …

Moderna’s new mRNA vaccine is almost 94.5% effective in large-scale trials. JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP via Getty Images Sanjay Mishra, Vanderbilt University As the weather cools, the number of infections of the COVID-19 pandemic are rising sharply. Hamstrung by pandemic fatigue, economic constraints and political discord, public health officials have struggled to control the surging pandemic. But now, a rush of interim …

Could SARS-CoV-2 evolve to dodge the vaccine? Jose A. Bernat Bacete/Moment collection/Getty Images Andrew Read, Penn State and David Kennedy, Penn State The first drug against HIV brought dying patients back from the brink. But as excited doctors raced to get the miracle drug to new patients, the miracle melted away. In each and every patient, the drug only worked …

The pandemic rages as the world waits for COVID-19 vaccines. Peter Zelei Images/Getty Images William Petri, University of Virginia There are now two COVID-19 vaccines that, at least according to preliminary reports, appear to be 94.5% and 95% effective. Both were developed in a record-breaking 11 months or so. I am an infectious diseases specialist and professor at the University …

Y-shaped proteins called antibodies are vital for attacking and destroying the virus. Dr_Microbe/Getty Images Rodney E. Rohde, Texas State University When President Trump was diagnosed with COVID-19, one of the cutting-edge experimental therapies he received was a mixture of monoclonal antibodies. But now a vaccine may soon be available. So are other therapies necessary or valuable? And what exactly is …

file x ov. niversity of Maryland School of Medicine/AP/AAP Harry Al-Wassiti, Monash University; Colin Pouton, Monash University y Kylie Quinn, RMIT University La empresa de biotecnología alemana BioNTech y la farmacéutica estadounidense Pfizer anunciaron el lunes los primeros resultados prometedores de su ensayo clínico de fase 3 para una vacuna contra el SARS-CoV-2, el virus que causa la covid-19. Estos …

The Spike protein on the surface of SARS-CoV-2 must bind to proteins on the surface of human cells to trigger an infection. KTSDESIGN/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY/Getty Images Rajesh Khanna, University of Arizona and Aubin Moutal, University of Arizona When it comes to how the coronavirus invades a cell, it takes three to tango. The dance began with the ACE2 receptor, a …

This antibody adopts a Y-shape. The arms of the Y make up the part of the antibody that binds to the target. ALFRED PASIEKA/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY Dimiter Stanchev Dimitrov, University of Pittsburgh Although a vaccine could be the ultimate solution to curb the COVID-19 pandemic and stop future ones, it will not be 100% effective. If it is anything like …