Tag: Viruses

Turning history of science into a comic adventure

The Covid-19 pandemic taught us how complex the science and management of infectious disease can be, as the public grappled with rapidly evolving science, shifting and contentious policies, and mixed public health messages. The purpose of scientific communication is to make the complexity of such topics engaging and accessible while also making sure the information […]

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Bird Flu Is Still Causing Havoc. Here’s The Latest.

Over the last three years, a highly contagious, often deadly form of bird flu has taken a staggering toll on animals around the globe. The virus, known as H5N1, has infected birds in more than 80 countries. It has infiltrated big commercial poultry farms and tiny backyard henhouses, affecting 72 million farmed birds in the […]

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Angela Belcher delivers 2023 Dresselhaus Lecture on evolving organisms for new nanomaterials

“How do we get to making nanomaterials that haven’t been evolved before?” asked Angela Belcher at the 2023 Mildred S. Dresselhaus Lecture at MIT on Nov. 20. “We can use elements that biology has already given us.” The combined in-person and virtual audience of over 300 was treated to a light-up, 3D model of M13 […]

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3 Questions: Darrell Irvine on making HIV vaccines more powerful

An MIT research team led by Professor Darrell Irvine has developed a novel kind of vaccine adjuvant: a nanoparticle that can help to stimulate the immune system to generate a stronger response to a vaccine. These nanoparticles contain saponin, a compound derived from the bark of the Chilean soapbark tree, along with a molecule called […]

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China Respiratory Illness: U.S. Health Officials Say Cause is Known

A small group of Republican senators on Friday called on President Biden to ban travel from China to protect against an outbreak of respiratory illnesses in children there, even as scientists and global and American health officials said there were no signs of a threatening new pathogen. Instead, those experts said, the evidence so far […]

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Why We’re Still Breathing Dirty Indoor Air

In early 2020, the world scrubbed down surfaces, washed hands and sneezed into elbows, desperate to avoid infection with a new coronavirus. But the threat was not really lying on countertops and doorknobs. The virus was wafting through the air, set adrift in coughs and conversation, even in song. The pandemic raged for six months […]

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What to Know About Dengue Fever as Cases Spread to New Places

Cases of dengue fever, a mosquito-borne viral illness that can be fatal, are surging around the world. The increase is occurring both in places that have long struggled with the disease and in areas where its spread was unheard-of until the last year or two, including France, Italy and Chad, in central Africa. Last week, […]

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Germicidal UV lights could be producing indoor air pollutants, study finds

Many efforts to reduce transmission of diseases like Covid-19 and the flu have focused on measures such as masking and isolation, but another useful approach is reducing the load of airborne pathogens through filtration or germicidal ultraviolet light. Conventional UV sources can be harmful to eyes and skin, but newer sources that emit at a […]

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Fight Over Covid Lab Leak Stalls Virology Research

Questions about whether Covid leaked from a Chinese laboratory have cast a chill over American virus research, drying up funding for scientists who collect or alter dangerous pathogens and intensifying a debate over those practices. The pullback has transformed one of the most highly charged fields of medical science. While some believe such experiments could […]

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Lab Leak Fight Casts Chill Over Virology Research

Questions about whether Covid leaked from a Chinese laboratory have cast a chill over American virus research, drying up funding for scientists who collect or alter dangerous pathogens and intensifying a debate over those practices. The pullback has transformed one of the most highly charged fields of medical science. While some believe such experiments could […]

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Targeting a coronavirus ion channel could yield new Covid-19 drugs

The genome of the SARS-CoV-2 virus encodes 29 proteins, one of which is an ion channel called E. This channel, which transports protons and calcium ions, induces infected cells to launch an inflammatory response that damages tissues and contributes to the symptoms of Covid-19. MIT chemists have now discovered the structure of the “open” state […]

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Scientists Use CRISPR to Make Chickens More Resistant to Bird Flu

Scientists have used the gene-editing technology known as CRISPR to create chickens that have some resistance to avian influenza, according to a new study that was published in the journal Nature Communications on Tuesday. The study suggests that genetic engineering could potentially be one tool for reducing the toll of bird flu, a group of […]

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In Hospitals, Viruses Are Everywhere. Masks Are Not.

Liv Grace came down with respiratory infections three times over the course of four months. Each occurred after a visit to a medical provider in the Bay Area. Mx. Grace, 36, a writer who uses they/them pronouns, was infected with respiratory syncytial virus, which led to pneumonia, in December, after they were treated by a […]

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The C.D.C. Director on Why You Should Get the Latest Covid Booster

We have come a long way since the early days of 2020. Back then, I was the head of North Carolina’s Department of Health and Human Services and working alongside Gov. Roy Cooper to navigate the uncertainty, the challenges and the fear around Covid-19. My extended family was in New York, the epicenter of the […]

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Covid Continues to Rise, but Experts Remain Optimistic

Jill Biden, the first lady, tested positive for Covid-19 on Monday. Governor Kathy Hochul of New York has announced that the state will send high-quality masks and rapid tests to school districts that request them. Already, schools in Kentucky and Texas have closed, citing widespread respiratory illness among students and staff. The coronavirus is in […]

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How The mRNA Vaccines Were Made: Halting Progress and Happy Accidents

Thousands of miles from Dr. Barney Graham’s lab in Bethesda, Md., a frightening new coronavirus had jumped from camels to humans in the Middle East, killing one out of every three people infected. An expert on the world’s most intractable viruses, Dr. Graham had been working for months to develop a vaccine, but had gotten […]

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