Category: Science and Tech
How the Brain Protects Itself From Blood-Borne Threats
Quanta Enough pints of beer can have you falling off your bar stool or loudly reciting lyrics to early 2000s jams to total strangers, because alcohol can get past one of the strongest defenses in the body. If you’ve ever been drunk, high or drowsy from allergy medication, you’ve experienced what happens when some molecules […]
Jun 20, 2023
Malaria Parasite Found in Medici Organ
Archeology.org Evidence of the parasite that causes a virulent type of malaria (Plasmodium falciparum) has been detected in a 500-year-old organ stored in a terracotta jar bearing the Medici family crest by researchers led by Albert Zink of Italy’s Institute for Mummy Studies, according to a Live Science report. Zink and his colleagues were working to match […]
Jun 14, 2023
NIH Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, monoclonal antibodies played an important role in treating some people with severe disease. A combination of antibodies was also approved as a prevention strategy for people with certain immune system problems. As the SARS-CoV-2 virus continues to mutate, the spike protein it uses to enter human cells has changed […]
Jun 14, 2023
Acute COVID-19 Might Cause False-Positive HIV Screens
NEJM In Michigan, COVID-19 brought a wave of erroneous HIV test results. Serologic screening tests are fast and inexpensive, but their accuracy can be compromised by a range of unpredictable circumstances. Several years ago, Michigan physicians noted a surge in false-positive HIV screening tests, just as the COVID-19 epidemic also was surging. A retrospective chart […]
Jun 13, 2023
Why scientists have a hard time getting money to study the root causes of outbreaks
Popular Science Government and groups that award grants to scientists favor research that’s high tech and treatment oriented rather than studies that seek to understand why contagions leap from animals to people. The outbreaks keep coming. Mpox, the virus formerly known as monkeypox, last year crossed borders with unprecedented speed to infect nearly 90,000 people. […]
Jun 6, 2023
Martha Nelson on the SARS-CoV-2 virus in deer
Penn State “There don’t appear to be evolutionary adaptations required for human SARS-CoV-2 virus to transmit in deer so far,” said Eberly College of Science alumna Martha Nelson, reflecting on her past two years of work as a staff scientist at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). She discussed how the same variants of the […]
Jun 6, 2023
Lab-grown mini lungs could accelerate the study of respiratory diseases
Rockefeller University When we’re driving to a new destination, we often turn down the stereo as we follow the directions. What had been music suddenly sounds like noise, and it interferes with our focus. Our understanding of how infectious diseases like COVID affect human lungs has been similarly confounded by noise. Data from patient lung […]
May 30, 2023
FDA Approves First Oral Antiviral Drug for COVID-19
MedPageToday The FDA has granted full approval to nirmatrelvir-ritonavir (Paxlovid) for treating adult outpatients with mild to moderate COVID-19 who are at risk for severe disease, the agency announced on Thursday. “Today’s approval demonstrates that Paxlovid has met the agency’s rigorous standards for safety and effectiveness, and that it remains an important treatment option for people […]
May 30, 2023
Why is COVID life-threatening for some people? Genetics study offers clues
Nature Immune genes could play a part in the risk of needing intensive care when infected with SARS-CoV-2. An analysis of DNA from more than 24,000 people who had COVID-19 and required treatment in intensive care has yielded more than a dozen new genetic links to the risk of developing extreme illness from the disease. […]
May 23, 2023
The Perfect “Pathogen” Storm – Deadly Bacteria Is Adapting to Plastic
Sci Tech Daily Genomics study in the Caribbean and Sargasso Seas signifies the first assembly of vibrio bacteria sourced from plastic waste. Recent research has unveiled how the interaction among Sargassum species, plastic marine waste, and Vibrio bacteria creates the perfect “pathogen” that poses threats to marine biodiversity and public health. Vibrio bacteria, commonly found in global waters, are the leading […]
May 22, 2023