Virus in Biological News

First human gets new antibody aimed at hepatitis C virus

... developed that can neutralize the Hepatitis C virus (HCV). The first volunteer received the ... liver is eventually infected by HCV because the virus remains in the patient's bloodstream during ... liver is implanted, researchers hope the HCV virus left in the bloodstream will be neutralized and ...

Scientists decoding genomic sequences of H1N1 using isolates from outbreak in Argentina

... sequences of influenza pandemic (H1N1) 2009 virus from patients with severe respiratory disease. ... higher mortality rates or provide insights into virus evolution. The Mailman School of Public Health ... University, plan to completely sequence up to 150 virus specimens from nasopharyngeal swabs and cultures ...

K-State researcher, collaborators study virulence of pandemic H1N1 virus

... diagnostic tools for the direct detection of the virus by finding nucleic acids or other parts of the virus in a sample, as well as tools for indirect ... this work to protect the pig industry in case the virus would jump into the swine population," Richt ....

Study links virus to some cases of common skin cancer

... COLUMBUS, Ohio A virus discovered last year in a rare form of skin ... Americans this year. They identified the virus in more than a third of the patients and in 15 ... of the tumors tested. In addition, all of the virus found in tumor cells had a mutation that could ...

UCSF researchers identify new drug target for Kaposi's sarcoma

... a new potential drug target for the herpes virus that causes Kaposi's sarcoma, re-opening the ... however, including those for HIV and the herpes virus family, take the form of a dimer, or two ... proteases play an essential role in making the virus infectious, but require the two clamshell halves ...

Jet-propelled imaging for an ultrafast light source

... best way to solve the structure of a protein or virus has been with x-ray crystallography. The crystal consists of many copies of the protein or virus arranged in regular order. As the crystal rotates ... from a microcrystal or even a single protein or virus in solution. The pulse is so brief that it comes ...

Tips from the journals of the American Society for Microbiology

... May Offer Early Control of H5N1 Influenza virus Researchers from Georgia suggest that the ... interferon type 1, reduced H5N1 influenza virus replication in mice and may offer some degree of ... human cases and 250 deaths from H5N1 virus infection have been reported since 2003. Much is ...

NIH funds $9.5 million for research on HIV and the human innate immune system

... of contracting human papillomavirus (HPV). This virus is more frequently associated with the genital ... the protection seen in the mouth against the virus when compared to other body sites. FOUR ... and thereby, better understand the impact of the virus and the therapies used to combat HIV on ...

Amarna Therapeutics B.V. and TNO announce SVac research and development partnership

... alphaviral, adenoviral and adeno-associated virus (AAV) vector systems. SVac is non-immunogenic in ... processes of the polio, rabies and influenza virus vaccines in which a master seed virus is seeded to producer cells in large fermentors. ...

American Chemical Society's weekly PressPac -- May 27, 2009

... ARTICLE #1 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Bird flu virus remains infectious up to 600 days in municipal ... infected with another threat the "bird flu" virus can remain infectious in municipal landfills for ... millions of chickens and ducks infected with the virus have died or been culled from flocks worldwide in ...

Rapid approach to identify influenza A virus mutations and drug resistance developed

... able to trace the mutations in the influenza A virus that may cause its resistance to drugs. "The ... variant and keep the world informed of how the virus is evolving," said Gerd Maass, Ph.D., CEO of ... which can reveal the complete sequence of the flu virus from patient samples, it enables the detection of ...

The challenges of avian influenza virus: Mechanism, epidemiology and control

... much do we know about this virus? Where will this virus go and where did it come? Can we avoid a possible ... first human infection case with fatality and the virus identified as strain H5N1 were found in Hong Kong ... Administrative Region), China, reminding us the virus is expanding its host range from birds to ...

Novel vaccine approach offers hope in fight against HIV

... scientists protected monkeys from infection by a virus closely related to HIVthe simian immunodeficiency ... or killer cells that would eliminate the virus before or after it infected cells in the body. ... immunoadhesins was engineered into a carrier virus designed to deliver the DNA to monkeys. The ...

SRI International to screen drugs that fight 2009 H1N1 influenza A

... Although the number of new 2009 H1N1 influenza A virus cases appears to be slowing worldwide, viruses ... In particular, it is not known how this new virus will behave when the seasonal flu season returns ... begin soon, for any signs of changes in the H1N1 virus and how humans respond to the infection. SRI ...

Princeton team's analysis of flu virus could lead to better vaccines

... appreciated aspect of the interaction between a virus and those naturally produced defensive proteins ... lab and first author on the paper. When a virus like influenza attacks a human, the body mounts a ... different virus, a close cousin, than against the virus that spurred their creation. This is known as ...

Rabbits on the back foot -- but naturally they're fighting back

... in cool, high rainfall areas carry a benign virus that gives them immunity to RHD. "We knew that ... Now we have found it," she said. "This new virus does not cause disease in rabbits and we fear ... Australia were affected, where in the rabbit the virus lurked, at what age rabbits became infected and ...

University awarded £1.7M to develop nanotechnology for use in health care

... effect. The project will focus on the HIV virus the incurable disease that can lead to AIDS. ... the ability to target the drug to areas where the virus is usually inaccessible. "Our close ... could enhance their ability to kill the HIV virus while reducing their toxicity. We will look ...

Visualizing virus replication in three dimensions

... model of the location in the human cell where the virus is reproduced. Their research provides an insight ... is where proteins are synthesized. The dengue virus uses this membrane network and transforms it for ... We were also able to show that replication of the virus genome and its encapsulation in ...

Swine flu genes dissimilar to past pandemics

... They have since studied sequences from the new virus and found that only about half of their 34 ... does not necessarily mean that the current H1N1 virus is not going to be a major problem, but it does ... their work appears to suggest that the current virus may not be as dangerous as feared, more studies ...

Novel antibody prevents infection by hepatitis C virus

... antibody that neutralizes the Hepatitis C virus (HCV). The new antibody effectively neutralized the virus in culture, and then prevented infection by the virus in a pre-clinical animal model of the disease. ...

K-State researcher finds 1918 flu resulted in current lineage of H1N1 swine influenza viruses

... In 1918 a human influenza virus known as the Spanish flu spread through the ... State University researcher has found that the virus causing the pandemic was able to infect and ... the hypothesis that the 1918 pandemic influenza virus and ...

Avian flu research sheds light on swine flu outbreak

... that the potential for an avian influenza virus to cause a human flu pandemic is greater than ... in intermediary species like pigs, an avian flu virus requires relatively few mutations to spread ... Coordinated Agricultural Project, AICAP. "The virus formed when avian, swine, and human-like viruses ...

Findings uncover new details about mysterious virus

... the simplest life evolved and whether the unusual virus causes any human diseases. The mimivirus has ... scientists in 1992 but wasn't confirmed to be a virus until 2003. The virus infects amoebas, but it is thought to possibly be ...

Caltech scientists show why anti-HIV antibodies are ineffective at blocking infection

... vaccine against the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), progress in the field seems to have ... both arms of an antibody are able to bind to a virus at the same time," says Joshua Klein, a Caltech ... we think about what the human immunodeficiency virus actually looks like," says Klein. Whereas a ...

HIV dearms protective protein in cells

... other protective mechanisms to fight or stop virus infections the infected cells themselves dispose of several proteins that inhibit various steps of virus reproduction. In the presence of the protective ... test the efficacy of medications against the AIDS virus HIV rapidly and on a larger scale prior to ...

Minimizing the spread of deadly Hendra virus

... CSIRO research into how the deadly Hendra virus spreads promises to save the lives of both horses ... when horses are most likely to shed Hendra virus and therefore infect other horses and people. ... samples required for rapid diagnosis of the virus in horses and identified the important ...

HIV pays a price for invisibility

... alert killer T cells by displaying bits of the virus on the surface of the cell. The T cells recognize ... In people with HLA-B*5703, for example, the virus multiplies less than in people with some other ... But HIV is tricky. To get around HLA-B*5703, the virus mutates three amino acids that T cells need to ...

A London effort to develop point-of-care nanosensors for HIV diagnosis and monitoring

... The device will give people a way to monitor the virus for themselves, reducing the need to visit a ... to tell patients to seek medical help if the virus is resisting anti-retroviral treatments. It could ... that can indicate a rise in the level of the virus and the body's response to it. UCL lead ...

MDC researchers prevent virus induced myocarditis

... by blocking the receptor which is required for virus entry. "We did not detect a single cardiomyocyte ... of the heart muscle associated with this virus infection did not develop," Dr. Shi said. ( ... hypotheses that the direct effects of the virus infection, and not the autoimmune response, ...

Potential new HIV drug may help patients not responding to treatment

... the simian form of HIV were able to reduce the virus levels in the blood to undetectable levels, by ... Therapy (ART). Simian Immunodeficiency virus (SIV) is very similar to Human Immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and it is used to study the condition in ...

The host makes all the difference

... the main type A, in which the composition of the virus envelope differs. H1N1 and H3N2 are the most ... for the protein haemagglutinin, with which the virus latches onto the cells of the airways, infecting ... (N). To evade an immune response the virus changes the H and N characteristics constantly. ...

Catching the common cold virus genome

... by Brigham Young University researchers on the virus behind nearly half of all cold infections ... we haven't spent a lot of time studying the virus and its history to see how it's responding to the ... was announced in 1955. But while the polio virus has just three subspecies, the rhinovirus has ...

Waking up dormant HIV

... an extremely effective HIV treatment that keeps virus levels almost undetectable; however, HAART can never truly eradicate the virus as some HIV always remains dormant in cells. But, ... it an attractive candidate to weed out the hidden virus that HAART misses. Matija Peterlin at UCSF ...

A natural approach for HIV vaccine

... of engineered "super antibodies" to fend off the virus before it takes hold. So far, these magic bullet ... whose coordinated pack hunting knocks down the virus just as well as their super-antibody cousins ... strains a protein on the envelope of the virus called gp140 that HIV needs to infect immune ...

Scripps research team identifies key molecules that inhibit viral production

... subunits), but also production of the actual virus itself. "We went for the simplest solution, ... that it mutates at such prodigious rates. An RNA virus like hepatitis C can mutate at a rate estimated ... there are still so very few drugs to treat the virus and very few tools to study it," Strosberg said. ...

NYU College of Dentistry awarded $1.9 million NIH grant for HIV research

... prone to failure, and can result in an aborted virus replication cycle. As a result, up to 99 percent ... the immune system from successfully stopping virus replication," explains Dr. Levy, "and we have ... interactions speed up the evolution of the virus by increasing the amount of genetic exchange ...

HIV adapts to 'escape' immune response

... BIRMINGHAM, Ala. The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) adapts so well to the body's defense system ... different "escape mutations" that help keep the virus alive after it interacts genetically with ... The Nature study shows just how efficiently the virus evolves escape mutations that help infected cells ...

Cutting-edge amfAR grants fight HIV/AIDS in the lab and on the phone

... cells persistently infected with latent virus are thought to be the main barrier to a cure for ... such a model consisting of primary cells in which virus has integrated in a normal manner. Using his ... that can affect the establishment of latency and virus reactivation. Jan de Rijck, Ph.D./Mentor: ...

Evolutionary biologist will study HIV with grant from AIDS research foundation

... for AIDS Research (amFAR) to study how the HIV virus and the cells it attacks have evolved together ... for drugs. When HIV infiltrates cells, the virus hijacks its host's genetic machinery to produce ... "Those will be good targets for blocking the virus with new antiviral drugs." Viruses and their ...

Scientists identify human monoclonal antibodies effective against bird and seasonal flu viruses

... mutable, leading to the rise of forms of the virus that can evade neutralizing antibodies," said ... antibody protected mice from the lethal H5N1 virus even when injected three days after infection. ... from a lethal infection with a very different virus such as the H1N1 subtype that causes seasonal ...