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Bat Immune Systems: The Original Antivirus Programs
Bats stay healthy while hosting some of the world’s deadliest viruses. Scientists are just beginning to understand how.
Bat Immune Systems: The Original Antivirus Programs
Bat Immune Systems: The Original Antivirus Programs

Bats stay healthy while hosting some of the world’s deadliest viruses. Scientists are just beginning to understand how.

Bats stay healthy while hosting some of the world’s deadliest viruses. Scientists are just beginning to understand how.

virus

qPCRDriving Wastewater Surveillance for Infectious Disease
Nathan Ni, PhD | Oct 30, 2023 | 3 min read
Natalie Knox and the Public Health Agency of Canada’s National Microbiology Laboratory are helping establish a national qPCR-driven wastewater surveillance network for SARS-CoV-2 and other diseases.
Learn How Researchers Make the Most of Viral Vectors for Gene Therapy
Viral Vector Platforms for Gene Therapy
The Scientist | Feb 9, 2023 | 1 min read
In both the laboratory and clinic, scientists harness viral genetic transfer capabilities to develop gene therapies that modulate cellular function.
New Strategies in the Battle Against Infectious Diseases
New Strategies in the Battle Against Infectious Diseases
The Scientist Staff | 2 min read
Learn how the latest research into viral and bacterial pathogens advances the prevention and treatment of infectious diseases. 
An artist’s rendering of a DNA-based virus trap, represented as gray rods in a short cone-shaped arrangement. One is coated with blue molecules, likely antibodies, that adhere to a virus target. Another image shows to traps coming together to capture a red coronavirus.
“Origami” DNA Traps Could Keep Large Viruses From Infecting Cells
Natalia Mesa, PhD | Jan 18, 2023 | 4 min read
By engineering structures out of DNA, scientists could potentially prevent larger viruses, like coronaviruses and influenza viruses, from interacting with cells.
Photo of Monir Moniruzzaman
Monir Moniruzzaman Studies the Secrets of Giant Viruses
James M. Gaines | Jan 2, 2023 | 4 min read
The University of Miami researcher studies how a mysterious group of supersized viruses infects and influences the evolution of their hosts.
What Could Cause the Next Pandemic?
What Could Cause the Next Pandemic?
The Scientist | 2 min read
Scientists prepare for the future by filling in the research gaps between zoonotic viral reservoirs, emerging viruses, and human immune defenses.
Illustration of viruses represented with different colors overlapping each other.
What Happens When You Catch More than One Virus?
Alejandra Manjarrez, PhD | Dec 7, 2022 | 8 min read
The “tripledemic” shines a spotlight on viral interference, in which one infection can block another.
Image of a culture of <em >Entamoeba gingivalis</em> growing together with bacteria. There are two roundish amoeba cells surrounded by bacilli and other bacterial forms.
Recently Discovered Virus Family Infects a Human Oral Amoeba
Alejandra Manjarrez, PhD | Dec 1, 2022 | 3 min read
Redondoviruses, which have been associated with cases of periodontitis and other diseases, turn out to live inside the amoeba Entamoeba gingivalis.
Brush Up: Quorum Sensing in Bacteria and Beyond
Brush Up: Quorum Sensing in Bacteria and Beyond
Deanna MacNeil, PhD | 4 min read
Microbes communicate with quorum sensing to coordinate their behavior in response to how many neighbors they have.
A brown and gray Daubenton&rsquo;s bat in midair, flying in the general direction of the camera with wings outstretched and mouth open.
Duplicated Gene Helps Bats Survive “Arms Race” With Viruses
Dan Robitzski | Nov 23, 2022 | 5 min read
Bats are known for staying healthy even while harboring viral infections. Now, research sheds light on how their unusual immune system evolved.
close-up photo of fruit fly on white background
Scientists ID Heart-Damaging SARS-CoV-2 Protein
Grace van Deelen | Nov 22, 2022 | 3 min read
In flies and mice, a viral protein increases the rate of energy use by heart cells. But it’s not yet clear if the finding applies to humans.
COVID-19: Lessons Learned
COVID-19: Lessons Learned
The Scientist | 2 min read
An expert panel will discuss what researchers have learned from the COVID-19 pandemic and what lessons remain for the future. 
a small black mouse sits next to an obese black mouse on a white background
Obesity Protects Against Genital Herpes in Mice, Study Finds
Katherine Irving | Nov 11, 2022 | 3 min read
A high-fat diet induced changes to the animals’ vaginal microbiomes that boosted survival after exposure to the virus.
illustration of neurons in blue and microglia in orange
Ancient Viral DNA Helps Mouse Brains Fight Infection
Natalia Mesa, PhD | Oct 24, 2022 | 3 min read
Mammals that give birth to live young may have evolved to make use of the remnants of viruses in their genomes to ward off pathogens, a study suggests. 
Characterizing Proteolysis During SARS-CoV-2 Infection
Characterizing Proteolysis During SARS-CoV-2 Infection
The Scientist Creative Services Team in collaboration with Thermo Fisher Scientific | 1 min read
Edward Emmott will discuss mass spectrometry approaches to understand proteolysis during viral infection and their use in developing targeted strategies for COVID-19 treatment.
A dead northern gannet (Morus bassanus) on a beach
Unprecedented Avian Flu Epidemic Could Presage Year-Round Outbreaks
Christie Wilcox, PhD | Oct 4, 2022 | 2 min read
Nearly 50 million birds have been culled amid efforts to mitigate the spread of the virus, which continues to ravage the Northern Hemisphere.
News feature
Vector image of black body with head surrounded by white clouds
Multiple Possible Causes of Long COVID Come into Focus
Natalia Mesa, PhD | Sep 28, 2022 | 10+ min read
Recent studies have lent support for a variety of hypotheses explaining the debilitating symptoms affecting millions of people after SARS-CoV-2 infection.  
Uncovering Ancient Residual DNA
Uncovering Ancient Residual DNA
The Scientist | 1 min read
A look at how ancient events crafted modern human DNA and their potential impact on human health.
People in protective gear enter a building during an Ebola simulation exercise in Uganda in 2019. 
Uganda Declares Ebola Outbreak After Fatality
Katherine Irving | Sep 20, 2022 | 2 min read
The outbreak of the Sudan strain of ebolavirus, which includes eight other suspected cases, is the first to hit Uganda in more than a decade.
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