microbiology, disease & medicine

Download our poster of the biggest milestones, from the discovery of the viral family in humans in the 1960s to the identification of SARS-CoV-2.

Milder, cold-causing members of this pathogenic viral family long remained under the radar, although they aren’t entirely harmless.

Eight amino acids are identical to part of the human epithelial sodium channel, leading researchers to suspect the virus might interfere with the channel’s function.

By revealing that animals could develop immune responses against their own tissues, the physician-scientist established an entirely new field of science.

Meet some of the people featured in the June 2020 issue of The Scientist.

The Salk Institute researcher was one of the first to show that killing a pathogen isn’t the only way to survive an infection.

Scientists have raised questions about the dataset published in The Lancet last week that triggered the suspension of clinical trials around the world—and about Surgisphere Corporation, the company behind the study.

A paper published in The Lancet reported that hospitalized COVID-19 patients taking the drug had a higher risk of death, although some researchers have raised questions about the data.

The experiments did not involve SARS-CoV-2, but researchers say the results support precautions to avoid possibly spreading COVID-19 by talking.

The public university system in California joins a number of colleges planning a virtual semester to minimize the risk of spreading COVID-19.

The idea of deliberately infecting volunteers with SARS-CoV-2 has garnered significant attention as a potential avenue to speedier development, as the World Health Organization weighs in with recommendations.

Scientists document a growing list of atypical coronavirus infection symptoms, giving doctors more insight into the emerging disease.

Bluetooth-enabled technology will attempt to track people’s interactions on the British island—and potentially elsewhere in the UK—as lockdowns are lifted.

A retrospective analysis of stored respiratory samples shows one patient could have been infected with SARS-CoV-2 weeks before the coronavirus was thought to have arrived in France, but a critic of the result questions whether the sample was contaminated.

Preprints from the first round of seroprevalence studies indicate that many more people have been infected with the virus than previously reported. Some of these studies also have serious design flaws.

The abrupt termination comes after the research drew President Trump’s attention for its ties to the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

Early reports from hospitals document a spike in large vessel blockages, especially among people in their 30s and 40s who tested positive for the coronavirus.

Autopsies recently carried out in California show that one person died of the disease on February 6—three weeks before the nation recorded its first fatality.

Assembling the first COVID-19 test kits in the same room as coronavirus material, along with other practices that didn’t follow protocol, made the tests unusable, officials say.

The University of Massachusetts Amherst is supplying local hospitals and the state with key ingredients needed for COVID-19 testing.