antibodies

Unlike studies of antibody-rich transfusions in hospitalized patients, which overall have not found clear benefits, a new randomized trial finds that early convalescent plasma treatment cuts hospitalizations in half.

Researchers report what appears to be the second case of a person’s immune system clearing the virus on its own.

It’s unclear whether differing odds of dying between men and women reflect inherent differences between male and female immune systems or differences rooted in gender norms.

If the immune system makes mistakes—reacting late or getting the target wrong—it can amplify the damage wrought by SARS-CoV-2.

Both of the mRNA vaccines available in the US are highly effective against severe COVID-19, but recent studies suggest that Moderna’s elicits a stronger immune response and might be better at preventing breakthrough infections.  

President Biden’s planned rollout of additional COVID-19 vaccine doses is set to begin next week, but questions remain about who should get them.

Engineered antibodies trap and immobilize human sperm in the reproductive tract of female sheep, paving the way for possible use as a nonhormonal contraceptive in people.

When researchers injected mice with antibodies from fibromyalgia patients, the animals developed symptoms of the disease—suggesting that it may be controlled by the immune system, not the nervous system.

More than a dozen vaccines for tuberculosis are currently being tested in clinical trials. Some use whole bacteria as BCG does, while others deliver protein subunits or genetic material carried by viral vectors.  

This month marks the 100-year anniversary of BCG, still the only approved vaccine against the lethal pathogen. But there are new vaccines for this wily foe on the horizon.

Scientists are on the hunt for a shot that will protect against not only SARS-CoV-2, but other members of its family that may emerge in the future.

Researchers at Imperial College London and the University of Oxford are exposing healthy volunteers to SARS-CoV-2 for science.

Some of the blood specimens collected in the United States for the NIH’s All of Us research program starting on January 2, 2020, have antibodies against SARS-CoV-2.