The recent news of consumers hoarding gasoline in the face of a brief closure of one of the world’s biggest petroleum pipelines is just the latest episode of panic buying since the COVID-19 pandemic started.

Meet some of the people featured in the June 2021 issue of The Scientist.

In addition to continued scruitiny of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, research on similar pathogens could aid in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic and future disease outbreaks.

Half a year after infection, people who had recovered from COVID-19 had robust antibodies, along with traces of the virus in their gut, which may drive long-lasting immunity.

Patients’ viral loads are highest within five days of their first symptoms, emphasizing the need to isolate early to prevent transmission.

A study finds that β-coronaviruses don’t use the normal secretory pathway, a possible explanation for some aspects of COVID-19 pathology.

Outcomes in COVID-19 patients may be better in those recently infected with endemic coronaviruses. 

Researchers turn to familiar model animals, along with some fresh strategies, to develop countermeasures against SARS-CoV-2 and investigate the biology of infection.

Using an elaborate apparatus, researchers find that the virus spreads via aerosolized particles between ferrets more than a meter apart.

The four factors that drive contagion

Fast science—with all its warts—is making unprecedented progress in the fight against COVID-19.

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.

The viral protein known as ORF3b limits the induction of the type I interferon response, which typically alerts other immune system components to the presence of a virus, in cultured cells.

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

School shutdowns might have a relatively small effect on preventing the transmission of SARS-CoV-2, a new meta-analysis suggests, though the preliminary data point to the need for more studies.