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Artist’s rendition of red SARS-CoV-2 coronaviruses floating near blue strands of DNA.
COVID-19 Infections May Reshape Genetic Landscape
SARS-CoV-2 infection triggers structural changes in the host cell’s DNA, which provide a molecular explanation for long COVID, a new study suggests. 
COVID-19 Infections May Reshape Genetic Landscape
COVID-19 Infections May Reshape Genetic Landscape

SARS-CoV-2 infection triggers structural changes in the host cell’s DNA, which provide a molecular explanation for long COVID, a new study suggests. 

SARS-CoV-2 infection triggers structural changes in the host cell’s DNA, which provide a molecular explanation for long COVID, a new study suggests. 

Viral evolution

Artist’s rendering of various orange and pink colored bacteria
Q&A: What if Immune Cells Don’t Actually Detect Viruses and Bacteria?
Dan Robitzski | Feb 3, 2023 | 10+ min read
The Scientist spoke with Jonathan Kagan about his idea that immune cells respond to “errors” made by unsuccessful pathogens, not the pathogens themselves.
Raccoon dog behind bars of a cage
New Preprints Further Implicate Market in Pandemic’s Origins
Natalia Mesa, PhD | Feb 28, 2022 | 4 min read
Three studies that analyzed samples from Wuhan’s Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market add to evidence that SARS-CoV-2 has zoonotic origins.
Don Ingber discusses how organ-on-a-chip technology helps identify, study, and combat viral variants that could cause the next pandemic.
The Scientist Speaks - Preventing the Next Pandemic with Organ Chips
Nele Haelterman, PhD | 1 min read
Don Ingber discusses how organ-on-a-chip technology helps identify, study, and combat viral variants that could cause the next pandemic.
Illustration of a targeted virus over a world map
The Hunt for a Pandemic’s Origins
Martha Nelson | Jan 4, 2022 | 10+ min read
Dozens of researchers, including myself, worked for years to uncover that swine flu had leapt to humans from a pig in Mexico in 2009. We learned a lot about influenza evolution, pig farming, and outbreak risk along the way.
Illustration of a world map showing a truck going from the US to Mexico, a plane going from Europe to Mexico, and a pig surrounded by various viruses in Mexico
Infographic: How H1N1 Came to Spark a Pandemic in 2009
Martha Nelson | Jan 4, 2022 | 2 min read
The pathogen known as swine flu evolved in pigs in Mexico following imports of the livestock from the US and Europe.
An illustration with a world map, pigs, and viruses
Timeline: Investigating the Origins of the 2009 Pandemic
Martha Nelson | Jan 4, 2022 | 3 min read
Seven years of surveillance and research revealed the complex history of the H1N1 virus that leapt from pigs to humans and sparked the global swine flu outbreak.
An artist’s rendering of the Omicron variant portrays the virus as a lumpy blue sphere with several orange spike proteins jutting out of it.
Omicron Propagates 70 Times Faster than Delta in Bronchi: Study
Dan Robitzski | Dec 17, 2021 | 5 min read
A preprint reports that the new SARS-CoV-2 variant multiplies faster in human bronchial tissue but slower in lung tissue than the Delta variant, potentially explaining how it’s spreading from person to person so quickly.
Illustration of various colored viruses
Omicron Appears to Evade Vaccines Better Than Other Variants
Jef Akst | Dec 14, 2021 | 3 min read
Preliminary studies suggest that existing vaccines falter in preventing symptomatic infections caused by the new coronavirus variant, but protection against severe disease is still high.
Image of an abstract Earth view from space with fiber optic cables rising from major cities.
Delta Blues
Bob Grant | Sep 1, 2021 | 3 min read
Humanity was hoping to emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic this year. But viruses have plenty of tools at their disposal, and we should plan for a long-term future in which SARS-CoV-2 is a persistent threat.
Photograph from 1918 influenza pandemic shows mask-wearing women holding stretchers at backs of ambulances in Saint Louis, Missouri.
100-Year-Old Lungs Yield Genetic Samples of 1918 Flu Viruses
Christie Wilcox, PhD | May 18, 2021 | 2 min read
Influenza RNA sequences from three sets of lungs preserved in formalin since 1918 provide new insights into the deadly pandemic.
UPDATED
Ebola, virus, Guinea, West Africa, outbreak
Ebola Outbreak in Guinea Originated from Past Epidemic
Asher Jones | Mar 15, 2021 | 2 min read
Genetic analyses suggest that the virus came from a patient who survived the 2013–2016 West African outbreak.
Variant Found in Brazil Could Evade Immunity from Past Infection
Lisa Winter | Mar 2, 2021 | 2 min read
The P.1 variant, which has also been detected in five US states, could be responsible for cases of reinfection, according to a preprint.
COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, coronavirus, pandemic, pseudovirus, chimeric virus, disease & medicine, techniques, HIV, VSV, vaccine, variants, mutations
What Pseudoviruses Bring to the Study of SARS-CoV-2
Amanda Heidt | Feb 16, 2021 | 7 min read
Engineered viruses that don’t replicate provide a tractable model for scientists to safely study SARS-CoV-2, including research into vaccine efficacy and emerging variants.
SARS-CoV-2 with Genomic Deletions Escapes an Antibody
Abby Olena, PhD | Feb 16, 2021 | 4 min read
Researchers identify deletions in the N-terminal domain of the spike protein that allow the coronavirus to avoid antibody neutralization and that may contribute to the emergence of new variants.
Vaccines Versus the Mutants
Anthony King | Feb 8, 2021 | 7 min read
Facing new variants of SARS-CoV-2, some vaccines may offer more robust protection or be more easily redesigned to target them.
Tracing Zika’s Spread Through Genetics
Jef Akst | May 25, 2017 | 2 min read
DNA sequencing reveals that the virus responsible for the recent outbreak in the Americas originated in Brazil in 2014 and circulated undetected for months before the first cases were reported.
Tracking Zika’s Evolution
Jef Akst | Apr 15, 2016 | 2 min read
Sequence analysis of 41 viral strains reveals more than a half-century of change. 
Benjamin tenOever: Going Viral
Kerry Grens | Jan 1, 2014 | 3 min read
Professor, Microbiology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Age: 36
tenOever on microRNA and Vaccines
Kerry Grens | Dec 31, 2013 | 1 min read
January 2014 Scientist to Watch Benjamin tenOever discusses his research.
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