All variants articles
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NewsStudy links high-risk Epstein-Barr virus lineage to nasopharyngeal cancer in southern China
Researchers have discovered a significant association between specific Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) variants and nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC), a cancer prevalent in southern China, where it is 20 times more common than in non-endemic regions of the world.
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NewsScientists assess efficacy of clinical drugs targeting SARS-CoV-2 main protease
A critical player in the virus’s life cycle is the main protease (Mpro), also known as NSP5 or 3CL protease, which plays a crucial role in the cleavage and maturation of SARS-CoV-2 proteins within the host cells.
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NewsPeptide acts as molecular shield to prevent SARS-CoV-2 from infecting cells
The synthetic peptide was inspired by ACE2, the protein to which the virus that causes COVID-19 binds to invade human cells. The results point to a route for the development of novel antivirals.
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NewsResearchers identify structural characteristics of newly emerged SARS-CoV-2 variants
A new study has revealed the spike (S) protein structures of the recently emerged BA.2.86, JN.1, EG.5, EG.5.1 and HV.1 subvariants of SARS-CoV-2, and conducted systematic comparative analysis on these subvariants.
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NewsMutations of the spike gene do not predict the severity of variants of SARS-CoV-2
The two recent and prevalent strains of the virus that cause COVID-19 are not significantly better than their predecessor Omicron at evading immune responses and causing infections despite having a higher number of mutations.
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NewsWearing face masks did not reduce risk of COVID infection after first Omicron wave, research shows
A study has found that wearing face masks did not lower the risk of Covid infection following the initial surge of the Omicron variant. Overseas travel was not associated with increased risk prior to February 2022, but then became a significant risk.
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NewsStudy confirms effectiveness of bivalent COVID-19 vaccine
A major bivalent COVID-19 vaccine induces production of neutralizing antibodies against the coronavirus that circulated at the start of the pandemic as well as subvariants of omicron, albeit less abundantly, according to a new study.
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NewsNew technology uncovers mechanism affecting generation of new COVID variants
Researchers have developed a new technology called tARC-seq that revealed a genetic mechanism affecting SARS-CoV-2 divergence and enabled the team to calculate SARS-CoV-2’s mutation rate.
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NewsPirola variant of Covid rediscovers entry pathway into lung cells
Researchers have discovered that the Pirola variant enters lung cells with high efficiency and uses the cellular enzyme TMPRSS2 for entry, thereby exhibiting parallels to variants Alpha, Beta, Gamma and Delta.
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NewsVersatile vaccine candidate fights measles, mumps and Covid
Altered measles and mumps viruses could be used as a platform to create a trivalent COVID-19 vaccine that triggers immunity to multiple variant strains of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, new research in animals suggests. The study builds upon previous studies that involved inserting a highly stable segment of ...
