Tracking a Deadly Virus
If you think that studying the deadly Ebola virus is all about donning a biohazard suit in a high-tech lab, think again. Check out these scientists from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious...
View ArticleHow Influenza Pandemics Occur
Credit: National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, NIH Flu season is upon us! Check out this NIH video to see how these pandemics emerge and spread new flu viruses around the globe.
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Promising Treatment for New Human Coronavirus
Caption: Transmission electron micrograph of novel coronavirusCredit: Rocky Mountain Laboratories, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, NIH In Fall 2012 a new coronavirus appeared on...
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Eradicating Ebola: In U.S. Biomedical Research, We Trust
Caption: Researcher inside a biosafety level 4 laboratory, which provides the necessary precautions for working with the Ebola virus.Credit: National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, NIH...
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Using Genomics to Follow the Path of Ebola
Caption: Colorized scanning electron micrograph of filamentous Ebola virus particles (blue) budding from a chronically infected VERO E6 cell (yellow-green).Credit: National Institute of Allergy and...
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Vaccine Research: New Tactics for Tackling HIV
Caption: Scanning electron micrograph of an HIV-infected immune cell.Credit: National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, NIH For many of the viruses that make people sick—think measles,...
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Snapshots of Life: New Target for Herpes Treatment?
Something about this image reminds me of that wacky and infectious old song: “It was a one-eyed, one-horned, flyin’ purple people eater …” Of course, this purple blob isn’t a people eater, but it does...
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Zika Virus: An Emerging Health Threat
Credit: Kraemer et al. eLife 2015;4:e08347 For decades, the mosquito-transmitted Zika virus was mainly seen in equatorial regions of Africa and Asia, where it caused a mild, flu-like illness and rash...
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Zika Vaccine: Two Candidates Show Promise in Mice
Caption: Zika virus (red), isolated from a microcephaly case in Brazil. The virus is associated with cellular membranes in the center.Credit: NIAID Last February, the World Health Organization...
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Summer Reading Suggestions from Scientists: Robert Horvitz
Two Science Selections: Horace Freeland Judson, Eighth Day of Creation. A comprehensive history of the origins and early science of the field of modern molecular biology, written by historian Horace...
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Feed a Virus, Starve a Bacterium?
Thinkstock/Stockbyte Yes, the season of colds and flu is coming. You’ve probably heard the old saying “feed a cold and starve a fever.” But is that sound advice? According to new evidence from mouse...
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Simplifying HIV Treatment: A Surprising New Lead
Caption: PET/CT imaging reveals a surprisingly high concentration (yellow, light green) of key immune cells called CD4 T cells in the colon (left) of an SIV-infected animal that received antibody...
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Snapshots of Life: Virus Hunting with Carbon Nanotubes
Credit: Penn State University The purple pods that you see in this scanning electron micrograph are the H5N2 avian flu virus, a costly threat to the poultry and egg industry and, in very rare...
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Creative Minds: Preparing for Future Pandemics
Jonathan Abraham / Credit: ChieYu Lin Growing up in Queens, NY, Jonathan Abraham developed a love for books and an interest in infectious diseases. One day Abraham got his hands on a copy of Laurie...
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Twinkle, Twinkle Little Cryo-EM Star
The stars are out and shining this holiday season. But there are some star-shaped structures now under study in the lab that also give us plenty of reason for hope. One of them is a tiny virus called...
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A Lean, Mean DNA Packaging Machine
Credit: Victor Padilla-Sanchez, The Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C. All plants and animals are susceptible to viral infections. But did you know that’s also true for bacteria? They get...
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Looking to Llamas for New Ways to Fight the Flu
Researchers are making tremendous strides toward developing better ways to reduce our risk of getting the flu. And one of the latest ideas for foiling the flu—a “gene mist” that could be sprayed into...
View ArticleEnlisting CRISPR in the Quest for an HIV Cure
Today, thanks to remarkable advances in antiretroviral drugs, most people with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) can expect to live an almost normal lifespan. But that means staying on...
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Uncovering a Hidden Zika Outbreak in Cuba
Credit: Sharon Isern, steampunkphage.com. When Brazilian health officials discovered four years ago that the mosquito-borne Zika virus could cause severe birth defects and other serious health...
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How Measles Leave the Body Prone to Future Infections
Credit: gettyimages/CHBD As a kid who was home-schooled on a Virginia farm in the 1950s, I wasn’t around other kids very much, and so didn’t get exposed to measles. And there was no vaccine yet. Later...
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