This sequencing boost is helping scientists map in finer detail the mutational landscape of the coronaviruses circulating around the country. So it’s not surprising that they’re starting to turn up more surprises. But as the pace of generating genomic data has accelerated, there has not yet been a similar, concerted push forward in what’s called […]
Read MoreThe first Johnson & Johnson shots are administered, some states begin opening prematurely, and new variants demand vigilance. Here’s what you should know: Want to receive this weekly roundup and other coronavirus news? Sign up here! Headlines US vaccinations increase as the first Johnson & Johnson shots are administered It was a good week in […]
Read MoreThat matters for two reasons. First, it’s still possible that someone who’s been vaccinated could actually get sick—the risk is very slender, but not zero. And second, because unvaccinated people can be infected with Covid-19 and transmit it to others without showing any symptoms, it remains possible that someone vaccinated could also still be, in […]
Read MoreCompared with chains, independent pharmacies are more likely to serve rural areas and low-income ones in cities, says Stacy Mitchell, codirector of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, a nonprofit that advocates for small businesses, and who has studied North Dakota’s pharmacy law. One helpful comparison is with the state’s southern neighbor, where chains are dominant […]
Read MoreConsidering that urgency, some have argued that we should hold off on giving people the second doses of the Moderna and the Pfizer, to address the supply shortage. That’s rather risky. We don’t know what the durability of a single dose is. And it is conceivable if all you do is give the first dose […]
Read MoreThe race is on. Vaccines against the virus that causes Covid-19 are needling into shoulders around the world, the tip-of-the-hypodermic spear of a year-long scientific triumph. But that protean virus, like all the things that infect humans and make them sick, jukes and dodges. Virology versus epidemiology. Vaccinology versus evolution. Mutation versus mutation, transmission versus […]
Read MoreJohnson & Johnson’s shot nears approval, experts look at the full scope of vaccine protection, and international Covax shipments begin. Here’s what you should know: Want to receive this weekly roundup and other coronavirus news? Sign up here! Headlines Johnson & Johnson’s single-dose vaccine nears approval in the US Today, a panel of experts will […]
Read More“I’m about two months away from finding out if there are other drugs and combinations that could actually save my life,” says Silverman, who has been taking a targeted therapy based on the detection of a mutation in the PIK3CA gene. It’s not clear if that drug is diminishing the lung lesions. “If they could […]
Read MoreSARS-CoV-2 might cause its deadliest damage in the lungs, heart, and blood vessels. But its first stop in the human body is usually the nose, because that’s where inhaled viral particles first encounter cells they can invade and hijack in order to make copies of themselves. From there, the swarm of new viruses can expand […]
Read More“The bottom line is that the bad reputation that cheese has regarding its adverse effects on cholesterol, and hence on heart disease, is undeserved for the most part,” says Ronald Krauss, a professor at the UCSF School of Medicine and an expert on diet and cholesterol. “The saturated fat is really composed of saturated fatty […]
Read MoreSo there is no way to cast a net around Covid-19 and tighten it to nothing; its animal hosts will always provide it an escape hatch. However, it’s not actually useful to start thinking about alternate hosts until all of a disease’s potential human victims have been protected by vaccination—and so far, we are not […]
Read MoreVaccinations continue across the country amid weather complications, the US expands genome sequencing, and vaccine distribution takes shape worldwide. Here’s what you should know: Want to receive this weekly roundup and other coronavirus news? Sign up here! Headlines US vaccinations continue even as some shipments are stalled by winter storms This week, harsh winter weather […]
Read MoreIt’s not a unique quirk, but like many other Covid-19 tests, Helix’s hunts for three snippets of the virus’s genome. One of those snippets is on the S gene, which codes for the virus’s infection-enabling spike protein. The B.1.1.7 variant happens to have a six-letter deletion on that section of the S gene. So the […]
Read MoreWhat are the key differences between modern humans and our closest relatives, the Neanderthals and Denisovans? For the Neanderthals, there doesn’t seem to be any sort of obvious difference. They used sophisticated tools, made art, and established themselves in some very harsh environments. But, as far as we can tell, their overall population was never […]
Read MoreBut given that the Biological Weapons Convention operates by the consensus of its 183 state parties, and they haven’t been able to agree on any major initiatives since 2005, that approach might be too slow to make a difference. It’d also be overkill. Since fewer than 40 countries actually have BSL-4 labs, you’d just need […]
Read MoreAmerica makes deals for more vaccines, the CDC refines mask guidance, and school districts begin reopening. Here’s what you should know: Want to receive this weekly roundup and other coronavirus news? Sign up here! Headlines The US finalizes deals to secure enough vaccines for all eligible Americans by the end of July On Thursday, President […]
Read MoreIn the beginning, Ruscica and D’Ambra brought their parents and friends to the NICU to see their son. D’Ambra worked part-time and took a bus and then a train from their home in New Jersey to NewYork-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital, in northern Manhattan, each day. But every day, it seemed, the bus and the […]
Read MoreIt’s not Tulio de Oliveira’s fault that every mutated variant of the virus that causes Covid-19 has more than one name, much less that they all read like hack-proof passwords. But de Oliveira might have inspired a new, international push to change that system. A bioinformatician and director of the KwaZulu-Natal Research and Innovation Sequencing […]
Read MoreOxford releases new data on vaccine efficacy against UK strain, Johnson & Johnson seeks FDA approval, and the US Senate passes a key resolution for coronavirus aid. Here’s what you should know: Want to receive this weekly roundup and other coronavirus news? Sign up here! Headlines The Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine protects against the UK variant, while […]
Read MoreThis fall, Schwartz and Paltiel, along with Rochelle Walensky, who’s now the head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, looked more closely at the question of which would save more lives: a highly effective two-dose vaccine, like those from Moderna and Pfizer, or one that’s less effective but easier to get into people’s […]
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