Team develops method to identify future SARS-CoV-2 mutations that could affect rapid antigen test performance

Science Daily  September 15, 2022 To evaluate the impact of mutations on 17 antibodies used in 11 commercially available antigen tests with emergency use authorization a team of researchers in the US (Emory University, Baylor College, industry) measured antibody binding for all possible Nucleocapsid point mutations using a mammalian surface-display platform and deep mutational scanning. The results provided a complete map of the antibodies’ epitopes and their susceptibility to mutational escape. Their data predicted no vulnerabilities for detection of mutations found in variants of concern. They confirmed this using the commercial tests and sequence-confirmed COVID-19 patient samples. The antibody escapes […]

Deconstructing the Infectious Biological Weaponry of the COVID-19 Virus

SciTech Daily  August 8, 2021 The replication transcription complex (RTC) from the virus SARS-CoV-2 is responsible for recognizing and processing RNA for two principal purposes, propagation into new virus and for ribosomal transcription of viral proteins. The RTC will discontinuously transcribe specific sections of viral RNA to amplify certain proteins over others. A team of researchers in the US (University of Chicago, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, University of Auburn) has conducted a systematic structural investigation of three components that make up the RTC: Nsp7, Nsp8, and Nsp12 and solved high-resolution crystal structures of the Nsp7/8 […]

New device can diagnose Covid-19 from saliva samples

MIT News August 6, 2021 A team of researchers in the US (Harvard University, MIT, Boston Children’s Hospital, Beth Israel Deconus Hospital, Mass General Hospital) has developed a low-cost, self-contained, POC diagnostic called miSHERLOCK (minimally instrumented SHERLOCK) that is capable of concurrent universal detection of SARS-CoV-2 as well as specific detection of the B.1.1.7, B.1.351, or P.1 variants. The miSHERLOCK platform integrates an optimized one-pot SHERLOCK reaction with an RNA paper-capture method compatible with in situ nucleic acid amplification and Cas detection. miSHERLOCK combines instrument-free, built-in sample preparation from saliva, room temperature stable reagents, battery-powered incubation, and simple visual and […]

A Coronavirus Epidemic Hit Humanity 20,000 Years Ago, DNA Study Reveals

Science Alert  June 24, 2021 Modern human genomes contain evolutionary information tracing back tens of thousands of years, which may help identify the viruses that have impacted our ancestors—pointing to which viruses have future pandemic potential. An international team of researchers (Australia, USA – University of Arizona, UCSF) applied evolutionary analyses to human genomic datasets to recover selection events involving tens of human genes that interact with coronaviruses, including SARS-CoV-2, that likely started more than 20,000 years ago. These adaptive events were limited to the population ancestral to East Asian populations. Multiple lines of functional evidence support an ancient viral […]

Nanofiber filter captures almost 100% of coronavirus aerosols

EurekAlert  May 18, 2021 A team of researchers in the US (George Washington University, UC Riverside, US Naval Academy) designed and fabricated electrospun air filters using ultrafine nanofibers (∼300 nm) which have much smaller pore size in comparison to the surgical mask and cloth masks. They used a coronavirus strain served as a SARS-CoV-2 surrogate to generate aerosols for filtration efficiency tests. The air filters showed excellent performance by capturing up to 99.9% of coronavirus aerosols, which outperformed many commercial face masks. They found that the same electrospun air filter or face mask removed NaCl aerosols equivalently or less effectively in […]

Startling Case Study Finds Asymptomatic COVID-19 Carrier Who Shed Virus For 70 Days

Science Alert  November 5, 2020 An international team of researchers (USA – NIH, Washington University, industry, UK) have observed long-term SARS-CoV-2 shedding up to 70 days, and genomic and subgenomic RNA up to 105 days past initial diagnosis from the upper respiratory tract of a female immunocompromised patient with chronic lymphocytic leukemia. Several weeks after a second convalescent plasma transfusion, SARS-CoV-2 RNA was no longer detected. They observed marked within-host genomic evolution of SARS-CoV-2, with continuous turnover of dominant viral variants. Their data indicate that certain immunocompromised patients may shed infectious virus for longer durations than previously recognized. They recommend […]

Artificial intelligence model detects asymptomatic Covid-19 infections through cellphone-recorded coughs

MIT News  October 29, 2020 A team of researchers in the US (MIT, Harvard University) developed an AI speech processing framework that leverages acoustic biomarker feature extractors to pre-screen for COVID-19 from cough recordings. CNN-based models have been trained on 4256 subjects and tested on the remaining 1064 subjects of the dataset. When validated with subjects diagnosed using an official test, the model achieved COVID-19 sensitivity of 98.5% with a specificity of 94.2% . For asymptomatic subjects it achieved sensitivity of 100% with a specificity of 83.2%. AI techniques can produce a free, non-invasive, real-time, any-time, instantly distributable, large-scale COVID-19 […]

Back to the Lab? We Want to Hear From You

American Physical Society  July 27, 2020 As scientists around the world are slowly returning to their offices and labs APS News and Physics want to hear about their experiences. What plans have they made to keep themselves or their group safe? How is distancing affecting their interactions? How have months away from the lab affected their perspective? Tell them your story in a brief (100–200 words) letter to physics@aps.org. Pictures are welcome too. Each week, APS News and Physics will select a few of these letters and photos to share online…read more.

Killing coronavirus with handheld ultraviolet light device may be feasible

Pennsylvania State University  June 1, 2020 To sanitize and disinfect areas from bacteria and viruses requires UV radiation sources that emit sufficiently high doses of UV light. Current UV radiation sources are typically expensive mercury-containing gas discharge lamp, which requires high power, has a relatively short lifetime, and is bulky. Current materials absorb too much UV radiation. An international team of researchers (USA – Pennsylvania State University, University of Minnesota, Japan) found that strontium niobate films held the promise of the theoretical predictions. They successfully grew the films using sputtering. The process makes it possible to integrate this new material […]

Reality check: COVID-19 and UV disinfection

Physics World  June 11, 2020 In moderate doses UVA and UVB are good for us in several ways. The ozone layer filters out more dangerous band of sunlight UVC. As well as damaging skin, UVC can also mangle the genetic material of viruses and bacteria, preventing them from reproducing. During the COVID-19 outbreak in China, buses were even bathed in UV light overnight. Because of the high risk to humans, operators wear hardcore safety equipment and go through specialized training. Researchers have discovered that a specific wavelength of UVC light – 222 nm – could be much less dangerous to […]