If you have ever wanted to make beautiful images of viruses, in colors of your choice, then go to VIPERdb, the virus particle explorer. The first crystallographic X-ray structure of a virus was that of tomato bushy stunt virus in 1977, followed by structures of the animal viruses poliovirus and rhinovirus in 1985. Since then …
Nearly 3% of the world’s population – about 175,000,000 individuals – are infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV), and 3-4 million new infections are added each year. A high percentage of these become life long, chronic infections, which may lead to cirrhosis, hepatocellular carcinoma, and death. No vaccine is available, and the only antiviral treatment, …
If you are not convinced that vaccines are safe, please listen to a conversation between Dr. Ginger Campbell of the Brain Science Podcast and Dr. Paul Offit. Dr. Offit is a pediatrician who is also Chief of Infectious Diseases and Director of Vaccine Education at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. He is co-developer …
Influenza viruses of two subtypes, H1N1 and H3N2, have been causing respiratory infections in humans since 1977. Before that year, it was believed that only one human subtype circulated each flu season. How did this unusual situation come about? Major changes in the surface glycoproteins of influenza virus – called antigenic shift – lead to …
When Harald zur Hausen identified the first human papillomavirus (HPV-16) in 1983 in women with cervical cancer, little did he know he would receive the Nobel Prize in Medicine for this discovery 25 years later. He probably also did not know how difficult it would be to propagate these viruses in a way that would allow …
The best way to prevent influenza is by immunization. Unlike vaccines for polio and measles, which confer life-long immunity, the influenza vaccine protects for only one year. Influenza virus undergoes antigenic variation, necessitating annual production of a new vaccine. Is it possible to formulate an influenza vaccine that protects against all virus strains for life? Two studies …
