Viral infection of vertebrates leads to the production of antibodies, and some of these can block virus infection by a process that is called neutralization. Antibodies can neutralize viral infectivity in a number of ways: they may impair virus entry into cells, and even cause degradation of the capsid in the cytoplasm. A newly discovered …
Complementing neutralization of viruses by antibodies Read More »
When we are born, our blood contains antibodies that we have inherited from our mothers. They are transferred across the placenta and provide protection from infection until IgG production begins around 15 weeks after birth. Can we exploit such antibody transfer by vaccinating pregnant mothers to protect newborns against infectious diseases that occur early after …
by Gertrud U. Rey In 1998, a British doctor named Andrew Wakefield published a paper in the British journal The Lancet. In this paper, Wakefield implied that the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine may cause developmental disorders such as autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The paper received wide publicity, and subsequently, MMR vaccination rates began …
A listener of the science podcast This Week in Virology asked in 2010 whether there are viruses that infect mitochondria: Is there a virus that infects mitochondria? It€™s an organelle that has its own genetic material and polymerase, so it could replicate a virus. Does the mitochondrial double membrane and the cell membrane impose a …
When viruses are introduced into a new population, selection pressures can lead to evolution of both pathogen and host. The pathogen must adapt to a new host, while the latter can become resistant to infection, leading to an arms race. An archetypal example of such host-pathogen evolution is illustrated by the attempt to control rabbit …
Rabbits and viruses: An iconic example of natural selection Read More »
by Gertrud U. Rey Timothy Ray Brown, also known as the Berlin patient (reviewed in a previous post), was the only person ever to be cured of HIV/AIDS. Until last week.
