The common cold is an infection of the upper respiratory tract that may be caused by many different viruses, but most frequently by rhinoviruses. A compound that inhibits a cell enzyme and blocks rhinovirus replication has the potential to be developed into an antiviral drug (link to paper).
By Gertrud U. Rey There is currently no vaccine to prevent infection with herpes simplex virus type 1 or type 2 (HSV-1 or HSV-2). Infection with either of these viruses results in life-long viral latency. Sporadic reactivation and viral shedding may lead to painful oral and genital disease and an increased risk of HIV transmission.
Several mutations that arose during the 2013-2016 outbreak of Ebola virus in West Africa were previously found to increase infectivity for human cells. However, a study in two animal models show no effect of these mutations on disease. Among the many mutations identified among the hundreds of genome sequences obtained during the 2013-2016 Ebola virus epidemic, a …
Ebola virus mutations do not affect pathogenicity Read More »
Most of the known RNA viruses are from birds and mammals, which represent a small proportion of more recent vertebrate diversity. This omission has been corrected by the discovery of new RNA viruses in hosts that lie across the entire evolutionary history of the vertebrates.
Viruses with nearly identical genomes are frequently found in diverse environments that are far apart. One possible explanation for this observation is that virus particles are present in the troposphere, where they can be carried long distances on atmospheric flow. To determine how many viruses fall from the troposphere each day, automatic collectors were placed …
The latest giant virus discovery is Tetraselmis virus 1, which infects green algae. It is unusual because it encodes enzymes involved in fermentation. Green beer, anyone?
