by Gertrud U. Rey Antiviral agents are a class of drugs that inhibit the replication of viruses at various stages of their replication cycle. One class of antivirals is small molecules known as "chain terminators," because their addition to the end of a chain of DNA or RNA prevents the ...

In recent months variants of SARS-CoV-2 have been detected that are unusual in that they have many more genome mutations than previously found. These have been called 'variants of concern' (VOC) as it has been suggested that the genome mutations might impact transmission, immune control, and virulence. Below I cover ...

The Biden-Harris administration has released a document describing its plans to bring the United States out of the 'worst public health crisis in a century'. It is a roadmap for not only ending the pandemic in the US, but to re-establish leadership in the global health care community and provide ...

Human monoclonal antibodies that block infection with SARS-CoV-2 are being used to treat COVID-19 patients, but an alternative, antibodies produced in camelids (alpacas and llamas) might have advantages. Camelid monoclonal antibodies can be more cheaply produced in mass quantities in bacteria, and protein engineering can be quickly used to produce ...

by Gertrud U. Rey It is now a little more than a year since the emergence of SARS-CoV-2, and we already have several highly effective vaccines against this virus. Because of my previous research experience in vaccine science, I was very skeptical about the promise of a SARS-CoV-2 vaccine this ...