People infected by the novel coronavirus can have symptoms that range from mild to deadly. Now, two new analyses suggest that some life-threatening cases can be traced to weak spots in patients’ immune systems. At least 3.5 percent of study patients with severe COVID-19, the disease caused by the novelContinue Reading
Some mutations have no effect, while others could impact transmissibility. In early January, the first genome sequence of Sars-CoV-2 — the virus that causes COVID-19 — was released under the moniker “Wuhan-1”. This string of 30,000 letters (the A, T, C and Gs of the genetic code) marked day oneContinue Reading
Humans spend about a third of our lives sleeping, and scientists have long debated why slumber takes up such a huge slice of our time. Now, a new study hints that our main reason for sleeping starts off as one thing, then changes at a surprisingly specific age. Two leadingContinue Reading
The coronavirus pandemic has reached another bleak milestone in the United States. The coronavirus pandemic has reached another bleak milestone in the United States: More than 200,000 people have died of COVID-19 in the country as of Tuesday (Sept. 22), according to Johns Hopkins University. After the virus first appearedContinue Reading
A new study combines evolutionary genomics from coronavirus samples with computer-simulated epidemics and detailed travel records to reconstruct the spread of coronavirus across the world in unprecedented detail. Published in the journal Science, the results suggest an extended period of missed opportunity when intensive testing and contact tracing might haveContinue Reading
Obesity is the main cause of type 2 diabetes and related chronic illnesses that together will kill more people around the globe this year than the Covid-19 coronavirus. Scientists at Joslin Diabetes Center have delivered a proof of concept for a novel cell-based therapy against this dangerous condition. The potentialContinue Reading
