Researchers at the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI are the first to have joined two proteins together by means of a free-standing, rigid link. The structural element holds the two protein molecules together at a defined distance and angle, much the way a barbell handle connects two weights. This type of linkage could help, for example, […]
Researchers identify novel SARS-CoV-2 variant unregistered on genomic sequence databases
A team of scientists from the University of California Santa Cruz, USA, recently identified a novel variant (B.1.x) of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) that might be circulating in at least 20 US states and six countries globally. The mutations found in this variant are also present in other known variants of concern […]
Can universal vaccines and treatments against future SARS-CoV-2 variants be developed?
Evolutionary ecology theory offers avenues to anticipate the future behavior of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pathogen. The repeated emergence of more infectious and possibly more virulent variants of SARS-CoV-2 shows that the virus is adapting under selective pressure. Although there has been a lot of discussion on how biodiversity-related events facilitate […]
How human evolution busts myths about diet and exercise
Duke professor Herman Pontzer has spent his career counting calories. Not because he’s watching his waistline, exactly. But because, as he sees it, “in the economics of life, calories are the currency.” Every minute, everything the body does—growing, moving, fighting infection, even just existing—”all of it takes energy,” Pontzer says. In his new book, “Burn,” […]
In mutant variants, has the coronavirus shown its best tricks?
LONDON/CHICAGO (Reuters) – The rapid rise in different parts of the world of deadly, more infectious coronavirus variants that share new mutations is leading scientists to ask a critical question – has the SARS-CoV-2 virus shown its best cards?FILE PHOTO: National Institutes of Health Director Francis S. Collins holds a model of SARS-CoV-2, the novel […]
NYITCOM researcher secures NSF CAREER award to study brain-skull interactions
Akinobu "Aki" Watanabe, Ph.D., assistant professor of anatomy at New York Institute of Technology College of Osteopathic Medicine (NYITCOM), has secured a prestigious Faculty Early Career Development Program (CAREER) award from the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF). Watanabe, a vertebrate paleontologist, is the first New York Institute of Technology faculty member to receive a CAREER […]
Unstable initiation by young people to working life is linked with poorer mental health
A new study reveals that a precarious, unstable initiation by young people to working life is associated with poorer future mental health. The study was conducted by researchers from the Center for Research in Occupational Health (CISAL, a joint group of UPF and the Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute) in Barcelona, Spain. Amaya Ayala-Garcia, […]
Multi-resistant bacteria continue to grow in hospital wastewater
Scientists from the University of Gothenburg, Sweden presents evidence that hospital wastewater, containing elevated levels of antibiotics, rapidly kills antibiotic-sensitive bacteria, while multi-resistant bacteria continue to grow. Hospital sewers may therefore provide conditions that promote the evolution of new forms of antibiotic resistance. It is hardly news that hospital wastewater contains antibiotics from patients. It […]
Head of Fitbit Health Solutions talks payer strategy, evolution of health products
Earlier this month Google announced its plans acquire Fitbit for roughly $2.1 billion, shaking up the wearable industry, opening up a number of questions about exactly what lies ahead, and what an integration of the two companies looks like. But the wearables company has long planted its roots in a handful of different markets and business strategies — consumer trackers, […]