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Team develops all-species coronavirus test

July 10, 2023

In an advance that will help scientists track coronavirus variants in wild and domesticated animals, researchers report they can now detect exposure to the SARS-CoV-2 virus in any animal species. Most coronavirus antibody tests require specialized chemical reagents to detect host antibody responses against the virus in each species tested, impeding research across species. 


July 10, 2023


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Researchers hunt for drugs that keep HIV latent

March 22, 2021

When the human immunodeficiency virus infects cells, it can either exploit the cells to start making more copies of itself or remain dormant—a phenomenon called latency. Keeping these reservoirs latent is a challenge. A new paper, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, has found a way to look for chemicals that can keep the virus suppressed into its dormant state.


March 22, 2021


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Microscope that detects individual viruses could power rapid diagnostics

March 20, 2021

A fast, low-cost technique to see and count viruses or proteins from a sample in real time, without any chemicals or dyes, could underpin a new class of devices for rapid diagnostics and viral load monitoring, including HIV and the virus that causes COVID-19.

Researchers at Illinois described the technique, called Photonic Resonator Interferometric Scattering Microscopy, or PRISM, in the journal Nature Communications.


March 20, 2021


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CRISPR-induced immune diversification in host-virus populations

October 19, 2020

Just like humans, microbes have equipped themselves with tools to recognize and defend themselves against viral invaders. In a continual evolutionary battle between virus and host, CRISPR-Cas acts as a major driving force of strain diversity in host-virus systems.


October 19, 2020


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Virus-infected honey bees more likely to gain entrance to healthy hives

April 28, 2020

Honey bees that guard hive entrances are twice as likely to allow in trespassers from other hives if the intruders are infected with the Israeli acute paralysis virus, a deadly pathogen of bees, researchers report.

Their new study, reported in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, strongly suggests that IAPV infection alters honey bees’ behavior and physiology in ways that boost the virus’s ability to spread, the researchers say.


April 28, 2020


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Viruses share genes with organisms across the tree of life

December 7, 2017

A new study finds that viruses share some genes exclusively with cells that are not their hosts. The study, reported in the journal Frontiers in Microbiology, adds to the evidence that viruses swap genes with a variety of cellular organisms and are agents of diversity, researchers say.

The study looked at protein structures in viruses and across all superkingdoms, or domains, of life: from the single-celled microbes known as bacteria and archaea, to eukaryotes, a group that includes animals, plants, fungi and all other living things.


December 7, 2017


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Combating antiviral drug resistance with dynamic therapeutics

August 24, 2017

Antiviral drug resistance has long been a problem in modern society. As viruses evolve, they develop resistance to antiviral drugs, which become less effective at treating diseases such as influenza.

Now, a group of researchers is approaching this problem with a new idea: what if antiviral drugs could evolve along with viruses to stop this resistance?


August 24, 2017


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Study adds to evidence that viruses are alive

September 28, 2015

A new analysis supports the hypothesis that viruses are living entities that share a long evolutionary history with cells, researchers report. The study offers the first reliable method for tracing viral evolution back to a time when neither viruses nor cells existed in the forms recognized today, the researchers say.

The new findings appear in the journal Science Advances.


September 28, 2015


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First Report of a New Crop Virus in North America

April 12, 2015

The switchgrass exhibited mosaic symptoms—splotchy, discolored leaves—characteristic of a viral infection, yet tested negative for known infections. Deep sequencing, a new technology, revealed the plants were infected with a new virus in the genus mastrevirus, the first of its kind found in North America.


April 12, 2015


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