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Round-up: COVID-19 May 2021 (Part Two)

Keeping up with all the latest news and research surrounding the novel coronavirus can be difficult – so we have done it for you!

Statistics

At the time of writing, there have been:

  • 169,671,394 cases
  • 3,526,317 deaths
  • 151,405,453 recoveries

Research

  • Scientists have revealed key details of how SARS-CoV-2 variants escape the immune response. (Yuan et al, 2021)
  • Researchers have harnessed the power of next-generation sequencing to develop a method called SARSeq that can detect SARS-CoV-2. (Yelagandula et al, 2021)
  • A new study has used computational modelling to assess the biological significance of spike protein mutations. (Gan et al, 2021)
  • Australian researchers have identified the immune response associated with vaccine protection. This has the potential to cut development times for new vaccines. (Khoury et al, 2021)
  • Researchers have revealed how targeting a molecular chaperone called GRP78 may offer additional protection against COVID-19 and other coronaviruses. (Carlos et al, 2021)
  • A new study has found that mild cases of COVID-19 induce lasting antibody protection. (Turner et al, 2021)
  • Researchers have found that infection with SARS-CoV-2 produces both neutralising antibodies but also antibodies that enhance infection. This represents a possible factor for severe COVID-19. (Liu et al, 2021)
  • An international team has uncovered the interactions that SARS-CoV-2 RNA establishes with the host cell. Their discoveries pave the way for novel therapeutic strategies. (Kamel et al, 2021)
  • By analysing PCR samples, researchers have determined the viral load of each individual sample to estimate levels of infectiousness. (Jones et al, 2021)
  • A new study has shown how T cells can target more than 1,400 sites on the SARS-CoV-2 virus. (Grifoni et al, 2021)
  • Scientists from Scripps Research have discovered a cross-reactive coronavirus antibody that’s triggered during infection due to previous exposure to cold-causing coronaviruses. (Song et al, 2021)

Other news

  • Preliminary results have shown that vaccinating people with both the Oxford–AstraZeneca and Pfizer–BioNTech COVID-19 vaccines produces a potent immune response against the virus SARS-CoV-2. (Callaway, 2021)
  • Researchers have presented data to explain rare cases of blood clots linked to adenoviral vaccines. (Kowarz et al, 2021)

Image credit: By starline – freepik


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