The holy grail of the current pandemic—a vaccine for COVID-19—will not be available next month. It may not even be ready by next year. Regardless, the strides being made are happening at unprecedented speed. One of the companies at the front of the pack is Moderna Therapeutics. Synbiobeta, the network…

Researchers at the Scripps Research Institute say their genetic analysis of SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus and related viruses has found no evidence that SARS-CoV-2 is the result of bioengineering in a lab. Rather, said Kristian Andersen, Ph.D., an associate professor of immunology and microbiology at Scripps Research and corresponding author of the…

The virus that causes COVID-19, coronavirus disease 2019, stays “live” for several hours in aerosols, and for days on surfaces, according to a new study in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM). These findings suggest that people may acquire the virus through the air and after touching contaminated objects. The…

Although some key aspects of how COVID-19 spreads are beginning to be determined, unanswered questions regarding transmission dynamics remain. One key question has been whether the virus can be spread by people before they start exhibiting symptoms. A new paper addresses this question and, although the conclusions are based on…

For Trey Martin, the president of Integrated DNA Technologies (IDT), the last few weeks have been anything but typical at the Coralville, Iowa company. Indeed, IDT finds itself in the center of the COVID-19 outbreak response. When the outbreak reached the United States in February, the CDC and FDA reached…

For patients admitted to the hospital and confirmed to have the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19), the key risk factors for death are: Advanced age Signs of sepsis Blood clotting issues These risk factors come from a new retrospective study that evaluated data records for 191 patients—137 survivors and 54 non-survivors.…

A protein produced by the human immune system can potently inhibit several corona viruses, including the one behind the current COVID-19 outbreak, an international team of investigators reports. Their research reveals that the LY6E protein impairs the coronavirus’ ability to initiate infection, which could lead to treatments for the illness.…

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation along with Wellcome and Mastercard are committing $125 million in seed funding to create an accelerator to expedite development of treatments for COVID-19. The COVID-19 Therapeutics Accelerator is designed to bring together resources and expertise to lower the financial and technical risk for academia,…

Researchers at Harvard University and the Guangzhou Institute of Respiratory Health in China will partner to develop therapies designed to prevent new Coronavirus infections and treat existing ones, through a $115 million research collaboration funded by Chinese real estate giant China Evergrande Group. Investigators from Harvard Medical School led by…