AI tailors artificial DNA for future drug development
With the help of an AI, researchers at Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, have succeeded in designing synthetic DNA that controls the cells' protein production. The technology can contribute to the development and production of vaccines, drugs for severe diseases, as well as alternative food proteins much faster and at significantly lower costs than today.
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Remdesivir reduces COVID-19 mortality in a real-world setting
The COVID-19 pandemic has led to an explosion of clinical research resulting in the development of a variety of vaccines and treatments, although the efficacy of some remains controversial. Now, researchers from Japan report that remdesivir, a drug whose effectiveness has been debated, appears to make a big difference in Japanese patients with COVID-19 who received corticosteroids in the ICU.
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Pocket feature shared by deadly coronaviruses could lead to pan-coronavirus antiviral treatment
Scientists have discovered why some coronaviruses are more likely to cause severe disease, which has remained a mystery, until now. Researchers of the University of Bristol-led study, published in Science Advances today, say their findings could lead to the development of a pan-coronavirus treatment to defeat all coronaviruses - from the 2002 SARS-CoV outbreak to Omicron, the current variant of SARS-CoV-2, as well as dangerous variants that may emerge in future.
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Cryptic drug-binding sites discovered in the dance
Some of the toughest challenges in treating disease are presented by “undruggable” proteins whose structures and roles in disease are known but are seemingly unable to be targeted by drugs that will bind to them. Researchers at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) have now shown that the molecular motion of many "undruggable" proteins can in fact expose sites at which drugs could bind.
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Unusual type of antibody shows ultrapotent activity against Zika
An unusual type of antibody that even at miniscule levels neutralizes the Zika virus and renders the virus infection undetectable in preclinical models has been identified by a team led by Weill Cornell Medicine, NewYork-Presbyterian and National Institutes of Health (NIH) investigators.
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Machine learning can help predict patient response to cancer immunotherapy
Predicting which patients will respond well to treatment is a quandary that has plagued the field of cancer immunotherapy for more than four decades. Now, researchers at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center and its Bloomberg~Kimmel Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy are one step closer to solving that problem.
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New drug shows promise for fighting both COVID-19 and cancer
While vaccination can provide life-saving protection against COVID-19, scientists are still searching for ways to treat severe infections, including in people who cannot get vaccinated or in the event that dangerous new strains of the virus arise that could bypass vaccine protection.
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