Virology News

June 13, 2025

Top Headlines

Large-Scale Immunity Profiling Grants Insights Into Flu Virus Evolution

June 3, 2025 — A new study shows how person-to-person variation in antibody immunity plays a key role in shaping which influenza (flu) strains dominate in a ...

HIV Discovery Could Open Door to Long-Sought Cure

May 29, 2025 — New HIV research shows that small changes in the virus affect how quickly or slowly it replicates and how easily it can reawaken in the body. These insights bring researchers closer to finding ways to flush out the dormant virus and eliminate it for ...

Cotton Virus Circulated Undetected for Nearly 20 Years, Study Finds

May 29, 2025 — A virus responsible for damaging cotton crops across the southern United States has been lurking in U.S. fields for nearly 20 years -- undetected. According to new research, cotton leafroll dwarf virus (CLRDV), long believed to be a recent arrival, ...

HIV Vaccine Study Uncovers Powerful New Antibody Target

May 27, 2025 — In the long battle to create an effective HIV vaccine, scientists have made a major leap forward. A new study shows that a series of vaccines can coax the immune system to produce powerful antibodies capable of blocking a wide range of HIV strains ...

Researchers Engineer a Herpes Virus to Turn on T Cells for Immunotherapy

May 28, 2025 — A team identified herpes virus saimiri, which infects the T cells of squirrel monkeys, as a source of proteins that activate pathways in T cells that are needed to promote T cell ...

Zika Virus Uses Cells' 'Self-Care' System to Turn Against Host

May 27, 2025 — A new study reveals the biological secret to the Zika virus's infectious success: Zika uses host cells' own 'self-care' system of clearing away useless molecules to suppress the host proteins that the virus has employed to get into those cells in ...

How Cholera Bacteria Outsmart Viruses

May 22, 2025 — Researchers uncover a notorious cholera strain that contains sophisticated immune systems to fend off viruses, which potentially helped it to fuel a devastating epidemic across Latin ...

Modulation of Antiviral Response in Fungi Via RNA Editing

May 23, 2025 — The molecular pathways involved in antiviral defenses and counter-defenses in host-pathogen systems remain unclear. Researchers have used Neurospora crassa as a model organism to explore how RNA editing influences fungal antiviral responses. They ...

'Selfish' Genes Called Introners Proven to Be a Major Source of Genetic Complexity

May 22, 2025 — A new study proves that a type of genetic element called 'introners' are the mechanism by which many introns spread within and between species, also providing evidence of eight instances in which ...

Engineered Bacteria Can Deliver Antiviral Therapies, Vaccines

May 21, 2025 — New research demonstrates how specially engineered bacteria taken orally can operate as a delivery system for vaccines and antiviral ...

Unlocking the Secrets of Bat Immunity

May 21, 2025 — Bats are known as natural hosts for highly pathogenic viruses such as MERS- and SARS-related coronaviruses, as well as the Marburg and Nipah viruses. In contrast to the severe and often fatal disease outcomes these viruses cause in humans, bats ...

Why Some Viral Infections Appear to Trigger Autoimmune Disease

May 20, 2025 — By studying Chikungunya virus, scientists shed light on how immune responses to viral infections may lead to persistent symptoms of autoimmune ...

Latest Headlines

updated 1:12pm EDT

Scientists Warn of Bat Virus Just One Mutation from Infecting Humans

June 12, 2025 — Viruses closely related to the deadly MERS coronavirus are lurking in bats and one group, known as HKU5, may be just one mutation away from making the jump to humans. A new study reveals how these ...

Scientists Uncover 230 Giant Ocean Viruses That Hijack Photosynthesis

June 6, 2025 — Scientists have uncovered over 200 new giant viruses lurking in ocean waters that not only help shape marine ecosystems but also manipulate photosynthesis in algae. These massive viruses once nearly ...

Genomic Data Shows Widespread Mpox Transmission in West Africa Prior to 2022 Global Outbreak

May 19, 2025 — Historically, most human mpox infections have resulted from zoonotic transmission --m eaning from animals to humans -- and these spillovers have ...

Researchers Find CRISPR Is Capable of Even More Than We Thought

May 16, 2025 — Newly discovered weapons of bacterial self-defense take different approaches to achieving the same goal: preventing a virus from spreading through the bacterial ...

Two HIV Vaccine Trials Show Proof of Concept for Pathway to Broadly Neutralizing Antibodies

May 15, 2025 — A decades-long scientific challenge in HIV vaccine development has been finding a way to train the immune system to produce antibodies that can ...

Protein Switch Turns Anti-Viral Immune Response on and Off

May 15, 2025 — An international research team has discovered a critical protein that acts as a 'switch' regulating immune responses to ...

Yellow Fever Vaccination: How Strong Immune Responses Are Triggered

May 14, 2025 — Researchers show how specific immune cells are activated by the vaccine -- an important starting point for the development of new ...

World's Largest Bat Organoid Platform Paves the Way for Pandemic Preparedness

May 15, 2025 — Until now, most research has used either generalized cell samples or organoids made from just one type of tropical fruit bat, and only from a single ...

'Loop'hole: HIV-1 Hijacks Human Immune Cells Using Circular RNAs

May 13, 2025 — Researchers have identified a never-before-seen mechanism that enables HIV-1 to evade the body's natural defenses and use it to support its survival and replication. The 'loophole' is a biological ...

Measles Virus Detected in Houston Wastewater Before Cases Were Reported

May 12, 2025 — An innovative outbreak detection program that tracks disease-causing viruses in wastewater identified the measles virus in Houston samples collected in early January 2025, before cases were ...

Novel, Needle-Free, Live-Attenuated Influenza Vaccines With Broad Protection Against Human and Avian Virus Subtypes

May 9, 2025 — A research team has achieved a significant breakthrough in developing broadly protective, live-attenuated influenza vaccines (LAIV). These innovative LAIV platforms offer potential to develop ...

Researchers Map 7,000-Year-Old Genetic Mutation That Protects Against HIV

May 9, 2025 — Modern HIV medicine is based on a common genetic mutation. Now, researchers have traced where and when the mutation arose -- and how it protected our ancestors from ancient ...

Can Frisky Flies Save Human Lives?

May 9, 2025 — A scientist decided to find out why a bacterial infection makes fruit flies promiscuous. What he discovered could help curb mosquito-borne diseases and manage crop ...

Researchers Find New Defense Against Hard-to-Treat Plant Diseases

May 8, 2025 — Researchers showed that some spinach defensins can confer similar protection to citrus and potatoes -- and possibly other crops. The effects show significant progress toward recovering yield and ...

Evaluating the Safety and Efficacy of a Smallpox Vaccine for Preventing Mpox

May 8, 2025 — The recent global monkeypox (mpox) outbreak, with a new and aggressive variant, has underscored the dire need for safe, broadly effective, and accessible vaccines. The LC16m8 vaccine, an attenuated ...

Engineering an Antibody Against Flu With Sticky Staying Power

May 8, 2025 — Scientists have engineered a monoclonal antibody that can protect mice from a lethal dose of influenza A, a new study shows. The new molecule combines the specificity of a mature flu fighter with the ...

Building Vaccines for Future Versions of a Virus

May 8, 2025 — AI model EVE-Vax provides clues about how a virus may evolve and the immune response it could ...

Viruses Under the Super Microscope: How Influenza Viruses Communicate With Cells

May 7, 2025 — Influenza viruses are among the most likely triggers of future pandemics. A research team has developed a method that can be used to study the interaction of viruses with host cells in unprecedented ...

Klotho: A Protein That Promotes Healthy Aging and Improves Longevity

May 7, 2025 — An international study has shown that increasing levels of the Klotho protein in mice extends lifespan and improves both physical and cognitive health when ...

Sampling, Lab Capacity Could Be Weak Links in African Swine Fever Outbreak

May 5, 2025 — A model looked at the numbers associated with detecting and containing a potential African swine fever virus (ASFV) outbreak in the U.S. and found that sampling and laboratory capacity are areas of ...

HIV: Genetic Characteristics Associated With Sustained HIV Remission After Stopping Treatment

Apr. 30, 2025 — Tackling HIV continues to be a major public health challenge, mainly because the persistence of viral reservoirs means that people living with HIV need to take lifelong antiretroviral treatment. But ...

New AI Technique Can Uncover Antiviral Compounds Using Limited Data

Apr. 30, 2025 — Artificial intelligence algorithms have now been combined with traditional laboratory methods to uncover promising drug leads against human enterovirus 71 (EV71), the pathogen behind most cases of ...

Hiding in Plain Sight: Researchers Uncover the Prevalence of 'Curiosity' Virus

Apr. 30, 2025 — A type of virus thought to be a 'mere curiosity' is plentiful in one common bacteria, and possibly others, a research team has found. The discovery improves understanding of how viruses ...

Bacteria's Mysterious Viruses Can Fan Flames of Antibiotic Damage

Apr. 28, 2025 — Scientists built a model that allows them to diminish phage communities from a mouse gut microbiome -- and then bring them back -- without affecting the bacteria. On a test run of their model, ...

Influenza Virus Hacks Cell's Internal System

Apr. 28, 2025 — The influenza virus manipulates the body's gene regulation system to accelerate its own spread. A new study also shows that an already approved drug could help strengthen immune defenses -- ...

Single-Dose Baloxavir Reduces Household Influenza Transmission

Apr. 25, 2025 — A landmark study reveals that a single oral dose of baloxavir marboxil (baloxavir) significantly reduces the transmission of influenza within households, marking a major advancement in influenza ...

Scientists Identify Potential Treatments for Emerging Zoonotic Pathogens

Apr. 23, 2025 — A team of biomedical researchers trained a machine learning algorithm to identify more than two dozen viable treatments for diseases caused by zoonotic pathogens that can jump from animal hosts to ...

Bacteria Killing Material Creates Superbug Busting Paint

Apr. 23, 2025 — A bacteria killing coating created by scientists has been used in trials of a new paint that can be applied to a range of surfaces to effectively kill bacteria and viruses, including difficult to ...

Americans Don't Think Bird Flu Is a Threat, Study Suggests

Apr. 18, 2025 — A team led by researchers say public ignorance and apathy towards bird flu (highly pathogenic avian influenza, or HPAI) could pose a serious obstacle to containing the virus and preventing a ...

Experimental Bird Flu Vaccine Excels in Animal Models

Apr. 17, 2025 — A vaccine under development has demonstrated complete protection in mice against a deadly variant of the virus that causes bird flu. The work focuses on the H5N1 variant known as 2.3.4.4b, which has ...