World’s Covid almost fits on a TEASPOON: Total volume of coronavirus infecting more than 53million people is just 0.2 fl oz Total volume of the 53m cases of disease worldwide is 8ml, teaspoon holds 6ml TV mathematician Matt Parker came up with figure, saying virus particle is small He estimates there are 3.3 million billion Covid-19 … Read more
A mutated version of the coronavirus, dubbed D614G, is found in 85 per cent of global cases and researchers believe this version is so common because its genetic modification makes it more infectious and better at spreading. However, analysis from experts at the University of North Carolina found the change did not make it more … Read more
Professor Sarah Gilbert said it would not be safe for them to do a so-called ‘challenge trial’ of Oxford University’s Covid-19 vaccine candidate An Oxford academic today dismissed the idea of deliberately infecting volunteers with Covid-19 to test the university’s experimental vaccine because no treatment currently exists to keep patients safe. Hopes of ending the Covid-19 … Read more
SARS-CoV-2, the virus which causes Covid-19, evolved after several different coronaviruses merged into one, a study has found. Scientists came to the conclusion while trying to understand the evolutionary history of the coronavirus in a bid to help make a vaccine. High-resolution images reveal the spike on the surface of SARS-CoV-2 is 97 per cent … Read more
Chinese scientists have discovered two antibodies which prevent the coronavirus from invading human cells. The distinct antibodies are called H4 and B38 and prevent SARS-CoV-2, the virus which causes COVID-19, from latching on to uninfected cells. In preliminary trials on mice, the amount of virus inside infected lungs was reduced by up to a third … Read more
It may sound like a plot from a science fiction film, but NASA and scientists are concerned about alien viruses contaminating Earth. As the first humans prepare for the Mars mission, experts warn that protocols are necessary to keep extraterrestrial pollutants from hitchhiking on space ships and astronauts when returning home from the Red Planet. Stanford … Read more
Creator of the ‘Love Bug’, one of the world’s first global computer viruses that affected 45 million, now works in a phone repair shop in the Philippines and says he regrets unleashing the malignant files in 2000 Onel de Guzman created the Love Bug virus in 2000 to get free internet access The virus spread … Read more
Sir Terence Stephenson said deliberately infecting healthy Britons will be the only way to test a COVID-19 vaccine if the crisis is brought under control Deliberately infecting healthy Britons may be the only way to test a COVID-19 vaccine if the crisis is brought under control, a top researcher has claimed. Sir Terence Stephenson chairs the Health … Read more
Scientists say they’ve discovered an antibody that blocks infection by SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus behind the current global health crisis. The antibody, known as 47D11, targets the deadly virus’s infamous ‘spike protein’, which it uses to hook onto cells and insert its genetic material. Tests in mice cells showed that 47D11 binds to this protein and prevents it from … Read more
Injecting ‘decoy proteins’ into the body could stop the coronavirus infecting someone, according to scientists. The virus that causes COVID-19 is believed by scientists to enter the body through receptors on the surface of cells in the airways, known as ACE-2 receptors. These provide the gateway to the bloodstream and ‘facilitate’ infection with the bug, … Read more