We tend to just think of viruses in terms of their damaging impacts on human health and lives. But viruses can also be used to benefit human health, agriculture and the environment.
A mural in Rome depicts a white dove parachuting vials of COVID-19 vaccine. Several COVID-19 vaccines are based on a viral vector developed by Canadian Frank Graham decades ago.
(AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
Viral vectors are modified viruses that trigger an immune response without causing infection. The vector that’s used in several COVID-19 vaccines was created decades ago by Canadian Frank Graham.
The freedom of going mask-free is still a ways off for kids under age 12.
Juan Monino/E+ via Getty Images
As many teens and adults in the US restart their social lives, parents of children under the age of 12 wonder when their kids will also be able to experience the freedom that comes with vaccination.
One of this and one of that might be a good strategy to coronavirus vaccination.
SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
Various companies use different ingredients and different delivery systems in their COVID-19 vaccines. Researchers are investigating whether it’s better for individuals to mix what’s available.
The Johnson & Johnson vaccine only requires one dose.
Phill Magoke/AFP via Getty Images
The Johnson & Johnson vaccine is different from the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines in a few important ways that could make it a huge help to global vaccination efforts.
There’s a short window between when a tick bites and when it passes on bacteria or virus.
MSU Ag Communications, Courtesy Dr. Tina Nations
Tick-borne diseases are becoming more common in the United States. A public health entomologist outlines some of the lesser-known threats ticks pose to human health.
Delivering genetic material is a key challenge in gene therapy.
Invitation image created by Kstudio
One big challenge for gene therapies is delivering DNA or RNA safely to cells inside patients’ bodies. New nanoparticles could be an improvement over the current standard – repurposed viruses.
Aedes aegypti mosquitoes at the Laboratory of Entomology and Ecology of the Dengue Branch of the CDC in San Juan.
Alvin Baez/Reuters
While no one likes getting bitten by mosquitoes, you might be surprised (and even a little fascinated) at the complex adaptions mosquitoes have developed to locate their favorite food sources.
Viruses like this one may yet become a benevolent force in modern medicine.
Microbe World/Flickr
Dave Hawkes, Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health
Viruses have traditionally been mankind’s enemies, causing disease and often mutating out of the reach of our medicines. But now a new technology is conscripting them into doing good. Viral vectors show…