Viruses

After decades of disappointment there is a new flurry of vaccine activity 

Sequencing of the strain that has sickened hundreds in the wealthy Asian travel hub reveals some surprises 

Accelerated testing of compounds that have shown efficacy against the virus may lead to new drugs and vaccines

Like a steaming pile of lava or the soggy soil below a melting glacier, the freshly scrubbed hull of a ship is a magnet for new life.

The coverage of the Ebola outbreak in West Africa by U.S. media has often seemed unremittingly grim. So it was with some trepidation that I boarded a plane for Sierra Leone.

David Quammen, according to his website is  ”an author and journalist whose twelve books include The Song of the Dodo, The Reluctant Mr.

When HIV jumped from chimpanzees to humans sometime in the early 1900′s, it crossed a gulf spanning several million years of evolution.

A few months ago I had a conversation with someone who had just canceled a long-planned trip to see mountain gorillas in Uganda. It wasn’t an easy decision, but she had just gotten over a bad case of the flu.

I have been fascinated with living things since childhood. Growing up in northern California, I spent a lot of time playing outdoors among plants and animals.

Lab work can often be a bit tedious. I often make the joke (not entirely innacurate) that my entire job is moving very small amounts of liquid between different tubes in a controlled manner.

A Chinese biotech partnership's vaccine success raises hopes for prevention of overlooked diseases, including hepatitis E, which claims 70,000 lives annually

A new generation of oncolytic viruses are entering late-stage clinical trials, repurposing smallpox and herpesvirus to take on tough tumors