Computationally designed mRNA-launched protein nanoparticle immunogens elicit protective antibody and T cell responses in mice Genetic delivery of designed protein nanoparticles displaying the SARS-CoV-2 RBD elicits potent neutralizing antibody and CD8 T cell responses.

🚨 new paper alert 🚨

Here, we describe and evaluate a "best-of-both-worlds" vaccine technology platform that combines the benefits of mRNA vaccines and computationally designed protein nanoparticle immunogens: bit.ly/47s7btG.

First Sin Nombre virus (Orthohantavirus sinnombreense) genome sequences from the Northwestern United States We report the first Sin Nombre virus (SNV) genome sequences from the Northwestern United States and the first SNV sequences recovered from voles. Analysis of samples collected from 189 individual rode...

Excited to share our study reporting the first Sin Nombre virus (SNV) genome sequences from the Northwestern U.S., and the first ever from a vole host.

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Recording artist career comparison through audio content analysis | Royal Society Open Science Audio content analysis can be deployed to examine relationships within and between collected works of different music artists, allowing a new approach to comparative analysis of recorded music within ...

royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10....

Oxytocin facilitates human touch-induced play behavior in rats Hayashi et al. demonstrate that human touch-induced pleasurable tickling promotes affinity between rats and human hands. This is accompanied by increased OTR expression in the VMHvl, and blocking the ...

Hayashi et al. demonstrate that human touch-induced pleasurable tickling promotes affinity between rats and human hands. This is accompanied by increased OTR expression in the VMHvl, and blocking the oxytocin signaling inhibits such affinity. Find out more here: www.cell.com/current-biol...

Nonstabilized SARS-CoV-2 spike mRNA vaccination induces broadly neutralizing antibodies in nonhuman primates Nonstabilized SARS-CoV-2 spike mRNA vaccination elicited distinct antibodies to either Omicron variants of concern or preemergent sarbecoviruses.

A paper from our pancoronavirus vaccine P01 grant group is now out in Science Translational Medicine.

Here we show that non-stabilized spike delivered as mRNA is sufficient to elicit broadly neutralizing antibodies in monkeys.

@alexschaefer.bsky.social

www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

still trying to wrap my mind around the fact that today wasn’t friday

ACE2 from Pipistrellus abramus bats is a receptor for HKU5 coronaviruses - Nature Communications This work shows that receptor use in merbecovirus is clade-specific by clustering them into clades based on the receptor-binding domain (RBD) of their spike proteins. While MERS-CoV and its close rela...

Our study screening the majority of all published Merbecovirus RBD’s for cell entry phenotypes is now published in Nature Communications!
(1/5)
shorturl.at/gYz4E

What’s so special about orange cats? Turns out they’re freaks of nature | CNN Researchers identified an unusual genetic mutation in orange domestic cats that has not been found in any other animal, according to a new study.

A new study may have uncovered exactly what makes orange cats special: cnn.it/3FaYuJc

Phylogeny-driven design of broadly protective sarbecovirus receptor-binding domain nanoparticle vaccines Vaccines against emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants and sarbecoviruses with pandemic potential must elicit a robust humoral immune response in a population imprinted with the SARS-CoV-2 spike (S) protein. H...

Delighted to share our most recent work on designing broadly protective sarbecovirus vaccines and defining the path forward for other coronaviruses.

Led by @aminaddetia.bsky.social

@hhmi.org

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Genomic evidence for behavioral adaptation of herding dogs The whole-genome sequences of herding dogs reveal how selection has sculpted the unique behavioral traits.

Researchers in #ScienceAdvances have discovered a genetic footprint that helps explain herding dogs’ mental acuity and keen social skills. scim.ag/3RO3RRd

Twin modelling reveals partly distinct genetic pathways to music enjoyment - Nature Communications Here, Bignardi et al. report on a study of over 9,000 Swedish twins that indicates the ability to enjoy music is influenced by multiple partly distinct genetic factors.

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Clara-the beast & Felix-the dude

Your dignity honors the bravery of the Ukrainian people.

Be strong, be brave, be fearless.
You are never alone, dear President Zelenskyy.

We will continue working with you for a just and lasting peace.

Dysregulation of lung epithelial cell homeostasis and immunity contributes to Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus disease severity | mSphere Emerging coronaviruses like SARS-CoV, SARS-CoV-2, and MERS-CoV cause a range of disease outcomes in humans from an asymptomatic, moderate, and severe respiratory disease that can progress to death but...

Saved from death in the paper grave yard! Started in 2016. MERS-CoV infects epithelial cells, they die, pathology is wicked bad. Adaptive immune cells both control replication and drive pathogenesis. #coronavirus #MERSCoV #pathogenesis #LoveVirology #viruses #virus journals.asm.org/eprint/ZZEIT...

Welcome immigrants from X interested in science to the friendlier skies of @bsky.app, as documented by a new @nature.com survey (but you already knew that 😉)
"Bluesky is much better for science. There is much less toxicity, misinformation, and distractions."
www.nature.com/articles/d41...

A group of longhorn crazy ants (top) and a group of people (bottom) tackling scaled versions of the same geometrical maneuvering puzzle. CREDIT: Ofer Feinerman

Researchers challenged longhorn crazy ants and humans with the same task: maneuvering a T-shaped object through two consecutive open doorways. Single humans always outperformed single ants, but ant groups could beat human groups. In PNAS: www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

Ebola disease: bridging scientific discoveries and clinical application The west Africa Ebola disease epidemic (2014–16) marked a historic change of course for patient care during emerging infectious disease outbreaks. The epidemic response was a failure in many ways—a slow, cumbersome, and disjointed effort by a global architecture that was not fit for purpose for a rapidly spreading outbreak. In the most affected countries, health-care workers and other responders felt helpless—dealing with an overwhelming number of patients but with few, if any, tools at their disposal to provide high-quality care.

Ebola disease: bridging scientific discoveries and clinical application www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...

Animal models of Long Covid: A hit-and-run disease Animal models will inform our understanding of Long Covid and will aid in identifying therapeutic targets.

So much needed!! Great Review in STM from @alexschaefer.bsky.social and colleagues!
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Our paper describing a ferritin nanoparticle RBD vaccine that protects mice against #SARSCoV and #MERSCoV and neutralizes highly mutated #SARSCoV2 #VOCs is out in #CellReports

Team effort with #TheDHVI @alexschaefer.bsky.social

thread👇🏼

The manifold costs of being a non-native English speaker in science This study reveals that non-native English speakers, especially early in their careers, spend more effort than native English speakers in conducting scientific activities, from reading and writing pap...

The manifold costs of being a non-native English speaker in science. journals.plos.org/plosbiology/...