ScienceDaily: Plants & Animals News

In a new study, a team of researchers outlines the technology for a CRISPR-based test for COVID-19 that uses a smartphone camera to provide accurate results in under 30 minutes.

Researchers shed light on the role of antibodies and immune cells in protection against SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, in rhesus macaques.

A new study shows that primary cilia, hair-like protrusions on endothelial cells inside vessels, play an important role in the blood supply and delivery of glucose to the insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreatic islets. The findings may be relevant for transplantation therapies in diabetes, as formation of functional blood vessels is important for the treatment to be successful.

A high biodiversity in our vicinity is as important for life satisfaction as our income, scientists found. All across Europe, the individual enjoyment of life correlates with the number of surrounding bird species. An additional 10% of bird species therefore increases the Europeans' life satisfaction as much as a comparable increase in income. Nature conservation thus constitutes an investment in human well-being.

'Super-spreader' events and extensive person-to-person contact propelled an outbreak of hantavirus pulmonary syndrome in a small village in Argentina from 2018-2019, according to new research. An international scientific team reports the genetic, clinical, and epidemiologic features of the outbreak caused by the Andes virus, a member of the hantavirus family. Their analysis could aid in managing outbreaks of other viral diseases with similar transmission patterns, including COVID-19.

Researchers have completed the most comprehensive study to date on how a class of persistent pollutants called semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOCs) are associated with the gut microbiome in human children. The results provide a potential mechanism for measuring exposure to a wide variety of these substances and suggests exposure to toxic halogenated compounds may create a niche for bacteria not usually found in the human gut.