Posts published by our team from May 18- May 24, 2020:
May 18, 2020- Sidebar: I have plaques on my wall to commemorate the virus plaque assay
This is the first entry in a new sidebar series explaining some basic lab techniques used in virology research. In this entry our author Manolya explains the viral plaque assay. The viral plaque assay is a method to figure out how much virus is present in a given sample.
May 19, 2020- Expert Lecture: Dr. Selena Sagan (McGill University) on SARS-CoV-2
This was a special off-schedule post! Dr. Selena Sagan is a Canada Research Chair in RNA virology and viral infection. In this video lecture she explains what viruses and coronaviruses are. She also explains the evolution of SARS-CoV-2 and compares it with other respiratory viruses. Finally, she goes through the different ways we can protect ourselves from the virus and how we can tackle new viruses in the future.
May 20, 2020- China Center for Disease Control: Fur Friends and SARS-CoV-2
This study looked into whether SARS-CoV-2 can infect and transmit from animals such as dogs, cats and ferrets. This is important research because it helps us understand which animals could potentially spread the disease further. Understanding how the virus infects animals also helps us determine a good animal model for vaccine development. In this study the researchers found that SARS-CoV-2 can infect cats and ferrets and that sick cats and ferrets can spread the disease to each other.
May 22, 2020- PAC-MAN vs. COVID-19
Stanford researchers tried using a technique called PAC-MAN to attack SARS-CoV-2. PAC-MAN works by attacking virus genes and was shown to destroy SARS-CoV-2 fragments. Database research showed that PAC-MAN could theoretically be used to target a range of coronaviruses.
