livescience--2020-10-23--The first star in our galaxy caught sending out fast radio bursts is doing it again

A little dead star that dazzled us earlier this year is not done with its shenanigans .
Magnetar SGR 1935+2154 , which in April emitted the first known fast radio burst from inside the Milky Way , has flared up once more , giving astronomers yet another chance to solve more than one major cosmic mystery .
On 8 October 2020 , the CHIME/FRB collaboration detected SGR 1935+2154 emitting three millisecond radio bursts in three seconds .
Following up on the CHIME/FRB detection , the FAST radio telescope found something else - a pulsed radio emission consistent with the magnetar @ @ @ @ @ @ @ really exciting to see SGR 1935+2154 back again , and I 'm optimistic that as we study these bursts more carefully , it will help us better understand the potential relationship between magnetars and fast radio bursts , '' astronomer Deborah Good of the University of British Columbia in Canada , and member of the CHIME/FRB , told ScienceAlert .
The detections , reported in The Astronomer 's Telegram , are currently undergoing analysis .
Before April of this year , fast radio bursts ( FRBs ) had only ever been detected coming @ @ @ @ @ @ @ sources millions of light-years away .
The first one was discovered in 2007 , and ever since , astronomers have been trying to figure out what causes them .
As the name implies , FRBs are bursts of extremely powerful radio waves detected in the sky , some discharging more energy than hundreds of millions of Suns .
They last mere milliseconds .
Because most fast radio burst sources seem to flare once and have n't been detected repeating , they 're extremely unpredictable .
In addition , the ones we 've detected @ @ @ @ @ @ @ our telescopes are unable to pick out individual stars .
Both of these characteristics make FRBs challenging to track down either to an exact source galaxy , or a known cause .
But SGR 1935+2154 is only around 30,000 light-years away .
On 28 April 2020 , it spat out a powerful millisecond-duration burst , which has since been named FRB 200428 in keeping with fast radio burst naming conventions .
Once the power of the signal was corrected for distance , FRB 200428 was found to be not quite as powerful as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ else about it fit the profile .
`` If the same signal came from a nearby galaxy , like one of the nearby typical FRB galaxies , it would look like an FRB to us , '' astronomer Shrinivas Kulkarni of Caltech told ScienceAlert in May .
`` Something like this has never been seen before . ''
We do n't know much about the three new bursts yet .
Because scientists are still working on the data , it 's possible that some early conclusions are likely to change , Good told @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that they are both like and unlike FRB 200428 .
They are a little less powerful again , but they are all still incredibly strong , and all just milliseconds long .
`` Although less bright than the detection earlier this year , these are still very bright bursts which we 'd see if they were extragalactic , '' Good said .
`` One of the most interesting aspects of this detection is that our three bursts seem to have occurred within one rotation period .
The magnetar is known to rotate once @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and second bursts were separated by 0.954 seconds , and the second and third were separated by 1.949 seconds .
That 's a bit unusual , and I think it 's something that we 'll be looking into further going forward . ''
That could reveal something new and useful about magnetar behaviour , because - let 's face it - they are pretty weird .
Magnetars - of which we have only confirmed 24 to date - are a type of neutron star ; that 's the collapsed core of a dead @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a black hole .
Neutron stars are small and dense , about 20 kilometres ( 12 miles ) in diameter , with a maximum mass of about two Suns .
But magnetars add something else to the mix : a shockingly powerful magnetic field .
These jaw-dropping fields are around a quadrillion times more powerful than Earth 's magnetic field , and a thousand times more powerful than that of a normal neutron star .
And we still do n't fully understand how they got that way .
But we do know that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ gravity tries to keep the star together - an inward force - the magnetic field , pulling outward , is so powerful , it distorts the star 's shape .
This leads to ongoing tension which occasionally produces gargantuan starquakes and giant magnetar flares .
SGR 1935+2154 has been undergoing such activity , suggesting a link between magnetar tantrums and at least some FRBs .
Obviously , astronomers have found the source of the first intra-galactic FRB to be of intense interest .
When CHIME/FRB reported their detection , other astronomers went to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ including a team led by Zhu Weiwei of the National Astronomical Observatories of China who had access to FAST , the largest single-aperture radio telescope in the world .
And they found something interesting , also reported in The Astronomer 's Telegram - pulsed radio emission .
These radio pulses were nowhere near as strong as the bursts , but they 're extremely rare : If validated , SGR 1935+2154 will only be the sixth magnetar with pulsed radio emission .
And the pulse period was found to be 3.24781 seconds - almost @ @ @ @ @ @ @ This is curious , because so far , astronomers have struggled to find a link between magnetars and radio pulsars .
Pulsars are another type of neutron star ; they have a more normal magnetic field , but they pulse in radio waves as they spin , and astronomers have long tried to figure out how the two types of stars are related .
Earlier this year , Australian astronomers identified a magnetar that was behaving like a radio pulsar - a possible `` missing link '' between the two , and evidence @ @ @ @ @ @ @ into pulsars .
SGR 1935+2154 could be another piece of the puzzle .
`` Based on these results and the increasing bursting activities , we speculate that the magnetar may be in the process of turning into an active radio pulsar , '' Weiwei 's team wrote .
What an absolutely bloody fascinating little star this is turning out to be .
This article was originally published by ScienceAlert .
Read the original article here .

A little dead star that dazzled us earlier this year is not done with its shenanigans.
Magnetar SGR 1935+2154, which in April emitted the first known fast radio burst from inside the Milky Way, has flared up once more, giving astronomers yet another chance to solve more than one major cosmic mystery.
On 8 October 2020, the CHIME/FRB collaboration detected SGR 1935+2154 emitting three millisecond radio bursts in three seconds. Following up on the CHIME/FRB detection, the FAST radio telescope found something else - a pulsed radio emission consistent with the magnetar's spin period.
"It's really exciting to see SGR 1935+2154 back again, and I'm optimistic that as we study these bursts more carefully, it will help us better understand the potential relationship between magnetars and fast radio bursts," astronomer Deborah Good of the University of British Columbia in Canada, and member of the CHIME/FRB, told ScienceAlert.
The detections, reported in The Astronomer's Telegram, are currently undergoing analysis.
Before April of this year, fast radio bursts (FRBs) had only ever been detected coming from outside the galaxy, usually from sources millions of light-years away. The first one was discovered in 2007, and ever since, astronomers have been trying to figure out what causes them.
As the name implies, FRBs are bursts of extremely powerful radio waves detected in the sky, some discharging more energy than hundreds of millions of Suns. They last mere milliseconds.
Because most fast radio burst sources seem to flare once and haven't been detected repeating, they're extremely unpredictable. In addition, the ones we've detected usually come from so far away, our telescopes are unable to pick out individual stars. Both of these characteristics make FRBs challenging to track down either to an exact source galaxy, or a known cause.
But SGR 1935+2154 is only around 30,000 light-years away. On 28 April 2020, it spat out a powerful millisecond-duration burst, which has since been named FRB 200428 in keeping with fast radio burst naming conventions.
Once the power of the signal was corrected for distance, FRB 200428 was found to be not quite as powerful as extragalactic fast radio bursts - but everything else about it fit the profile.
"If the same signal came from a nearby galaxy, like one of the nearby typical FRB galaxies, it would look like an FRB to us," astronomer Shrinivas Kulkarni of Caltech told ScienceAlert in May. "Something like this has never been seen before."
We don't know much about the three new bursts yet. Because scientists are still working on the data, it's possible that some early conclusions are likely to change, Good told ScienceAlert. But we can already tell that they are both like and unlike FRB 200428.
They are a little less powerful again, but they are all still incredibly strong, and all just milliseconds long. "Although less bright than the detection earlier this year, these are still very bright bursts which we'd see if they were extragalactic," Good said.
"One of the most interesting aspects of this detection is that our three bursts seem to have occurred within one rotation period. The magnetar is known to rotate once every ~3.24 seconds, but our first and second bursts were separated by 0.954 seconds, and the second and third were separated by 1.949 seconds. That's a bit unusual, and I think it's something that we'll be looking into further going forward."
That could reveal something new and useful about magnetar behaviour, because - let's face it - they are pretty weird.
Magnetars - of which we have only confirmed 24 to date - are a type of neutron star; that's the collapsed core of a dead star not massive enough to turn into a black hole. Neutron stars are small and dense, about 20 kilometres (12 miles) in diameter, with a maximum mass of about two Suns. But magnetars add something else to the mix: a shockingly powerful magnetic field.
These jaw-dropping fields are around a quadrillion times more powerful than Earth's magnetic field, and a thousand times more powerful than that of a normal neutron star. And we still don't fully understand how they got that way.
But we do know that magnetars undergo periods of activity. As gravity tries to keep the star together - an inward force - the magnetic field, pulling outward, is so powerful, it distorts the star's shape. This leads to ongoing tension which occasionally produces gargantuan starquakes and giant magnetar flares.
SGR 1935+2154 has been undergoing such activity, suggesting a link between magnetar tantrums and at least some FRBs.
Obviously, astronomers have found the source of the first intra-galactic FRB to be of intense interest. When CHIME/FRB reported their detection, other astronomers went to have a look at the star, including a team led by Zhu Weiwei of the National Astronomical Observatories of China who had access to FAST, the largest single-aperture radio telescope in the world.
And they found something interesting, also reported in The Astronomer's Telegram - pulsed radio emission. These radio pulses were nowhere near as strong as the bursts, but they're extremely rare: If validated, SGR 1935+2154 will only be the sixth magnetar with pulsed radio emission. And the pulse period was found to be 3.24781 seconds - almost exactly the star's spin period.
This is curious, because so far, astronomers have struggled to find a link between magnetars and radio pulsars. Pulsars are another type of neutron star; they have a more normal magnetic field, but they pulse in radio waves as they spin, and astronomers have long tried to figure out how the two types of stars are related.
Earlier this year, Australian astronomers identified a magnetar that was behaving like a radio pulsar - a possible "missing link" between the two, and evidence that at least some magnetars could evolve into pulsars. SGR 1935+2154 could be another piece of the puzzle.
"Based on these results and the increasing bursting activities, we speculate that the magnetar may be in the process of turning into an active radio pulsar," Weiwei's team wrote.
What an absolutely bloody fascinating little star this is turning out to be.
This article was originally published by ScienceAlert. Read the original article here.


livescience--2020-10-23--Physicists search for imprints left by dark matter haloes as they swoosh through galactic gas

The search for dark matter – an unknown and invisible substance thought to make up the vast majority of matter in the universe – is at a crossroads .
Although it was proposed nearly 70 years ago and has been searched for intensely - with large particle colliders , detectors deep underground and even instruments in space – it is still nowhere to be found .
But astronomers have promised to leave `` no stone unturned '' and have started to cast their net wider out into the galaxy .
The idea is to extract information from astrophysical objects that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ they were passing by .
We have just proposed a new method of doing so by tracing galactic gas – and it may help tell us what it ’ s actually made of .
Physicists believe that dark matter has a propensity to structure itself into a hierarchy of haloes and subhaloes , via gravity .
The masses of these clumps fall on a spectrum , with lower mass ones expected to be more numerous .
Is there a limit to how light they could be ?
It depends on the nature of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ can not be seen directly .
We know it exists because we can see the gravitational effects it has on surrounding matter .
There are different theories about what dark matter may actually be .
The standard model suggests it is cold , meaning it moves very slowly and only interacts with other matter through the force of gravity .
This would be consistent with it being made up of particles known as axions or WIMPS .
Another theory , however , suggests it is warm , meaning it moves at higher speeds @ @ @ @ @ @ @ sterile neutrino .
If dark matter is cold , a Milky Way-type galaxy could harbour one or two subhaloes weighing as much as 1010 Suns , and most likely hundreds with masses of around 108 Suns .
If dark matter is warm , haloes lighter than around 108 Suns can not form easily .
So tallying light mass dark haloes can tell us something about the nature of dark matter .
We believe that the existence of lower mass haloes can be revealed by carefully planned observations .
Astronomers have already got pretty @ @ @ @ @ @ @ seek with dark matter haloes and have devised observations to pick up the damage they leave behind .
To date , observations have targeted mostly the changes in the distribution of stars in the Milky Way .
For example , the Large Magellanic Cloud , a smaller galaxy orbiting ours , seems to have a dark matter halo which is massive enough to trigger an enormous wake – driving the stars from across vast regions to move in unison .
A few of the smaller dark matter haloes thought to be whizzing inside @ @ @ @ @ @ @ large stellar features , such as globular clusters ( spherical collection of stars ) , leaving tell-tale gaps in them .
Dark matter haloes can also affect how light bends around astrophysical objects in a process called gravitational lensing .
But the signals left in the stellar distributions are weak and prone to confusion with the stars ’ own motions .
Another way to probe the effect of haloes is by looking at the galactic gas it affects .
Galaxies have plenty of hot gas ( with a temperature of around 106 degrees @ @ @ @ @ @ @ edge , providing a wide net for catching these dark matter haloes .
Using a combination of analytical calculations and computer simulations , we have shown that dark haloes heavier than 108 solar masses can compress the hot gas through which they are moving .
These will create local spikes in the density of the gas , which can be picked up by X-ray telescopes .
These are predicted to be minute , of the order of a few per cent , but they will be within the reach of the upcoming Lynx @ @ @ @ @ @ @ predict that the spikes in the density of the cooler galactic gas ( with temperature of around 105 K ) will be even more significant .
This means that the cooler gas can record the passage of dark matter haloes even more sensitively than the hot gas .
Another promising way of observing the dark-matter-induced fluctuations in the gas is via the photons ( light particles ) from the cosmic microwave background – the light left over from the Big Bang .
This light scatters off the highly energetic electrons in the hot @ @ @ @ @ @ @ detect , providing a complementary approach to the other studies .
Over the next few years , this new method can be used to test models of dark matter .
Regardless of whether dark matter haloes below 108 solar masses are found in the numbers predicted or not , we will learn something useful .
If the numbers match up , the standard cosmological model would have passed an important test .
If they are missing , or are far fewer than expected , the standard model would be ruled out and we @ @ @ @ @ @ @ viable alternative .
Dark matter remains a mystery , but there ’ s a huge amount of work going into solving it .
Whether the answer will come from instruments on Earth or astrophysical probes , it will no doubt be one of the most important discoveries of the century .
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license .
Read the original article .
Follow all of the Expert Voices issues and debates — and become part of the discussion — on Facebook and Twitter .
The views @ @ @ @ @ @ @ do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher .
This version of the article was originally published on Live Science .

The search for dark matter – an unknown and invisible substance thought to make up the vast majority of matter in the universe – is at a crossroads. Although it was proposed nearly 70 years ago and has been searched for intensely - with large particle colliders, detectors deep underground and even instruments in space – it is still nowhere to be found.
But astronomers have promised to leave "no stone unturned" and have started to cast their net wider out into the galaxy. The idea is to extract information from astrophysical objects that may have witnessed chunks of it as they were passing by. We have just proposed a new method of doing so by tracing galactic gas – and it may help tell us what it’s actually made of.
Physicists believe that dark matter has a propensity to structure itself into a hierarchy of haloes and subhaloes, via gravity. The masses of these clumps fall on a spectrum, with lower mass ones expected to be more numerous. Is there a limit to how light they could be? It depends on the nature of the dark matter particles.
Warm versus cold
Dark matter cannot be seen directly. We know it exists because we can see the gravitational effects it has on surrounding matter. There are different theories about what dark matter may actually be. The standard model suggests it is cold, meaning it moves very slowly and only interacts with other matter through the force of gravity. This would be consistent with it being made up of particles known as axions or WIMPS. Another theory, however, suggests it is warm, meaning it moves at higher speeds. One such particle candidate is the sterile neutrino.
This artist's impression shows the expected dark matter distribution around the Milky Way. (Image credit: ESO/L. Calçada)
If dark matter is cold, a Milky Way-type galaxy could harbour one or two subhaloes weighing as much as 1010 Suns, and most likely hundreds with masses of around 108 Suns. If dark matter is warm, haloes lighter than around 108 Suns cannot form easily. So tallying light mass dark haloes can tell us something about the nature of dark matter.
Halo imprints
We believe that the existence of lower mass haloes can be revealed by carefully planned observations. Astronomers have already got pretty good at this game of hide and seek with dark matter haloes and have devised observations to pick up the damage they leave behind.
To date, observations have targeted mostly the changes in the distribution of stars in the Milky Way. For example, the Large Magellanic Cloud, a smaller galaxy orbiting ours, seems to have a dark matter halo which is massive enough to trigger an enormous wake – driving the stars from across vast regions to move in unison.
A few of the smaller dark matter haloes thought to be whizzing inside the Milky Way may occasionally pierce through large stellar features, such as globular clusters (spherical collection of stars), leaving tell-tale gaps in them. Dark matter haloes can also affect how light bends around astrophysical objects in a process called gravitational lensing.
But the signals left in the stellar distributions are weak and prone to confusion with the stars’ own motions. Another way to probe the effect of haloes is by looking at the galactic gas it affects. Galaxies have plenty of hot gas (with a temperature of around 106 degrees Kelvin) which extends out to their edge, providing a wide net for catching these dark matter haloes.
Using a combination of analytical calculations and computer simulations, we have shown that dark haloes heavier than 108 solar masses can compress the hot gas through which they are moving. These will create local spikes in the density of the gas, which can be picked up by X-ray telescopes. These are predicted to be minute, of the order of a few per cent, but they will be within the reach of the upcoming Lynx and Athena telescopes.
Our models also predict that the spikes in the density of the cooler galactic gas (with temperature of around 105 K) will be even more significant. This means that the cooler gas can record the passage of dark matter haloes even more sensitively than the hot gas.
Another promising way of observing the dark-matter-induced fluctuations in the gas is via the photons (light particles) from the cosmic microwave background – the light left over from the Big Bang. This light scatters off the highly energetic electrons in the hot gas in a way that we can detect, providing a complementary approach to the other studies.
Over the next few years, this new method can be used to test models of dark matter. Regardless of whether dark matter haloes below 108 solar masses are found in the numbers predicted or not, we will learn something useful. If the numbers match up, the standard cosmological model would have passed an important test. If they are missing, or are far fewer than expected, the standard model would be ruled out and we’ll have to find a more viable alternative.
Dark matter remains a mystery, but there’s a huge amount of work going into solving it. Whether the answer will come from instruments on Earth or astrophysical probes, it will no doubt be one of the most important discoveries of the century.
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
Follow all of the Expert Voices issues and debates — and become part of the discussion — on Facebook and Twitter. The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher. This version of the article was originally published on Live Science.


livescience--2020-10-23--Coronavirus outbreak: Live updates

Coronavirus outbreak: Live updates

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90-year-old woman in the UK receives first dose of Pfizer vaccine, FDA review confirms vaccine is safe and effective A 90-year-old woman (who will turn 91 next week) became the first in the world to be given Pfizer's coronavirus vaccine outside of clinical trials, according to the BBC. Margaret Keenan, who is originally from Northern Ireland, was given the vaccine at the University Hospital in Coventry, England. She received the first of 800,000 doses expected to be administered in the U.K. in the coming weeks, according to the BBC. "I feel so privileged to be the first person vaccinated against Covid-19," Keenan said, according to the BBC."It's the best early birthday present I could wish for because it means I can finally look forward to spending time with my family and friends in the new year after being on my own for most of the year." "My advice to anyone offered the vaccine is to take it. If I can have it at 90, then you can have it too," she added. Up to four million doses of Pfizer's vaccine is expected to be given to people in the U.K. by the end of the month. Meanwhile, a 53-page Food and Drug Administration (FDA) review published Tuesday (Dec. 8) confirmed that Pfizer's vaccine is safe and effective, according to The Washington Post.
Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine starts to work just 10 days after 1st dose Pfizer's new COVID-19 vaccine starts to protect people from the novel coronavirus just 10 days after the first dose, according to new documents from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The documents were released on Tuesday (Dec. 8), two days before a meeting of the FDA's vaccine advisory panel, which will vote on whether to recommend authorization of the vaccine in the U.S, Live Science reported . The FDA analyzed data from Pfizer's phase 3 clinical trial, which included some 44,000 people in the United States, Brazil, Argentina, Germany and Turkey, about half of whom received the vaccine while the other half received a placebo. Both groups received two shots, 21 days apart. About 10 days after the first dose, there was a noticeable drop-off in new COVID-19 cases in the vaccine group compared with the placebo group, indicating that even one dose provides some protection, the report said. However, scientists don't know how long the protection from a single dose will last, so it will still be important for people to receive two shots, according to The New York Times . Overall, the vaccine was 52% effective after the first dose and 95% effective after the second dose, the report said.
People with significant allergies should avoid Pfizer vaccine, UK warns The U.K.'s Regulatory Agency is advising people with a history of "significant" allergic reactions to avoid Pfizer's coronavirus vaccine, after two National Health Service members developed severe allergic reactions to it on Tuesday (Dec. 8), Live Science reported. "As is common with new vaccines the MHRA (Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency) have advised on a precautionary basis that people with a significant history of allergic reactions do not receive this vaccination after two people with a history of significant allergic reactions responded adversely yesterday," Stephen Powis, the national medical director for England's National Health Service said in a statement on Wednesday (Dec. 9). Both workers have a history of severe allergies and carry adrenaline auto injectors (such as EpiPens) around with them, according to The Guardian. Shortly after receiving the vaccine, both NHS workers developed anaphylaxis-like symptoms, or severe allergic reactions, but have recovered after receiving treatment. The MHRA will investigate further and Pfizer and BioNTech will support their investigation, according to Reuters. "Allergic reaction occurs with quite a number of vaccines, and perhaps even more frequently with drugs. So it is not unexpected," Stephen Evans, a professor of pharmacoepidemiology at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine said in remarks to journalists published by Britain's Science Media Center. “What would be wise, as the MHRA have already advised, would be for anyone who has known severe allergic reaction such that they need to carry an EpiPen, to delay having a vaccination until the reason for the allergic reaction has been clarified," he said. For the general population this does not mean that they would need to be anxious about receiving the vaccination, he added. "One has to remember that even things like marmite [a quintessential British food spread] can cause unexpected severe allergic reactions.”
Canada approves Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine Canada has authorized Pfizer's new COVID-19 vaccine, with the first doses expected to be administered there as early as next week. Health Canada, the country's health regulatory agency, said in a statement on Wednesday (Dec. 9) that it had determined that the vaccine "meets the Department's stringent safety, efficacy and quality requirements for use in Canada," according to CTV News . "We expect vaccines to arrive maybe as early as Monday [Dec. 14]. It takes time to prepare the vaccine," said Maj.-Gen. Dany Fortin, the top military general leading the vaccine rollout for the Public Health Agency of Canada, according to CTV News. The first doses could be administered by the middle of next week, he said. Canada is the third country in the world to authorize the Pfizer vaccine, following the United Kingdom and Bahrain. The country should receive up to 249,000 doses of the vaccine by the end of December, and has purchased 20 million doses total, with the option to purchase more, CTV News reported.
Daily COVID-19 death toll in the U.S. reaches record-high, surpassed 9/11 On Wednesday (Dec. 9), the U.S. recorded 3,124 new COVID-19 deaths, the highest daily death toll to date, according to CNN . In comparison, 2,977 people were killed in the 9/11 attacks. The U.S. has now recorded 280,488 deaths related to the virus, according to The COVID Tracking Project . A forecast from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention predicts that the total death toll can increase to between 332,000 and 362,000 by January 2, according to CNN. There are currently 106,671 people hospitalized with the virus in the U.S.; 20,903 of them are currently in the ICU and 7,621 are currently on a ventilator, according to the COVID Tracking Project. On Thursday (Dec. 10), the Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee is set to meet to discuss an emergency use authorization for the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine.
FDA panel recommends authorization of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine A panel of experts for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has recommended that the agency authorize Pfizer's new COVID-19 vaccine in the United States. On Thursday (Dec. 10), the panel voted 17 to 4 to recommend that the vaccine receive emergency use authorization (EUA) for people ages 16 and older, according to The New York Times . The FDA typically follows the advice of its panels, and so today's vote is an important step towards the vaccine's authorization. It is anticipated that the agency will officially authorize the vaccine on Saturday (Dec. 12), the Times reported. Several countries have already authorized Pfizer's vaccine, including Canada, the United Kingdom and Bahrain.
Vaccine approval could come this weekend, as U.S. continues to record high daily death tolls On Thursday (Dec. 10), the U.S. recorded another 2,902 COVID-19 deaths, a day after the country set a record of 3,253 deaths, according to Reuters . “Probably for the next 60 to 90 days, we’re going to have more deaths per day than we had on 9/11 or we had at Pearl Harbor,” Dr. Robert Redfield, the director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told the Council on Foreign Relations on Thursday, according to Reuters. "The reality is the vaccine approval this week is not going to really impact that, I think, to any degree for the next 60 days." On Thursday, the Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee discussed, voted and recommended that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) should grant an emergency use authorization for Pfizer's coronavirus vaccine. The Pfizer vaccine has already been approved in the U.K. and in Canada, and FDA approval for use in the U.S. could come this weekend.
Australia abandons local COVID-19 vaccine after it caused false-positive HIV tests An Australian COVID-19 vaccine that had shown promising results in early trials is being abandoned after researchers found that the shot caused false-positive results on HIV tests. On Friday (Dec. 11), Australian officials said they had canceled an order for some 51 million doses of the vaccine, which was being developed by The University of Queensland and CSL Ltd., a local biotech company, according to The New York Times . In an early trial with 216 participants, the vaccine appeared to be safe and to produce a robust immune response against COVID-19, according to a statement from CSL . But some volunteers falsely tested positive for HIV, which officials feared would undermine trust in the vaccine, the Times reported. The vaccine contained small fragments of an HIV protein, which helped stabilize the vaccine. Some of the participants developed antibodies against these fragments, and these antibodies triggered false positive results on some HIV tests. It's important to note that there is no way for the vaccine to cause an HIV infection, because it contains harmless fragments of the virus.
ICU nurse in New York becomes first person in the US to receive a coronavirus vaccine outside of clinical trials New York, the worst-hit state at the start of the pandemic, just became the first to administer a coronavirus vaccine outside of clinical trials, kicking off a long, massive effort to vaccinate the American people, Live Science reported. Around 9 a.m. E.T. on Monday (Dec. 14), the very first dose of Pfizer and BioNTech's coronavirus vaccine was given to Sandra Lindsay, an intensive care nurse in Long Island Jewish Medical Center in Queens, New York, according to The New York Times. This comes as the U.S. continues to battle a massive wave of the virus that has more than 109,000 people currently hospitalized, according to The COVID Tracking Project. Since the start of the pandemic, New York has recorded more than 780,000 cases of COVID-19 and more than 35,100 deaths, according to The Times. "This vaccine is exciting because I believe this is the weapon that will end the war," Gov. Andrew Cuomo said during a live broadcast of the first vaccination. "It's the beginning of the last chapter of the book, but now we just have to do it."
FDA analysis confirms Moderna's vaccine is safe and effective, emergency authorization is likely to come Friday A new briefing document from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) released on Tuesday (Dec. 15) confirmed that Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine is safe and effective, according to NPR . Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine is 94% effective and has "a favorable safety profile," according to the document. A panel of experts is set to meet on Thursday (Dec. 17) to discuss the effectiveness and safety of the vaccine and vote on whether or not the FDA should grant emergency approval to the vaccine. Last week, the same panel voted that the FDA should grant emergency approval to Pfizer's coronavirus vaccine; the authorization came a day late and the first doses were given on Monday (Dec. 15). The FDA will likely approve Moderna's vaccine for emergency use on Friday (Dec. 18), according to The New York Times .
FDA authorizes first over-the-counter COVID-19 test The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has authorized the first over-the-counter COVID-19 test, which can be done at home and does not need a prescription. The test, made by the Australia-based company Ellume, provides results in as little as 20 minutes, according to a statement from the FDA . It is a "lateral flow antigen test," meaning it works in a similar way to a home pregnancy test, by running a "liquid sample along a surface with reactive molecules," the FDA said. The test works in conjunction with a smartphone app. Users take a nasal swab and place their sample in an analyzer, which communicates to the smartphone app via Bluetooth. The results are delivered through the app, and also reported to public health authorities (based on a user's zip code) through a secure cloud connection, the company said . Ellume is ramping up production of its test, and expects to produce three million tests in January 2021, and 20 million within the first half of 2021.
A wild mink tested positive for the coronavirus, it may be the first wild animal to have a confirmed case A wild mink in Utah may be the first "free-ranging, native wild animal" confirmed to be infected with SARS-CoV-2, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Live Science reported. The mink was found near a mink farm and likely picked up the infection from the farmed mink. There's no evidence that the virus spread to other minks or wild animals; but if the virus does begin circulating in wild animals, it could pick up mutations that COVID-19 vaccines may not protect well against if it spreads back to humans, according to the report. "If it does [establish a reservoir], then we've got a long-term issue here, where this virus has the potential to be with us for millennia," Sarah Olson, associate director of the health program at the Wildlife Conservation Society, told Vox. The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has screened other animal species for the virus near mink farms in Utah, Michigan and Wisconsin, but all of them have tested negative so far, according to a statement.
An FDA advisory panel will meet today to vote on whether to recommend Moderna's coronavirus vaccine for emergency approval On Thursday (Dec. 17), a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) advisory committee will meet to determine whether to recommend that Moderna’s coronavirus vaccine for emergency approval, according to The New York Times . This panel, composed of independent experts, will vote on whether to recommend the vaccine after hearing from the company, FDA scientists and the public, according to The Times. Last week, the same panel of experts met to discuss Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine and voted to recommend emergency authorization; the authorization came the next day. There have now been more than 16.9 million cases of COVID-19 in the U.S. and more than 307,000 deaths, according to the Johns Hopkins dashboard . There are currently 113,090 people hospitalized across the country with more than 21,900 of them in the ICU and 7,778 on a ventilator, according to The COVID Tracking Project .
California becomes new epicenter of COVID-19 in U.S. California, once praised for its early pandemic response, is now the new U.S. hotspot for COVID-19 infections. The state has reported an alarming surge in cases, breaking previous records for daily cases. On Thursday (Dec. 17), the state reported some 50,000 COVID-19 infections in 24 hours, and nearly 100,000 in 48 hours, according to The Washington Post . That's more than the daily cases reported in many countries, including India, Germany and Britain, the Post reported. The state also set a record for daily deaths on Thursday, with 379 fatalities reported, up from the previous high of 293. Capacity in intensive care units has also dropped dramatically, with hospitals in Southern California reporting zero percent capacity on Thursday. "I want to be very clear: Our hospitals are under siege, and our model shows no end in sight," said Christina Ghaly, director of Los Angeles County's Department of Health Services, the Post reported.
FDA expected to authorize Moderna's vaccine on Friday The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is expected to authorize Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine on Friday (Dec. 18). Once authorized, it will be the second coronavirus vaccine to get the green light from the agency in just a week, with Pfizer's vaccine gaining authorization on Dec. 11. Moderna is expected to begin shipping 5.9 million doses of its vaccine on Sunday (Dec. 20), with the first deliveries arriving Monday (Dec. 21), according to The New York Times . Unlike the Pfizer vaccine, Moderna's vaccine does not require storage in extremely cold temperatures, and states are hoping to distribute the vaccine to rural hospitals and community health centers, the Times reported.
COVID-19 cases continue to surge across the U.S. There have now been more than 17 million cases of COVID-19 in the U.S. and more than 300,000 deaths, according to The COVID Tracking Project . There are currently 114,237 people hospitalized across the country and 21,900 people in the ICU. California is facing a massive surge in cases; the state reported 41,012 new COVID-19 cases and 300 new deaths on Thursday (Dec. 17), according to the state's COVID-19 dashboard . By comparison, at the start of November, California was reporting a seven-day average of 4,183 cases, compared to an average of 38,774 on Thursday, according to CNN . "We're experiencing an explosive and very deadly surge," Dr. Barbara Ferrer, Los Angeles County Public Health Director said, according to CNN. Intensive care unit beds are rapidly filling up across the state; there are only 1,234 ICU beds left available in California, according to the dashboard. Current closures across California are impacting around 98% of the state's population, according to CNN.
London and southeast England are under an emergency lockdown Following concerns of a new version of the coronavirus that might be more transmissible, London and most of southeast England are now under an emergency lockdown, according to The New York Times . Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced the lockdown on Saturday (Dec. 19) citing concerns that the mutated virus — which was detected a couple of weeks ago in southeast England — may be as much as 70% more transmissible than previous versions, according to the Times. The new version of the coronavirus is detected in more than 60% of new infections in London and have also been detected in several other countries, according to the Times. But it's not yet clear if this coronavirus version is any more infectious than the last and thorough analyses will need to be conducted before conclusions are made, scientists cautioned. In South Africa, a similar version of the virus has been found in up to 90% of new cases detected since mid-November, according to The Times . It's common for viruses to mutate, and this particular coronavirus has mutated many times since the start of the pandemic. But experts told The Times that it would take years for the virus to mutate enough such that it would make the current vaccines developed to fight COVID-19 ineffective.
Biden gets Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine President-elect Joe Biden received a dose of Pfizer's new COVID-19 vaccine on Monday (Dec. 21), according to The New York Times . He received the shot on camera at the Christiana Hospital in Newark, Delaware. "I'm doing this to demonstrate that people should be prepared when it's available to take the vaccine. There's nothing to worry about," Biden said.
Antarctica has its 1st COVID-19 outbreak The first COVID-19 cases have been reported in Antarctica , meaning the disease has now spread to every continent in the world. On Tuesday (Dec. 22), Chilean officials reported an outbreak of 36 COVID-19 cases at the Chilean research base General Bernardo O'Higgins Riquelme on the Antarctic Peninsula, according to the BBC . Of these, 26 cases were military personnel and 10 were maintenance workers, the BBC reported. All of these cases have been evacuated from Antarctica to Punta Arenas, Chile, according to The Guardian . Antarctica had been COVID-19 free up until the current outbreak. The continent has no permanent residents, but about 1,000 people, including scientists and other workers, stayed there this past winter, The Guardian reported.
Live updates will continue in 2021!


livescience--2020-10-23--FDA approves first COVID-19 drug. But it's 'not a blockbuster.'

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration ( FDA ) has fully approved remdesivir as a treatment for COVID-19 .
The drug is now approved for use in hospitalized COVID-19 patients 12 years old and up , and weighing at least 88 pounds ( 40 kilograms ) , according to a .
Previously , the agency allowed doctors to give remdesivir to hospitalized patients through an emergency use authorization , or temporary permission only given `` when there are no adequate , approved and available alternatives , '' according to the agency .
Now , based on data from three clinical @ @ @ @ @ @ @ fully approve remdesivir .
The approval is `` supported by data from multiple clinical trials that the agency has rigorously assessed and represents an important scientific milestone in the COVID-19 pandemic , '' FDA Commissioner Dr. Stephen Hahn said in the statement .
Hospitalized patients who weigh between about 8 pounds and 88 pounds ( 3.5-40 kilograms ) or who are under 12 years old can still receive remdesivir under emergency use authorization , at their doctor 's discretion ; clinical trials for this group are still ongoing , the FDA noted .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ and pandemics in history However , despite being the first FDA-approved COVID-19 drug in the U.S. , remdesivir is n't a highly effective treatment , Dr. Megan Ranney , an associate professor of emergency medicine and public health at Brown University in Rhode Island , told .
`` It is absolutely not a blockbuster drug or a miracle drug , '' Ranney told BuzzFeed .
`` We give it to hospitalized COVID patients because we do n't have anything better , which is frustrating . ''
`` This is not a blockbuster drug @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a former associate commissioner with the F.D.A .
and now president of the Center for Science in the Public Interest , in an interview with .
`` This is not some massive breakthrough .
It 's a drug that appears convincingly to benefit patients , but it 's not some kind of miracle cure . ''
In the trials the FDA looked at , remdesivir reduced patients ' symptoms more quickly than standard care alone and significantly shortened patients ' hospital stays , according to the statement .
In one trial that included @ @ @ @ @ @ @ received the drug spent about five fewer days in the hospital than those who did n't , .
That said , a recent trial conducted by the World Health Organization contradicts these positive findings , .
The trial , which included more than 11,200 people from 30 countries , found that remdesivir did not significantly reduce patients ' time in the hospital , nor did it reduce the risk of being placed on a ventilator .
And most importantly , the drug did not increase patients ' chance of survival , according to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ trial has not yet been peer-reviewed , and it has drawn some critique from researchers since being posted online .
The WHO trial took place at 405 different hospitals around the world , and patients ' care may have differed between the many locations , Dr. Peter Chin-Hong , an infectious diseases expert at the University of California , San Francisco , .
Differences in care could potentially affect patient survival and make the effects of remdesivir difficult to tease out .
Also , some of the trial participants were sicker than others @ @ @ @ @ @ @ tell if the drug works better in one group over another , BuzzFeed reported .
In addition , Gilead Sciences , the company that produces remdesivir , argued that the WHO study could be somewhat biased because both the doctors and patients knew which drugs were being used , Reuters reported .
In other words , the trial was not `` blinded , '' which would be considered the gold standard for a clinical trial .
Whether it helps or not , remdesivir comes with a hefty price tag compared with cheaper treatments @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the steroid dexamethasone .
A five-day course of remdesivir costs $ 3,120 , or $ 2,340 for government purchasers like the Department of Veterans Affairs , Reuters reported .
Dexamethasone , meanwhile , costs less than $ 1 per day for treatment on a single patient , according to the Times .
In addition , as demand for the drug surges worldwide , the global supply of remdesivir has fallen short , BuzzFeed reported .
Originally designed to treat Ebola and hepatitis C , remdesivir works by mimicking a nucleotide , one of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to build viral genes , Live Science previously reported .
This molecular mimic can infiltrate the genetic material of the coronavirus and stop it from infecting cells .
Most patients tolerate the treatment well , meaning adverse side effects are fairly uncommon , Ranney told BuzzFeed .

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has fully approved remdesivir as a treatment for COVID-19.
The drug is now approved for use in hospitalized COVID-19 patients 12 years old and up, and weighing at least 88 pounds (40 kilograms), according to a statement from the FDA . Previously, the agency allowed doctors to give remdesivir to hospitalized patients through an emergency use authorization, or temporary permission only given "when there are no adequate, approved and available alternatives," according to the agency .
Now, based on data from three clinical trials, the FDA has moved to fully approve remdesivir. The approval is "supported by data from multiple clinical trials that the agency has rigorously assessed and represents an important scientific milestone in the COVID-19 pandemic," FDA Commissioner Dr. Stephen Hahn said in the statement. Hospitalized patients who weigh between about 8 pounds and 88 pounds (3.5-40 kilograms) or who are under 12 years old can still receive remdesivir under emergency use authorization, at their doctor's discretion; clinical trials for this group are still ongoing, the FDA noted.
Related: 20 of the worst epidemics and pandemics in history
However, despite being the first FDA-approved COVID-19 drug in the U.S., remdesivir isn't a highly effective treatment, Dr. Megan Ranney, an associate professor of emergency medicine and public health at Brown University in Rhode Island, told BuzzFeed News .
"It is absolutely not a blockbuster drug or a miracle drug," Ranney told BuzzFeed. "We give it to hospitalized COVID patients because we don't have anything better, which is frustrating."
"This is not a blockbuster drug," echoed Dr. Peter Lurie, a former associate commissioner with the F.D.A. and now president of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, in an interview with The New York Times . "This is not some massive breakthrough. It's a drug that appears convincingly to benefit patients, but it's not some kind of miracle cure."
In the trials the FDA looked at, remdesivir reduced patients' symptoms more quickly than standard care alone and significantly shortened patients' hospital stays, according to the statement. In one trial that included more than 1,000 patients, those who received the drug spent about five fewer days in the hospital than those who didn't, Live Science previously reported .
That said, a recent trial conducted by the World Health Organization contradicts these positive findings, Live Science previously reported . The trial, which included more than 11,200 people from 30 countries, found that remdesivir did not significantly reduce patients' time in the hospital, nor did it reduce the risk of being placed on a ventilator. And most importantly, the drug did not increase patients' chance of survival, according to the trial results.
But the WHO trial has not yet been peer-reviewed, and it has drawn some critique from researchers since being posted online.
The WHO trial took place at 405 different hospitals around the world, and patients' care may have differed between the many locations, Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, an infectious diseases expert at the University of California, San Francisco, told The Times . Differences in care could potentially affect patient survival and make the effects of remdesivir difficult to tease out. Also, some of the trial participants were sicker than others across groups, making it difficult to tell if the drug works better in one group over another, BuzzFeed reported.
In addition, Gilead Sciences, the company that produces remdesivir, argued that the WHO study could be somewhat biased because both the doctors and patients knew which drugs were being used, Reuters reported. In other words, the trial was not "blinded," which would be considered the gold standard for a clinical trial.
Whether it helps or not, remdesivir comes with a hefty price tag compared with cheaper treatments being tested for COVID-19, such as the steroid dexamethasone. A five-day course of remdesivir costs $3,120, or $2,340 for government purchasers like the Department of Veterans Affairs, Reuters reported. Dexamethasone, meanwhile, costs less than $1 per day for treatment on a single patient, according to the Times. In addition, as demand for the drug surges worldwide, the global supply of remdesivir has fallen short, BuzzFeed reported.
Originally designed to treat Ebola and hepatitis C, remdesivir works by mimicking a nucleotide, one of the molecular building blocks that come together to build viral genes, Live Science previously reported. This molecular mimic can infiltrate the genetic material of the coronavirus and stop it from infecting cells. Most patients tolerate the treatment well, meaning adverse side effects are fairly uncommon, Ranney told BuzzFeed.
Originally published on Live Science.


livescience--2020-10-24--Is it possible for anything to be 'germ-free'?

Everyone has probably done it hundreds of times , especially lately — rubbed hands with sanitizer , scrubbed kitchen counters with antibacterial wipes , patted down a toilet-seat cover in a public restroom and used feet , elbows or shoulders to try to open the bathroom door — all in the name of keeping those nasty , scary , invisible germs away .
But what if all of this careful cleaning is an exercise in futility ?
Is it even possible to keep germs away ?
Not really , said Emily Sickbert-Bennett , director of the University of North Carolina @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Prevention program and associate professor of epidemiology and infectious diseases at the UNC School of Medicine .
`` There are more bacteria in and on our bodies than cells , '' Sickbert-Bennett told Live Science .
There are lots of bacteria that naturally occur all over , in water and soil and on other animals , she added .
But these microbes are n't all bad , she said .
In fact , most of them are innocuous unless they wind up in the wrong place — like the that live harmlessly in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ deadly in the bloodstream .
Other microbes are constantly pathogenic , meaning they are always a disease risk .
The virus that causes COVID-19 is one of these , Sickbert-Bennett said .
These more problematic microbes are likely what most people are worried about when they 're trying to get rid of `` germs . ''
So , is there any hope for keeping our environments clear of these microscopic bad guys ?
Sickbert-Bennett said the better question to ask is not how to keep surfaces germ-free , but how to stop the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ infections .
`` Surfaces can be disinfected with everyday household wipes or sprays , and that certainly eliminates the microbes that are found on those surfaces , '' she said , but those surfaces tend to become continuously recontaminated .
Any time two surfaces interact , like a door knob and a finger , microbes are swapped .
Plus , microbes in the air can quickly resettle on surfaces that were just disinfected .
`` The most important thing is really thinking about the 'chain of infection , ' '' Sickbert-Bennett said — @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for a microbe like a virus to infect someone .
`` Where are the points along that chain where you can interrupt it ? ''
she asked .
In other words , though some harmful microbes might get into your home or onto your skin , the point is to make sure they do n't get to a place where they can cause an infection .
The COVID-19 bugs , for example , need to be transferred while intact into a person 's respiratory system or eyes , so by washing hands before @ @ @ @ @ @ @ — the chain of transmission for COVID-19 is broken .
So think about keeping out of the gut by cooking food appropriately , and try to keep adenovirus — a common culprit — out of the eye by washing your hands and not touching your eyes .
But otherwise do n't stress too much about the world of microbes humans live in .
The majority of these germs have their purpose and do n't pose a risk to human health .
And in fact , many microbes actually help animals thrive and survive @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , Helen Vuong , a postdoctoral scholar of Integrative Biology and Physiology at the University of California , Los Angeles .
`` Even within our bodies there are a lot of good bacteria that are helping to outcompete the more pathogenic ones and keep us healthy , '' Sickbert-Bennett said .

Everyone has probably done it hundreds of times, especially lately — rubbed hands with sanitizer, scrubbed kitchen counters with antibacterial wipes, patted down a toilet-seat cover in a public restroom and used feet, elbows or shoulders to try to open the bathroom door — all in the name of keeping those nasty, scary, invisible germs away.
But what if all of this careful cleaning is an exercise in futility? Is it even possible to keep germs away?
Not really, said Emily Sickbert-Bennett, director of the University of North Carolina (UNC) Medical Center's Infection Prevention program and associate professor of epidemiology and infectious diseases at the UNC School of Medicine.
Related: Are viruses alive?
"There are more bacteria in and on our bodies than cells," Sickbert-Bennett told Live Science. There are lots of bacteria that naturally occur all over, in water and soil and on other animals, she added.
But these microbes aren't all bad, she said. In fact, most of them are innocuous unless they wind up in the wrong place — like the staphylococcus bacteria that live harmlessly in a person's nose but can be deadly in the bloodstream.
Other microbes are constantly pathogenic, meaning they are always a disease risk. The virus that causes COVID-19 is one of these, Sickbert-Bennett said. These more problematic microbes are likely what most people are worried about when they're trying to get rid of "germs."
So, is there any hope for keeping our environments clear of these microscopic bad guys?
Sickbert-Bennett said the better question to ask is not how to keep surfaces germ-free, but how to stop the germs found in our environments from causing infections.
"Surfaces can be disinfected with everyday household wipes or sprays, and that certainly eliminates the microbes that are found on those surfaces," she said, but those surfaces tend to become continuously recontaminated. Any time two surfaces interact, like a door knob and a finger, microbes are swapped. Plus, microbes in the air can quickly resettle on surfaces that were just disinfected.
"The most important thing is really thinking about the 'chain of infection,'" Sickbert-Bennett said — the small steps that have to happen for a microbe like a virus to infect someone. "Where are the points along that chain where you can interrupt it?" she asked.
In other words, though some harmful microbes might get into your home or onto your skin, the point is to make sure they don't get to a place where they can cause an infection. The COVID-19 bugs, for example, need to be transferred while intact into a person's respiratory system or eyes, so by washing hands before touching the nose, mouth or eyes — the chain of transmission for COVID-19 is broken.
So think about keeping E. Coli out of the gut by cooking food appropriately, and try to keep adenovirus — a common pink eye culprit — out of the eye by washing your hands and not touching your eyes. But otherwise don't stress too much about the world of microbes humans live in. The majority of these germs have their purpose and don't pose a risk to human health. And in fact, many microbes actually help animals thrive and survive, according to studies examining germ-free mice, Helen Vuong, a postdoctoral scholar of Integrative Biology and Physiology at the University of California, Los Angeles wrote in The Conversation .
"Even within our bodies there are a lot of good bacteria that are helping to outcompete the more pathogenic ones and keep us healthy," Sickbert-Bennett said.
Originally published on Live Science.


livescience--2020-10-24--SARS-CoV-2 uses a second secret doorway into cells

When it comes to how the coronavirus invades a cell , it takes three to tango .
The dance began with the ACE2 receptor , a protein on human cells that allows SARS-CoV-2 , the virus that causes COVID-19 , to enter and infect the cell .
But now enter a new dance partner – another protein – that is present on human cells .
This tango of three proteins – two human and one viral – enhances the ability of SARS-CoV-2 to enter human cells , replicate and cause disease .
COVID-19 has crippled health care systems and economies @ @ @ @ @ @ @ develop vaccines and other therapies to combat this virus .
But for these efforts to succeed , understanding how the virus enters cells is critical .
To that end , in two papers published in Science , two teams independently discovered that a protein called the neuropilin-1 receptor is an alternative doorway for SARS-CoV-2 to enter and infect human cells .
This is a major breakthrough and a surprise , because scientists thought neuropilin-1 played roles in helping neurons make the correct connections and aiding the growth of blood vessels .
Before this @ @ @ @ @ @ @ neuropilin-1 could be a door for SARS-CoV-2 to enter the nervous system .
My colleagues and I were particularly intrigued by these reports because as neuroscientists who study how pain signals are triggered and transmitted to the brain , we were also probing the activity of neuropilin-1 .
In a recent paper our team showed how neuropilin-1 is involved with pain signals and how , when the SARS-CoV-2 virus attaches to it , it blocks pain transmission and relieves pain .
The new work shows that neuropilin-1 is an independent doorway for the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ discovery provides insights that may reveal ways to block the virus .
A protein called Spike that sits on the outer surface of SARS-CoV-2 allows this virus to attach to protein receptors of human cells .
Recognizing that a tiny piece of Spike was similar to regions of human protein sequences known to bind to neuropilin receptors , both research teams realized that neuropilin-1 may be critical for infecting cells .
Using a technique called X-ray crystallography , which allows researchers to see the three-dimensional structure of the Spike protein at a resolution @ @ @ @ @ @ @ other biochemical approaches , James L. Daly of the University of Bristol and colleagues showed that this short sequence from Spike attached to neuropilin-1 .
In experiments in the lab , the SARS-CoV-2 virus was able to infect fewer human cells that lacked neuropilin-1 .
In cells with both the ACE2 and neuropilin-1 proteins , SARS-CoV-2 infection was greater compared to cells with either “ doorway ” alone .
Daly and colleagues showed that SARS-CoV-2 was able to infect fewer cells if they used a small molecule called EG00229 or antibodies to block @ @ @ @ @ @ @ neuropilin-1 .
Using similar methods , a team led by German and Finnish researchers came to the same conclusions as the first study .
Specifically , this team showed that neuropilin-1 was critical for the SARS-CoV-2 virus to enter and infect cells .
By using an antibody to block one region of the neuropilin-1 receptor protein , the researchers showed that SARS-CoV-2 harvested from COVID-19 patients could not infect cells .
In another experiment , Ludovico Cantuti-Castelvetri of the Technical University Munich and colleagues attached silver particles to synthetic Spike proteins made in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ were able to enter cells that carried neuropilin-1 on their surfaces .
When they did the same experiments in live mice , they found that the silver particles entered cells lining the nose .
The researchers were surprised to discover the Spike protein could also enter neurons and blood vessels within the brain .
Using tissues from human autopsies , Cantuti-Castelvetri and colleagues noted that neuropilin-1 was present in the cells lining the human respiratory and nasal passages , while the ACE2 protein was not .
This demonstrates that neuropilin-1 provides an independent @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the cells .
Moreover , cells lining the nasal passages from COVID-19 patients that were positive for neuropilin-1 were also positive for the Spike protein .
These findings confirmed that Spike uses the neuropilin-1 protein to infect human cells in regions of the body where ACE2 isn ’ t present .
In a surprising discovery recently reported by our lab , we found that the SARS-CoV-2 Spike protein has a pain-relieving effect .
Even more surprising was the finding that this analgesia involved the neuropilin 1 receptor .
We demonstrated that Spike prevented @ @ @ @ @ @ @ which blocked pain signals and brought pain relief .
That is because when this protein , called Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A ( VEGF-A ) – which is produced by many cells in the body – binds to neuropilin-1 under normal circumstances , it initiates the process of pain signaling by exciting neurons that convey pain messages .
So , the virus revealed to us a potential new target – the neuropilin-1 receptor – for managing chronic pain .
Now if we can decipher how neuropilin-1 contributes to pain signaling , then we @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ways to block pain .
In our lab , we are now taking advantage of how Spike engages neuropilin-1 to design new pain inhibitors .
In this report on the preprint server BioRxiv , we have identified a series of novel compounds that bind to neuropilin-1 in a manner that mimics Spike .
These molecules have the potential to interfere with neuropilin-1 function including SARS-CoV-2 virus entry , and block pain signals and even cancer growth .
More dance partners to come The studies by Daly and colleagues and Cantuti-Castelvetri and colleagues shift @ @ @ @ @ @ @ potential new target for COVID-19 therapies .
[ Deep knowledge , daily .
Sign up for The Conversation ’ s newsletter . ]
These studies also have implications for the development of vaccines against the Spike protein .
Perhaps the most important implication is that the neuropilin-1 binding region of Spike should be targeted for COVID-19 prevention .
Because a number of other human viruses , including Ebola , HIV-1 and highly virulent strains of avian influenza , also share this signature sequence of Spike , neuropilin-1 may be a promiscuous mediator of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the tango is not over yet .
More dance partners have emerged .
PIKFyve kinase and CD147 – two proteins – have also been shown to bind Spike and facilitate viral entry .
Whether these new partners take center stage or play second fiddle to ACE2 and neuropilin-1 remains to be seen .
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license .
Read the original article .
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@ @ @ @ @ @ @ author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher .
This version of the article was originally published on Live Science .

The novel coronavirus uses its spike protein (dark blue) to infiltrate host cells, whose machinery it uses to replicate its RNA (yellow).
When it comes to how the coronavirus invades a cell, it takes three to tango. The dance began with the ACE2 receptor, a protein on human cells that allows SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, to enter and infect the cell. But now enter a new dance partner – another protein – that is present on human cells. This tango of three proteins – two human and one viral – enhances the ability of SARS-CoV-2 to enter human cells, replicate and cause disease.
COVID-19 has crippled health care systems and economies worldwide. Extraordinary efforts are underway to develop vaccines and other therapies to combat this virus. But for these efforts to succeed, understanding how the virus enters cells is critical. To that end, in two papers published in Science, two teams independently discovered that a protein called the neuropilin-1 receptor is an alternative doorway for SARS-CoV-2 to enter and infect human cells. This is a major breakthrough and a surprise, because scientists thought neuropilin-1 played roles in helping neurons make the correct connections and aiding the growth of blood vessels. Before this new research, no one suspected that neuropilin-1 could be a door for SARS-CoV-2 to enter the nervous system.
My colleagues and I were particularly intrigued by these reports because as neuroscientists who study how pain signals are triggered and transmitted to the brain, we were also probing the activity of neuropilin-1. In a recent paper our team showed how neuropilin-1 is involved with pain signals and how, when the SARS-CoV-2 virus attaches to it, it blocks pain transmission and relieves pain. The new work shows that neuropilin-1 is an independent doorway for the COVID-19 virus to infect cells. This discovery provides insights that may reveal ways to block the virus.
Neuropilin-1 helps SARS-CoV-2 get in
A protein called Spike that sits on the outer surface of SARS-CoV-2 allows this virus to attach to protein receptors of human cells. Recognizing that a tiny piece of Spike was similar to regions of human protein sequences known to bind to neuropilin receptors, both research teams realized that neuropilin-1 may be critical for infecting cells.
Using a technique called X-ray crystallography, which allows researchers to see the three-dimensional structure of the Spike protein at a resolution of individual atoms, as well as other biochemical approaches, James L. Daly of the University of Bristol and colleagues showed that this short sequence from Spike attached to neuropilin-1.
In experiments in the lab, the SARS-CoV-2 virus was able to infect fewer human cells that lacked neuropilin-1.
In cells with both the ACE2 and neuropilin-1 proteins, SARS-CoV-2 infection was greater compared to cells with either “doorway” alone.
Daly and colleagues showed that SARS-CoV-2 was able to infect fewer cells if they used a small molecule called EG00229 or antibodies to block the Spike protein’s access to neuropilin-1.
Neuropilin-1 receptor helps virus infect cells
Using similar methods, a team led by German and Finnish researchers came to the same conclusions as the first study. Specifically, this team showed that neuropilin-1 was critical for the SARS-CoV-2 virus to enter and infect cells.
By using an antibody to block one region of the neuropilin-1 receptor protein, the researchers showed that SARS-CoV-2 harvested from COVID-19 patients could not infect cells.
In another experiment, Ludovico Cantuti-Castelvetri of the Technical University Munich and colleagues attached silver particles to synthetic Spike proteins made in the lab and found that these particles were able to enter cells that carried neuropilin-1 on their surfaces. When they did the same experiments in live mice, they found that the silver particles entered cells lining the nose. The researchers were surprised to discover the Spike protein could also enter neurons and blood vessels within the brain.
Using tissues from human autopsies, Cantuti-Castelvetri and colleagues noted that neuropilin-1 was present in the cells lining the human respiratory and nasal passages, while the ACE2 protein was not. This demonstrates that neuropilin-1 provides an independent doorway for the COVID-19 virus to infect the cells.
Moreover, cells lining the nasal passages from COVID-19 patients that were positive for neuropilin-1 were also positive for the Spike protein. These findings confirmed that Spike uses the neuropilin-1 protein to infect human cells in regions of the body where ACE2 isn’t present.
Neuropilin-1 can block viruses, cancer and pain
In a surprising discovery recently reported by our lab, we found that the SARS-CoV-2 Spike protein has a pain-relieving effect. Even more surprising was the finding that this analgesia involved the neuropilin 1 receptor.
We demonstrated that Spike prevented a protein from binding to neuropilin-1, which blocked pain signals and brought pain relief. That is because when this protein, called Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A (VEGF-A) – which is produced by many cells in the body – binds to neuropilin-1 under normal circumstances, it initiates the process of pain signaling by exciting neurons that convey pain messages.
So, the virus revealed to us a potential new target – the neuropilin-1 receptor – for managing chronic pain. Now if we can decipher how neuropilin-1 contributes to pain signaling, then we be able to target it to design ways to block pain.
In our lab, we are now taking advantage of how Spike engages neuropilin-1 to design new pain inhibitors. In this report on the preprint server BioRxiv, we have identified a series of novel compounds that bind to neuropilin-1 in a manner that mimics Spike. These molecules have the potential to interfere with neuropilin-1 function including SARS-CoV-2 virus entry, and block pain signals and even cancer growth.
More dance partners to come
The studies by Daly and colleagues and Cantuti-Castelvetri and colleagues shift our collective focus onto neuropilin-1 as a potential new target for COVID-19 therapies.
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These studies also have implications for the development of vaccines against the Spike protein. Perhaps the most important implication is that the neuropilin-1 binding region of Spike should be targeted for COVID-19 prevention. Because a number of other human viruses, including Ebola, HIV-1 and highly virulent strains of avian influenza, also share this signature sequence of Spike, neuropilin-1 may be a promiscuous mediator of viral entry.
But it appears that the tango is not over yet. More dance partners have emerged. PIKFyve kinase and CD147 – two proteins – have also been shown to bind Spike and facilitate viral entry. Whether these new partners take center stage or play second fiddle to ACE2 and neuropilin-1 remains to be seen.
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
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livescience--2020-10-24--Superbug may be spreading in hospitals overrun with COVID-19

As COVID-19 hospitalizations continue to surge around the world , another dangerous infection may also be sickening patients : a drug-resistant superbug called Candida auris , .
The superbug is a that can infect the ears and open wounds , and it can also enter the bloodstream to trigger severe infection throughout the body , according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ( CDC ) .
The yeast clings to surfaces and spreads easily in health care settings , especially among patients with catheters or other tubes that enter their bodies .
Now , early data hints @ @ @ @ @ @ @ may also be driving a surge of C. auris cases , according to the National Geographic report .
Notably , the United States has already reported 1,272 cases of the fungal infection this year , according to the CDC — that 's about a 400 % increase over the number of cases reported in all of 2018 , the most recent year with available data .
The number of cases in 2020 may be even higher than reported , given that the ongoing pandemic has disrupted surveillance systems used to track the fungus @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in the Candida genus closely resemble C. auris , so doctors can identify the yeast only by using a specialized laboratory test .
Related : 20 of the worst epidemics and pandemics in history '' Unfortunately , there have been places where we 've seen a resurgence of C. auris , '' Dr. Tom Chiller , head of the mycotic diseases branch at the CDC , told National Geographic .
`` We 've also seen it get into some of the acute care hospitals and also into some COVID-19 units … the concern @ @ @ @ @ @ @ shop in a place , it 's hard to get rid of . ''
According to the CDC , `` patients can remain colonized with C. auris for a long time , '' meaning the fungus can remain on their without necessarily causing overt symptoms , `` and C. auris can persist on surfaces in healthcare environments . ''
The superbug can also be notoriously difficult to treat .
The C. auris yeast comes in several variants that show resistance to different classes of ; in particular , many variants studied show resistance @ @ @ @ @ @ @ several show resistance to amphotericin B , a second-line antifungal drug that can be given if an initial antibiotic fails , National Geographic reported .
Due to drug-resistance , doctors must sometimes resort to treating patients with third-line drugs if a second-line treatment also fails .
Most known variants of C. auris can be treated with third-line antifungals called echinocandins , but these treatments are n't readily available in all countries and some variants of the yeast show resistance to all three classes of antifungals , the CDC notes .
Since the yeast @ @ @ @ @ @ @ thousand cases have been reported around the world ; about 30 % to 60 % of people infected with the fungus worldwide have died , although many of these people had other serious illnesses , simultaneously , according to the agency .
Dr. Anuradha Chowdhary , a professor of medical mycology at Vallabhbhai Patel Chest Institute at the University of Delhi , told National Geographic that COVID-19 patients should be regularly screened for C. auris , in order to accurately track rates of infection and identify which antibiotic treatments , if any , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ If we do n't identify it , then we do n't know if a patient is dying of COVID-19 or another infection , '' Chowdhary said .
But `` if it 's resistant to drugs , how will we treat it ? ''
she added .
If a given variant of C. auris resists all three classes of antifungal medication , `` multiple classes of antifungals at high doses may be required to treat the infection , '' but this treatment would be a last resort , the CDC notes .
Research suggests @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the same time may have an additive effect and help overpower the yeast 's resistance to individual drugs , although this still needs to be confirmed with more data .
You can learn more about C. auris at National Geographic .

As COVID-19 hospitalizations continue to surge around the world, another dangerous infection may also be sickening patients: a drug-resistant superbug called Candida auris, National Geographic reported .
The superbug is a yeast that can infect the ears and open wounds, and it can also enter the bloodstream to trigger severe infection throughout the body, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The yeast clings to surfaces and spreads easily in health care settings, especially among patients with catheters or other tubes that enter their bodies.
Now, early data hints that the influx of COVID-19 patients in hospitals may also be driving a surge of C. auris cases, according to the National Geographic report. Notably, the United States has already reported 1,272 cases of the fungal infection this year, according to the CDC — that's about a 400% increase over the number of cases reported in all of 2018 , the most recent year with available data. The number of cases in 2020 may be even higher than reported, given that the ongoing pandemic has disrupted surveillance systems used to track the fungus's spread. Other kinds of fungi in the Candida genus closely resemble C. auris, so doctors can identify the yeast only by using a specialized laboratory test.
Related: 20 of the worst epidemics and pandemics in history
"Unfortunately, there have been places where we've seen a resurgence of C. auris," Dr. Tom Chiller, head of the mycotic diseases branch at the CDC, told National Geographic. "We've also seen it get into some of the acute care hospitals and also into some COVID-19 units … the concern there is that once it sets up shop in a place, it's hard to get rid of."
According to the CDC, "patients can remain colonized with C. auris for a long time," meaning the fungus can remain on their skin without necessarily causing overt symptoms, "and C. auris can persist on surfaces in healthcare environments." The superbug can also be notoriously difficult to treat. The C. auris yeast comes in several variants that show resistance to different classes of antibiotic drugs ; in particular, many variants studied show resistance to the common antifungal fluconazole, and several show resistance to amphotericin B, a second-line antifungal drug that can be given if an initial antibiotic fails, National Geographic reported. Due to drug-resistance, doctors must sometimes resort to treating patients with third-line drugs if a second-line treatment also fails.
Most known variants of C. auris can be treated with third-line antifungals called echinocandins, but these treatments aren't readily available in all countries and some variants of the yeast show resistance to all three classes of antifungals, the CDC notes. Since the yeast was identified in 2009, a few thousand cases have been reported around the world; about 30% to 60% of people infected with the fungus worldwide have died, although many of these people had other serious illnesses, simultaneously, according to the agency.
Dr. Anuradha Chowdhary, a professor of medical mycology at Vallabhbhai Patel Chest Institute at the University of Delhi, told National Geographic that COVID-19 patients should be regularly screened for C. auris, in order to accurately track rates of infection and identify which antibiotic treatments, if any, might help affected patients recover.
"If we don't identify it, then we don't know if a patient is dying of COVID-19 or another infection," Chowdhary said. But "if it's resistant to drugs, how will we treat it?" she added.
If a given variant of C. auris resists all three classes of antifungal medication, "multiple classes of antifungals at high doses may be required to treat the infection," but this treatment would be a last resort, the CDC notes. Research suggests that using several classes of antifungal at the same time may have an additive effect and help overpower the yeast's resistance to individual drugs, although this still needs to be confirmed with more data.
You can learn more about C. auris at National Geographic.
Originally published on Live Science.