The Petersburg Post

Friday, Jan 22nd, 2021 - Viruses mutate all the time, including the novel coronavirus that’s caused the global Covid-19 pandemic. Most of the changes have no apparent effect. But recent variants that have emerged in the U.K., South Africa and Brazil are causing particular concern. They don’t appear to be any more virulent than earlier strains, but studies suggest they are more contagious. An increase in infections has led to a surge in ...

Friday, Jan 22nd, 2021 - American pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly has said its monoclonal antibody therapy helped to prevent COVID-19 infections in a clinical trial. But what does monoclonal antibody therapy involve? Antibodies are proteins that the immune system produces to fight viruses, like SARS-CoV-2—which causes COVID-19. Monoclonal antibodies are produced in a lab but they function in much the same way as the ones found in the ...

Friday, Jan 22nd, 2021 - New research published in the journal Nature is outlining the long-term efficacy of a novel type of cancer vaccine. The research followed eight skin cancer patients and discovered the experimental treatment offers durable and persistent immune responses to cancer cells up to four years later. The type of personalized cancer vaccine being studied in the new research focuses on neoantigens, mutated molecules found ...

Thursday, Jan 21st, 2021 - New research suggests that pesticides are preventing insects from following a healthy and regular sleep schedule, a consequence that could help to explain why some pollinating insects are disappearing from the wild. A ground nesting bee pollinates a flower in New Hampshire. The species is one of 14 wild bee species identified in a 2019 study that are critical to pollinating fruits and vegetables across New England, ...