The New York Times, March 24, 2020

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In January, Chinese virologists isolated the virus that causes Covid-19. Earlier this month, a team of virologists gave this new virus a new name: SARS-CoV-2.

To do so, they had to move the virus to the head of a very, very long line.

In recent years, scientists have discovered that the world of virus diversity — what they sometimes call the virosphere — is unimaginably vast. They have uncovered hundreds of thousands of new species that have yet to be named. And they suspect that there are millions, perhaps even trillions, of species waiting to be found.

Continue reading “Welcome to the Virosphere” →

The New York Times, March 22, 2020

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Nearly 70 drugs and experimental compounds may be effective in treating the coronavirus, a team of researchers reported on Sunday night.

Some of the medications are already used to treat other diseases, and repurposing them to treat Covid-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus, may be faster than trying to invent a new antiviral from scratch, the scientists said.

The list of drug candidates appeared in a study published on the web site bioRxiv. The researchers have submitted the paper to a journal for publication.

Continue reading “Scientists Identify 69 Drugs to Test Against the Coronavirus” →

The New York Times, March 17, 2020

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Working at a breakneck pace, a team of hundreds of scientists has identified 50 drugs that may be effective treatments for people infected with the coronavirus.

Many scientists are seeking drugs that attack the virus itself. But the Quantitative Biosciences Institute Coronavirus Research Group, based at the University of California, San Francisco, is testing an unusual new approach.

The researchers are looking for drugs that shield proteins in our own cells that the coronavirus depends on to thrive and reproduce.

Continue reading “Hundreds of Scientists Scramble to Find a Coronavirus Treatment” →