July 16, 2021
Researchers at UC San Diego School of Medicine and Rady Children’s Institute for Genomic Medicine have produced a stem cell model that demonstrates a potential route of entry of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, into the human brain.
June 23, 2022
Researchers at UC San Diego, in collaboration with UC Santa Cruz, have developed a new software tool for tracing and mapping the evolution of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, that is capable of handling the unprecedented amount of genetic data being generated by the quickly evolving pathogen.
March 18, 2021
Using molecular dating tools and epidemiological simulations, researchers at UC San Diego School of Medicine estimate that the SARS-CoV-2 virus likely circulated undetected for two months before the first human cases of COVID-19 were described in Wuhan, China in late-December 2019.
February 24, 2021
UC San Diego School of Medicine researchers are using stem cell-derived organoids to study how SARS-CoV-2 interacts with various organ systems. Their findings may help explain the wide variety in COVID-19 symptoms and aid the search for therapies.
August 19, 2021
New visualizations of SARS-CoV-2 have allowed researchers to discover how the virus enters and infects healthy human cells. They found that glycan sugar molecules act as infection “gates” to our cell’s receptors.
April 28, 2021
UC San Diego School of Medicine researchers discovered one way in which SARS-CoV-2 hijacks human cell machinery to blunt the immune response, allowing it to establish infection, replicate and cause disease.
June 9, 2021
UC San Diego School of Medicine researchers discovered that SARS-CoV-2, or at least its genetic signature, abounds on hospital surfaces, often co-locating with one particular type of bacteria.
September 15, 2020
UC San Diego researchers discovered that the SARS-CoV-2 virus can’t grab hold of cell receptor ACE2 without a carbohydrate called heparan sulfate, which is also found on lung cell surfaces — disrupting that interaction with a repurposed drug may help treat COVID-19.
September 29, 2020
UC San Diego scientists are providing new clues on how cells defend themselves from attack from viruses. The new study advance’s science’s understanding of interferons— proteins that help combat viruses like SARS-CoV-2—with possible implications for new clinical treatments.
November 22, 2021
In May 2021, the Centers for Disease Control officially recognized that SARS-CoV-2—the virus that causes COVID-19—is airborne. Now UC San Diego Professor and Endowed Chair of Chemistry and Biochemistry Rommie Amaro has modeled the delta virus inside an aerosol for the first time.
