In BulletsThe impressive ability of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, the causative agent of COVID-19, to mutate and emerge into a new variant has prompted scientists to look for a universal vaccine to protect from all variants of the virus (Alpha/Delta, Beta, Omicron). For the virus to dock itself to body receptors in order to gain entry into cells and infect, the Receptor Binding Domain is crucial. In a recent study, researchers have created a universal SARS-CoV-2 DNA vaccine that neutralizes huCoV-19/WH01, Beta, Delta, and Omicron virus in a mouse model. To achieve this, the team has combined receptor-binding domain (RBD) loops of the S protein from huCoV-19/WH01, Alpha, and Beta variants, and the envelope protein M and the nucleocapsid protein N from the huCoV-19/WH01 variant (OC2.4). They found that the unique universal SARS-CoV DNA vaccine triggers more broadly neutralizing activity against the huCoV-19/WH01, Beta, Delta, and Omicron variants than standard vaccines, which are generally spike-based. The team aims for a first-in-man phase 1 clinical trial before its use as a booster vaccine to existing mRNA vaccines.
More information: Appleberg et al. (2022). A universal SARS-CoV DNA vaccine inducing highly cross-reactive neutralizing antibodies and T cells. EMBO Molecular Medicine. DOI:10.15252/emmm.202215821
Journal information: EMBO Molecular Medicine
Earlier studies have proven that the amount of social interaction impacts an individual's psychological well-being. Now, to find the impact of interacting with diverse groups of people in an individual's life, a group of researchers conducted a survey and found that people who interact with a wide variety of other people tend to experience greater satisfaction with their life than those who do not.
More information: Hanne K. Collins et al. (2022). Relational diversity in social portfolios predicts well-being. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2120668119
Journal information: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Recently researchers have discovered a surprising treasure from a monastery in Egypt — a hidden map beneath a religious text. The map seems to be a part of the lost star catalog. It is believed that the map belongs to the astronomer Hipparchus who was thought to have made the earliest known attempt to map the entire sky. Researchers have been searching for Hipparchus’s catalog for centuries.
More information: Hanne K. Collins et al. (2022). New evidence for Hipparchus’ Star Catalogue revealed by multispectral imaging. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. DOI: 10.1177/00218286221128289
Journal information: Journal for the History of Astronomy