To treat Ebola virus infections, researchers are taking a close look at a key piece of the virus: polymerase.

Polymerase is a viral protein that directs how Ebola virus replicates its genome as it infects new hosts. Drugs that target polymerase could potentially treat Ebola virus infections and save lives.

People who have had COVID-19 are at increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes. This is the result of a study by DDZ, DZD and IQVIA, which has now been published in Diabetologia.

Studies show that the human pancreas can also be a target of the SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus type 2 virus).

Years of toil in the laboratory have revealed how a marine bacterium makes a potent anti-cancer molecule.

The anti-cancer molecule salinosporamide A, also called Marizomb, is in Phase III clinical trials to treat glioblastoma, a brain cancer. Scientists now for the first time understand the enzyme-driven process that activates the molecule.

An antiviral drug used to treat SARS-CoV-2 remains effective against the newest variants of the evolving virus, according to Rutgers researchers.

The study, published in the journal Cell Research, is one of the first to explore the full extent of SARS-CoV-2 mutations.

Columbia Engineering researchers report that they have developed a "cloaking" system that temporarily hides therapeutic bacteria from immune systems, enabling them to more effectively deliver drugs to tumors and kill cancer cells in mice. By manipulating the microbes’ DNA, they programmed gene circuits that control the bacteria surface, building a molecular "cloak" that encapsulates the bacteria.

The first FDA-approved gene therapies are living drugs: immune cells taken from cancer patients engineered to target tumor cells. However, for many patients, these advanced therapies do not result in a long-lasting remission. Now, scientists at the New York Genome Center and New York University have developed a genetic screening platform to identify genes that can enhance immune cells to make them more persistent and increase their ability to eradicate tumor cells.

While many people in wealthier countries have been vaccinated against COVID-19, there is still a need for vaccination in much of the world. A new vaccine developed at MIT and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center may aid in those efforts, offering an inexpensive, easy-to-store, and effective alternative to RNA vaccines.