Monthly Archives: April 2012

After many setbacks, cross-presentation provides new hope for a Herpes Simplex Virus 1 vaccine

Posted on April 27, 2012 by David Esteban

Contributed by guest blogger: Stephanie Mischell ’12
Herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) is making news due to a paper by Jing et al identifying two promising new candidate antigens for a vaccine. HSV-1 is a widespread public health issue, infecting … Continue reading →

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Posted in Guest Blogger, Immunology, Vaccines | Tagged , , , , | 5 Comments

Luring HIV out of its latency may be the secret to developing an effective HIV cure

Posted on April 19, 2012 by David Esteban

Contributed by guest blogger: Steven Chan ‘12
The emergence of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) in the treatment of HIV-infected individuals has certainly changed the outlook of an HIV diagnosis today, compared to what such an outlook looked like in the … Continue reading →

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Posted in Antiviral Drugs, Epidemics, Immunology, Molecular Virology | Tagged , , , , | 7 Comments

The Viral Theory of Schizophrenia

Posted on April 17, 2012 by David Esteban

Contributed by guest blogger: Hannah Ziobrowski ’12
Schizophrenia is a severely debilitating mental illness with no known cause or cure, although there is a strong genetic correlation.  Interestingly, there is additionally a significant relationship between season of birth and the development … Continue reading →

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Posted in Guest Blogger, Immunology | Tagged , , , | 21 Comments

Herpes-Family Viruses are Associated with Stressed Out Corals

Posted on April 13, 2012 by David Esteban

Contributed by guest blogger: Ian Heller ‘12
A new review out in the Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology is causing a rash of media attention regarding the presence of viruses in stressed out coral. However, this media attention, with … Continue reading →

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Posted in Environmental virology, Guest Blogger | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments

Zinc ionophores block the replication of nidovirus

Posted on April 10, 2012 by David Esteban

Contributed by guest blogger: Brian Lu ’13
Zinc ions function in many different cellular processes and have been shown to play important roles in the proper folding and activity of various cellular enzymes and transcription factors, but zinc ion concentrations are … Continue reading →

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Posted in Guest Blogger, Molecular Virology | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Natural Resistance: How Your Genes Can Determine The Severity of Your Influenza Infection

Posted on April 6, 2012 by David Esteban

Contributed by guest blogger: Jared Saunders ’13
Every winter, the general public frantically agonizes over influenza prevention and protection. But is the purchase of hand sanitizer in bulk and tissue boxes by the dozen really necessary? After all, many people don’t … Continue reading →

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Posted in Guest Blogger, Immunology, Molecular Virology | Tagged , , , , , | 6 Comments

Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy and Tenofovir: Lowering HIV Viral Loads, Raising the Risk of Renal Failure

Posted on April 4, 2012 by David Esteban

Contributed by guest blogger: Michael McManus ‘12
People undergoing anti-retroviral therapies, which target and interrupt the replicative processes of HIV, are living longer due to the relative success of treatments. Those with HIV are using these drug cocktails for longer periods … Continue reading →

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Posted in Antiviral Drugs, Epidemics | Tagged , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Fighting Fire with Fire: Using Poxviruses to Combat Cancer

Posted on April 2, 2012 by David Esteban

Contributed by guest blogger: Brooke Schieffer ’12
In September of last year, a group of researchers infected cancer patients with a genetically engineered poxvirus. While this may sound like something out of a horror movie, it is actually quite the opposite: … Continue reading →

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Posted in Guest Blogger, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | 11 Comments