Sequencing of wastewater can help monitor SARS-COV-2 variants
2021-06-15
(Press-News.org) Washington, D.C. - June 15, 2021 - Viral genome sequencing of wastewater can provide an early warning system of emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants that is independent of investigations of identified clinical cases, according to a new study published in mSystems, an open-access journal of the American Society for Microbiology. In the study, researchers describe the detection and quantification of variant B.1.1.7, first identified in southeast England, in sewage samples from London, United Kingdom before widespread transmission of this variant was obvious from clinical cases.
"Wastewater sampling and environmental surveillance gives you a quick and accurate picture of what is happening with the coronavirus in the human population. Most people infected but not showing symptoms are not getting tested for the virus. Wastewater sampling gives you information on all people, including asymptomatic individuals, so it better reflects the circulation of the virus among humans," said study principal investigator Javier Martin, Ph.D., a biologist in the Division of Virology, National Institute for Biological Standards and Control, South Mimms, Potters Bar, Hertfordshire, United Kingdom "Environmental sampling and viral genome sequencing provide a less biased picture of virus circulating patterns among humans, how different variants predominate with time and how changes in strain predominance occurs."
In the new study, to evaluate the value of environmental surveillance for SARS-CoV-2 detection, researchers analyzed sewage samples collected in London between January 14, 2020 and January 26, 2021 for the presence of SARS-CoV-2. They had to distinguish the SARS-CoV-2 genetic signal from the billions of bacteria and viruses people excrete every day. "When we received a sample, we concentrated it using standard methods, and then we used PCR amplification and next generation sequencing targeting different regions of the genome to detect different genetic signatures characteristic of the different known variants," said Dr. Martin.
The researchers first detected variant B.1.1.7 in a sample from early November 2020, a few weeks before it was first noticed through clinical surveillance, and found that the frequency of B.1.1.7 mutations detected in sewage rapidly increased to >95% in January 2021, in accordance with increasing SARS-CoV-2 infections associated with B.1.1.7 viruses.
"Here, we show how environmental surveillance for SARS-CoV-2 can be used to help us understand virus transmission patterns and provide an early warning of variants becoming prevalent in the population," said Dr. Martin. "We will continue monitoring for the different variants focusing on those with potential high transmissibility and/or immune-evading properties. Our results contribute to a better epidemic control and future changes in vaccine design if necessary."
INFORMATION:
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
2021-06-15
Humans can do lots of things that plants can't do. We can walk around, we can talk, we can hear and see and touch. But plants have one major advantage over humans: They can make energy directly from the sun.
That process of turning sunlight directly into usable energy - called photosynthesis - may soon be a feat humans are able to mimic to harness the sun's energy for clean, storable, efficient fuel. If so, it could open a whole new frontier of clean energy. Enough energy hits the earth in the form of sunlight in one hour to meet all human civilization's energy needs for an entire year.
Yulia Puskhar, a biophysicist and professor of physics in Purdue's College of Science, may have a way to harness that energy by mimicking plants.
Wind ...
2021-06-15
Proper chromosome segregation into two future daughter cells requires the mitotic spindle to elongate in anaphase. However, although some candidate proteins are implicated in this process, the molecular mechanism that drives spindle elongation in human cells has been unknown, until now! Researchers at the Croatian Ruđer Bošković Institute (RBI) have discovered the exact molecular mechanism of bridging microtubules sliding and its role in proper distribution of genetic material during cell division. These latest results were published in the scientific journal Developmental Cell (IF: 10.092).
Cell division is a fundamental process required for stable transmission ...
2021-06-15
WASHINGTON -- Researchers have fabricated a magnetically driven rotary microfilter that can be used to filter particles inside a microfluidic device. They made the tiny turning filter by creating a magnetic material that could be used with a very precise 3D printing technique known as two-photon polymerization.
Microfluidic devices, also known as lab-on-a-chip devices, can be used to perform multiple laboratory functions inside a chip that usually measures a few square centimeters or less. These devices contain intricate networks of microfluidic channels and are becoming more and more complex. They may be useful for a variety of applications such as screening molecules ...
2021-06-15
Antidepressants can help humans emerge from the darkness of depression. Expose crayfish to antidepressants, and they too become more outgoing -- but that might not be such a positive thing for these freshwater crustaceans, according to a new study led by scientists with the University of Florida.
"Low levels of antidepressants are found in many water bodies," said A.J. Reisinger, lead author of the study and an assistant professor in the UF/IFAS soil and water sciences department. "Because they live in the water, animals like crayfish are regularly exposed to trace amounts of these ...
2021-06-15
Pharmaceutical pollution is found in streams and rivers globally, but little is known about its effects on animals and ecosystems. A new study, published in the journal Ecosphere, investigated the effects of antidepressant pollution on crayfish. Just two weeks of citalopram exposure caused changes in crayfish behavior, with the potential to disrupt stream ecosystem processes like nutrient cycling, oxygen levels, and algal growth.
Coauthor Emma Rosi, a freshwater ecologist at Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, says, "Animals living in streams and rivers are exposed to a chronic mix of pharmaceutical pollution as a result of wastewater contamination. Our study explored how antidepressant levels ...
2021-06-15
New Haven, Conn. --In a new study led by Yale Cancer Center, researchers show the nucleoside transporter ENT2 may offer an unexpected path to circumventing the blood-brain barrier (BBB) and enabling targeted treatment of brain tumors with a cell-penetrating anti-DNA autoantibody. The study was published today online in the Journal of Clinical Investigation Insight.
"These findings are very encouraging as the BBB prevents most antibodies from penetrating the central nervous system and limits conventional antibody-based approaches to brain tumors," said James E. Hansen, MD, associate professor of therapeutic radiology, radiation oncology chief of the Yale Gamma Knife Center at Smilow Cancer Hospital, and corresponding author of the study.
Deoxymab-1 (DX1) ...
2021-06-15
Ethiopia, Nigeria, Colombia, Myanmar and Syria are just a handful of the places around the world currently engaged in ongoing civil wars. Even when peace agreements can be negotiated to end civil wars, maintaining stability is incredibly challenging. In these fragile post-conflict areas, a small communal dispute can easily escalate and unravel peace deals.
Peacekeepers can help contain the spread of violence and promote peaceful interactions between groups, but how? And in what situations can peacekeepers be most effective? New research from Washington University ...
2021-06-15
Changing your eating habits or altering your circadian clock can impact healthy fat tissue throughout your lifespan, according to a preclinical study published today in Nature by researchers with The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth).
Healthy fat tissue helps provide energy, supports cell growth, protects organs, and keeps the body warm. A good quality diet and one that is consumed in a rhythmic manner (i.e., during our active cycle) is important in maintaining healthy fat, the researchers found.
Adipocyte progenitor cells mature into adipocytes - the healthy fat cells that make up our adipose tissue, which stores energy as fat. Researchers discovered that adipocyte progenitors undergo rhythmic daily proliferation throughout the ...
2021-06-15
A new model that applies artificial intelligence to carbohydrates improves the understanding of the infection process and could help predict which viruses are likely to spread from animals to humans. This is reported in a recent study led by researchers at the University of Gothenburg.
Carbohydrates participate in nearly all biological processes - yet they are still not well understood. Referred to as glycans, these carbohydrates are crucial to making our body work the way it is supposed to. However, with a frightening frequency, they are also ...
2021-06-15
Researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) have developed two rapid diagnostic tests for COVID-19 that are nearly as accurate as the gold-standard test currently used in laboratories. Unlike the gold standard test, which extracts RNA and uses it to amplify the DNA of the virus, these new tests can detect the presence of the virus in as little as five minutes using different methods.
One test is a COVID-19 molecular diagnostic test, called Antisense, that uses electrochemical sensing to detect the presence of the virus. The other uses a simple assay of gold nanoparticles to detect a color change when the virus is present. Both tests were developed by Dipanjan Pan, PhD, Professor of Diagnostic Radiology and Nuclear Medicine ...
LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:
[Press-News.org] Sequencing of wastewater can help monitor SARS-COV-2 variants
