Researchers use microRNA to trap mutant viruses in the lab
Details of lab-made bird flu won't be revealed (Update)
The U.S. government paid scientists to figure out how the deadly bird flu virus might mutate to become a bigger threat to people - and two labs succeeded in creating new strains that are easier to spread.
Boys will infect boys, swine flu study shows
Boys predominantly pass on flu to other boys and girls to girls, according to a new study of how swine flu spread in a primary school during the 2009 pandemic, published today in the journal Proceedings of the National Ac ...
On Twitter, anti-vaccination sentiments spread more easily than pro-vaccination sentiments
On Twitter, a popular microblogging and social-networking service, statements about vaccines may have unexpected effects—positive messages may backfire, according to a team of Penn State University researchers ...
A SMART(er) way to track influenza
In April 2009, the world took notice as reports surfaced of a virus in Mexico that had mutated from pigs and was being passed from human to human. The H1N1 "swine flu," as the virus was named, circulated worldwide, ...
Computer-designed proteins programmed to disarm variety of flu viruses
Computer-designed proteins are under construction to fight the flu. Researchers are demonstrating that proteins found in nature, but that do not normally bind the flu, can be engineered to act as broad-spectrum ...
Manufacturing genes to attack flu virus
An international research team has manufactured a new protein that can combat deadly flu epidemics.
Virus 'barcodes' offer rapid detection of mutated strains
Researchers at the University of Leeds are developing a way to 'barcode' viral diseases to rapidly test new outbreaks for potentially lethal mutations.
Go-ahead for bird flu study publication after security check (Update)
Bird flu experts meeting in Geneva on Friday ruled that controversial research on a mutant form of the virus potentially capable of being spread among humans should be made public.
Bird flu researchers agree to 60-day halt (Update 2)
International scientists on Friday agreed to a temporary two-month halt to controversial research on a bird flu virus that may be easily passed among humans, citing global health concerns.
Compound kills highly contagious flu strain by activating antiviral protein
A compound tested by UT Southwestern Medical Center investigators destroys several viruses, including the deadly Spanish flu that killed an estimated 30 million people in the worldwide pandemic of 1918.
Scientists find H1N1 flu virus prevalent in animals in Africa
(PhysOrg.com) -- UCLA life scientists and their colleagues have discovered the first evidence of the H1N1 virus in animals in Africa. In one village in northern Cameroon, a staggering 89 percent of the pigs ...
'Networking' turns up flu viruses with close ties to pandemic of 2009
Scientists using new mathematical and computational techniques have identified six influenza A viruses that have particularly close genetic relationships to the H1N1 "swine" flu virus that swept through the United States ...
The problem with predictions: Speaker says peering into future remains an imperfect science
People have always yearned to see into the future, to peek around the corner and make sense of what's going on, according to author and mathematician David Orrell. But predicting the future is difficult. ...