SARS-CoV-2

The count of variants is dynamic, and as of 2023, the World Health Organization  (WHO) recognized nine variants in circulation. Over 50 variants have been identified, though some are no longer actively spreading. Here is a list of some notable COVID variants: Omicron (B.1.1.529)Omicron (B.1.1.529) is a strain of the SARS-CoV-2 virus initially reported to the WHO by the Network for Genomics Surveillance in South Africa on November 24, 2021.…

Quirks and Quarks54:01Cat facts — the latest science on our feline companionsCats have lived alongside humans for millennia, but there's still much we don't know about our companions. How do cats purr? Why do they look so annoyed all the time? And when and where did cats begin sharing homes with humans? Part of the issue with finding the answers to these questions is the notoriously secretive nature of domestic cats and their unwillingness to do what they're told — something that makes studying cats in a laboratory…

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New diseases in people almost always come from close contact between human populations and animals. A “spillover" happens when viruses from an animal species jump into humans and then go on to wreak havoc. But the idea that SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes covid-19, instead leaked from a Chinese research laboratory has persisted since the earliest days of the pandemic. Though this theory has rested largely on rumours and circumstantial evidence, it has nevertheless set the stage for a bitter…

Two recent publications appear to have bolstered the case for a natural origin connected to a “wet market" in Wuhan. These markets sell live animals, often housed in poor conditions, and are known to be sites where new pathogens jump from animal to human. Early cases of covid-19 clustered around this market. But critics counter that there are so many missing data about the epidemic’s initial days that this portrait may be inaccurate. The opposing idea of a leak from a laboratory is not…

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NEW DELHI : The Indian SARS-COV-2 Genomics Consortia (INSACOG) on Sunday said that Omicron and its sub-lineages continue to be the dominant variant in India. BA.2 and its descendent lineages, in particular, BA.2.75, have been mostly…

COVID-infected elderly individuals have a high chance of developing Alzheimer's disease within a year. a…

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The COVID-19 pandemic is by no means over, but as time goes on, scientists are learning more and more about the virus – and the various ways that we can protect against it, including new and improved face masks.  A new membrane-based respiratory mask developed by researchers can capture and deactivate SARS-CoV-2 spike proteins as it comes into contact with them. These spike proteins are what allow the virus to enter host cells once they're in the body.As per tests, almost 99 percent of targeted airborne particles can be…