Scientists working to quell the COVID-19 pandemic think it will be possible to figure out which antibodies are most potent in quashing a coronavirus infection, and then make vast quantities of identical copies of these proteins synthetically.

This approach — using infusions of what are known as monoclonal antibodies – has already proved to be effective in fighting a variety of diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis and some cancers.

Several efforts a...

In this cohort study of 416 consecutive patients with confirmed COVID-19, cardiac injury occurred in 19.7% of patients during hospitalization, and it was one independent risk factor for in-hospital mortality.Cardiac injury is a common condition among patients hospitalized with COVID-19, and it is associated with higher risk of in-hospital mortality.

Objective 
To explore the association between cardiac injury and mortality in patients with COVID-19.



Design, Setti...

IBEC researchers work in collaboration with experts from Sweden, Canada and Austria who are working intensively these days to validate the effect of possible treatments that may slow or attenuate the ability of the virus to replicate in our body.

The fact that experts from all over the world have now reached to IBEC researchers is because groups such as the one led by Núria Montserrat are pioneers in the use of bioengineering techniques to create mini-organs that, like the respirat...

VESper™ is a new device that allows one ventilator to support up to four patients under emergency use authorization by the FDA. Hospitals can apply to receive the free source code and printing specifications for the device.



VESper™ is a unique ventilator expansion device that allows a single ventilator to support up to four patients during times of acute equipment shortages such as the current COVID-19 pandemic.

Produced using 3D printing technology, the device is d...

Network-based drug repurposing for novel coronavirus 2019-nCoV/SARS-CoV-2Abstract



Human coronaviruses (HCoVs), including severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) and 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV, also known as SARS-CoV-2), lead global epidemics with high morbidity and mortality. However, there are currently no effective drugs targeting 2019-nCoV/SARS-CoV-2. Drug repurposing, representing as an effective drug discovery strategy from existing drugs, c...

New modelling research, published in The Lancet Public Health journal, suggests that school and workplace closures in Wuhan, China have reduced the number of COVID-19 cases and substantially delayed the epidemic peak - giving the health system the time and opportunity to expand and respond.

Using mathematical modelling to simulate the impact of either extending or relaxing current school and workplace closures, researchers estimate that by lifting these control measures in Ma...

The idea of humanoid robots taking jobs previously done by humans may feel dystopian, but in the midst of the global COVID-19 pandemic, robots can free up human hospital medical staff and limit the possibility virus spread.

That’s precisely why Beijing-based robotics company CloudMinds sent 14 robots to Wuhan, China to help with patient care amid the coronavirus pandemic. 
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Current studies reveal that respiratory symptoms of COVID-19 such as fever, dry cough, even dyspnea represent the most common manifestations at visit similar to severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in 2003 and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) in 2012, which is firmly indicative of droplet transmission and contact transmission. However, the incidence of less common features like diarrhea, nausea, vomiting and abdominal discomfort varies significantly among different study popu...

Spain’s death toll from the coronavirus has surpassed the official figure from China, becoming the second highest in the world.
Figures released by the health ministry on Wednesday showed that in just 24 hours, Spain’s national death toll rose by 738. Its number of cases soared by 7,973.These are the highest figures for Spain in a single day. The country now has 47,610 confirmed cases.Click here for reference

SARS-CoV-2 shares 82% genome sequence similarity to SARS-CoV and 50% genome sequence homology to Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV)—all three coronaviruses are known to cause severe respiratory symptoms. Liver impairment has been reported in up to 60% of patients with SARS3 and has also been reported in patients infected with MERS-CoV.4 At least seven relatively large-scale case studies have reported the clinical features of patients with COVID-19.
In this Co...

The Folding@home initiative aims to simulate the dynamics of COVID-19 proteins to hunt for new therapeutic opportunities.

Their specialty is in using computer simulations to understand proteins’ moving parts. Watching how the atoms in a protein move relative to one another is important because it captures valuable information that is inaccessible by any other means. Taking the experimental structures as starting points, they simulate how all the atoms in the protein ...

Owing to the rapid spread of the coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2), an extraordinary situation has been declared,1 and acute hospitals will therefore be confronted with a massive influx of patients. Initially, this can be absorbed by the restriction of elective procedures,2 the transfer of patients to intermediate care units (IMCUs), an increase in ventilator-equipped beds, and the avoidance of personnel-intensive treatment options. However, if insufficient resources are available, rationing...