As the SARS-CoV-2 virus replicates and spreads, errors in its genetic code can lead to changes in the virus. On 26 November 2021, the World Health Organization designated the variant B.1.1.529, first identified in South Africa, a variant of concern, named Omicron. The variant carries a large number of mutations, leading to concern that it will […]

Since childhood Stephen Baker says he had a grim fascination with poo. He caught the bug for microbiology and spent 12 years in Vietnam researching bacteria that cause diarrhoea. Stephen thinks that antibiotic-resistant bacteria is likely to be humanity’s biggest killer in the future. But says that if we keep doing the science, we have […]

While the discovery could have implications for improving the safety of repurposed ‘surge wards’, the researchers say it also opens up the possibility of being able to set standards for cleaner air to reduce the risk of airborne transmission of infections. Over the duration of the pandemic there has been a steady rise in the […]

Hear from some of the scientists behind the UK’s nationwide sequencing effort to track SARS-CoV-2. Sir Patrick Vallance (the government’s Chief Scientific Adviser) also describes how the expertise that came together during the pandemic is now recognised across the world – and why it’s crucially important to continue to sequence to be ready for future […]

Farming large numbers of carnivores, like mink, could allow the formation of undetected ‘disease reservoirs’, in which a pathogen could spread to many animals and mutate to become a risk to human health. Research led by the University of Cambridge has discovered that carnivores have a defective immune system, which makes them likely to be […]

The study provides previously unprecedented detail on how infections might spread in a hospital context, showing that a minority of individuals can cause most of the transmission. The researchers analysed data from the first wave of the pandemic, between March and June 2020.  While a great deal of effort is made to prevent the spread […]

An established virologist specialising in the field of HIV drug-resistance, Ravi Gupta pivoted his expertise to address the COVID-19 pandemic. Over the last 18 months his pioneering research has helped us to stay one step ahead of emerging variants. He talks about his career as an infectious disease specialist and, in celebration of South Asian […]

The heart is one the major organs damaged by infection with SARS-CoV-2, particularly the heart cells, or ‘cardiomyocytes’, which contract and circulate blood. It is also thought that damage to heart cells may contribute to the symptoms of long COVID. Patients with underlying heart problems are more than four times as likely to die from […]

Around four out of five people in the UK are thought to be infected with HCMV, and in developing countries this can be as high as 95%. For the majority of people, the virus remains dormant, hidden away inside white blood cells, where it can remain undisturbed and undetected for decades. If the virus reactivates […]

The team has received funding from the National Institute for Health Research to develop a test that could complement existing antibody tests. They also aim to use similar biological signatures to develop a test and monitor for long COVID. While most people recover from COVID-19 in a matter of days or weeks, around one in […]