Biomedicine & Disease

Which countries are most and least open to embracing a safe and effective COVID vaccine?
[A] study, which polled the opinions of over 13,000 people from Europe, Africa, Asia and the Americas and was published [October 20] ...

Politics spoiling Americans’ trust in COVID-19 vaccines
[H]ow can politicians convince large swathes of the American public to take a vaccine once it becomes available? The answer ...

Viewpoint: Creating a COVID vaccine may turn out to be the easiest part. Logistics pose a global nightmare
Governments deserve credit for supporting [COVID vaccine] advances through public subsidies. But that was always going to be the easy ...

Podcast: Beyond CRISPR and gene therapy—How ‘gene writing’ is poised to transform the treatment of even the rarest diseases
In just a few short years, gene editing has launched a biomedical revolution, yielding previously unimaginable treatments for conditions ranging ...

Video: Test everyone – Slovakia goes its own way to control COVID
As Europe sees record coronavirus cases and deaths, Slovakia is testing its entire adult population. WSJ's Drew Hinshaw explains how ...

Why Moderna’s vaccine appears to be significantly superior to the Pfizer-BioNTech shot
Unlike Pfizer’s vaccine, Moderna’s shot can be stored at normal fridge temperatures, which should make it easier to distribute, a ...

Reliable, at-home, 11 minute COVID test green lighted by FDA, available within months
Many tests take days to produce results, require leaving quarantine to visit a medical professional, or — most likely — ...

Vaccine to target COVID-19 strains prevalent in Africa under development in Nigeria, but funding is a challenge
Though researchers in Nigeria have developed a DNA-based vaccine against COVID-19 specifically for Africa, they are struggling to find funding ...

Why is it taking so long to rollout home COVID tests?
Although no single test will end the pandemic in the United States, experts say the ability for people to take ...

‘Like a fire alarm and a sprinkler system all in one’: Immune proteins keep some COVID patients from getting seriously ill
Dr. Megan Ranney has learned a lot about COVID-19 since she began treating patients with the disease in the emergency ...

Pfizer COVID trial patient calls vaccine ‘miracle from the biotech revolution’
It was early August, and I had enlisted in the clinical trial for the vaccine that has just reported very ...

The COVID vaccine race champion appears to be mRNA technology used by Pfizer and Moderna. Here’s a primer
There are about a dozen experimental vaccines in late-stage clinical trials globally, but the ones being tested by Pfizer and Moderna are ...

Now there are two: Modern’s mRNA COVID-19 vaccine 94.5% successful, joins Pfizer-BioNTech collaboration in targeting pandemic
The Moderna vaccine reduced the risk of Covid-19 infection by 94.5%. There were 95 cases of infection among patients who ...

Superdonors: Recovered COVID patients with high antibody levels in demand by blood banks and researchers
There is new determination in the search for high-antibody plasma because under FDA guidelines issued earlier this month, all donated ...

On the heels of Pfizer’s COVID vaccine announcement, Russia says their Sputnik V shot is 92% effective
Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine is 92% effective at protecting people from COVID-19 according to interim trial results, the country’s sovereign ...

Why both Pfizer and Moderna’s vaccines must be stored at -94°F
The good news shot around the planet within minutes: American pharmaceutical behemoth Pfizer, in collaboration with the German firm BioNTech, ...

Viewpoint: This is no time to cut corners on regulation of COVID-19 vaccines
With COVID-19 cases, the percentage of positive test results, and hospitalizations reaching record levels in much of the nation, the ...

Sewage tests can predict where the next COVID surge might arise
Across the United States, scientists have been analyzing sewage water to determine how intense [COVID] outbreaks might be, given limits on testing, ...

Despite poor healthcare, Africa leads the world in controlling COVID-19. Here are some reasons why
The COVID-19 pandemic has taken a huge toll on healthcare systems worldwide, but many African countries have done a commendable ...

Viewpoint: ‘Untold human death and suffering’: What could be the impact of the Trump administration plan to reach herd immunity
“Surrendering to the virus” is not a defensible plan, says Kristian Andersen, an immunologist at the Scripps Research Institute in ...

Will antibody therapies work on patients with severe COVID? Setbacks in new Lilly, Regeneron drugs raise serious doubts
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals and Eli Lilly have [reported clinical study setbacks, which] raised questions about the effectiveness of antibody therapies in ...

Temper the celebration: 2-shot Pfizer COVID vaccine appears 90% effective but it’s not known for how long or its impact on severe cases
Pfizer and BioNTech's vaccine is reportedly successful in preventing 90% of infections according to early data from a Phase 3 ...

With Slovakia and Liverpool opting to test everyone, European countries mull dramatic expansion of COVID testing
Slovakia attempted to test its entire adult population, or every resident between 10 and 65. [COVID] cases have been surging ...

Why the COVID death rate is dropping even as case numbers soar
One recent study looking at the case fatality rate in the New York region from March to August found that the ...

Viewpoint: Why minority groups should be over-represented in COVID-19 vaccine trials
BioNTech SE, Moderna Inc. and Pfizer Inc. have publicly said they’re pushing to enroll a more diverse group of participants in the pivotal ...

The 5-minute COVID-19 test is here
Researchers have used CRISPR gene-editing technology to come up with a test that detects the pandemic coronavirus in just 5 ...

Podcast: Polymerase chain reaction—The ‘transformative’ tool that sparked a genetics revolution
In this episode we’re taking a look at the story and the characters behind one of the most transformative - ...

CRISPR-based diagnostic tools will be able to rapidly diagnose future pandemics
Although [CRISPR] gene-editing technology [COVID] tests are still being developed and won't be ready in the United States this year as the weather ...