Hello Nature readers, would you like to get this Briefing in your inbox free every day? Sign up here. Dairy cattle seem to survive infection with the H5N1 strain of influenza virus, which has killed millions of wild birds.Credit: Ben Brewer/Reuters As the first-known outbreak of H5N1 avian influenza in cows continues in the United … Read more
Stem-cell researcher Carolina Florian didn’t trust what she was seeing. Her elderly laboratory mice were starting to look younger. They were more sprightly and their coats were sleeker. Yet all she had done was to briefly treat them — many weeks earlier — with a drug that corrected the organization of proteins inside a type … Read more
A population of neurons in the brain stem, the stalk-like structure that connects the bulk of the brain to the spinal cord, acts as the master dial for the immune system.Credit: Voisin/Phanie/Science Photo Library Scientists have long known that the brain plays a part in the immune system — but how it does so has … Read more
Blood stem cells (example pictured; artificially coloured) generate red blood cells and immune cells.Credit: Science Photo Library Old mice developed more youthful immune systems after scientists reduced aberrant stem cells in the aged animals1. The technique strengthened the old rodents’ responses to viral infection and lowered signs of inflammation. The approach, published on 27 March … Read more
mRNA vaccines developed against the spike glycoprotein of severe acute respiratory syndrome type 2 coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2), displayed remarkable efficiency in combating coronavirus 19 (COVID-19). These vaccines work by triggering both cellular and humoral immune responses against the spike protein of the virus. Cellular immunity may play a more protective role than humoral immunity to variants … Read more