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QBRI Insights: Our Natural Defense Against COVID-19 20 Apr 2020 Home Social distancing and quarantine are causing many of us to feel anxious and wonder why such tough measures have been put in place. Naturally, the question everyone is asking is: when will this end? Humans possess a complex natural defense army, the immune system, which responds to viral infections. In most survivors, the immune system wins the fight, clears the infection, and the recovered patient is now immune to future …

QBRI Insights: The Biology of SARS-CoV-2 28 Apr 2020 Home Viruses, including SARS-CoV-2, the virus strain that causes the coronavirus (COVID-19), cannot thrive on their own and rely on infecting host cells in humans or animals to reproduce. Research in molecular biology has allowed us to explore the ‘inside information’ on SARS-CoV-2 and its pathogenic mechanisms. This week QBRI experts explain what happens once the virus finds a way to enter the human body and how this understanding is being …

QBRI Insights: Factors Influencing COVID-19 Severity 05 May 2020 Home The majority of COVID-19 cases are mild and patients recover quickly. However, about 15% of the cases are severe and require intensive care. This week, QBRI’s experts discuss various aspects that may contribute to COVID-19 progression. COVID-19 and Comorbidities The global COVID-19 mortality rate (3-7%) appears to be far higher than for seasonal flu (0.1%). The excess deaths caused by COVID-19 have been associated with age …

QBRI Insights: Battling COVID-19 with CRISPR 12 May 2020 Home CRISPR (pronounced “crisper”) is an acronym for ‘Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats’ and is one of the major breakthroughs in modern molecular biology. This week QBRI experts explain how this bacterial immune system can be used to treat and diagnose COVID-19 in humans. CRISPR technology The recently discovered gene-manipulating CRISPR technology has been hailed for its superior ability to edit genes. CRISPR is …

… measures such as social distancing, quarantining, and lockdown have been put in place in most countries, including Qatar, for the past two months. As some countries begin to reopen, the uncertainty still looms. SARS-CoV-2 is a … measures such as social distancing, quarantining, and lockdown have been put in place in most countries, including Qatar, for the past two months. As some countries begin to reopen, the uncertainty still looms. SARS-CoV-2 is a …

QBRI Insights: COVID-19: Serological Tests and Neurological Complications 02 Jun 2020 Home The COVID-19 pandemic has necessitated rapid, scalable and inexpensive diagnostic tests to identify symptomatic and asymptomatic cases. In edition two of QBRI Insights, the institute’s experts explained the rationale behind serology-based tests.  But how are these tests actually done? This week we talk about two popular methods, the lateral flow assay (LFA) and the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay …

QBRI Insights: SARS-CoV-2 Stability and Neutralization 10 Jun 2020 Home Most of us have been frantically disinfecting surfaces in fear of transmission of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. But is the virus airborne too? And once inside the human body, can the virus be neutralized? This week, QBRI experts discuss recent studies highlighting the surface and aerosol stability of SARS-CoV-2 and scientific advances in battling the infection with neutralizing antibodies. SARS-CoV-2 Stability on Surfaces and in …

QBRI Insights: COVID-19 Diagnostic Biomarkers and Anti-Viral Treatments 16 Jun 2020 Home Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, global research efforts have been directed to improving our understanding of the disease, its progression, and opportunities for intervention to treat patients. This week, QBRI experts discuss various parameters that can reflect the COVID-19 patient status and highlight key results from early clinical trials investigating the efficacy of repurposing anti-viral drugs …

QBRI Insights: Influence of Host and Viral Genome Variation on COVID-19 24 Jun 2020 Home The entire human genome is made up of 6.4 billion nucleotides, which are individual positions in the human DNA denoted by the letters ‘A’,’T’,’C’ and ‘G’. In comparison, the SARS-CoV-2 genome is much smaller, with only about 29,000 nucleotides. This week, QBRI experts discuss how variations in the human host and viral genome sequence may determine the risk and severity of COVID-19. Mutation of SARS-CoV-2  …

QBRI Insights: COVID-19 in Pediatric Cases and Diabetic Patient Management 07 Jul 2020 Home Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic earlier this year, researchers and medical practitioners have been intensively studying the etiology of this disease and discerning its risk is population sub-groups. This week, QBRI experts discuss what is known about COVID-19 in children and how the disease can be managed in high-risk diabetic patients. COVID-19 in Children The COVID-19 pandemic has not been …