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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 …

QBRI Insights: Severe COVID-19 Immunopathology and Computed Tomography-Based Diagnosis 21 Jul 2020 Home While the majority of COVID-19 patients experience mild symptoms, about 20% of cases develop severe pneumonia and respiratory failure. This week, QBRI experts discuss the hyper-activation of the immune defense system and detection of pneumonia by Computed Tomography (CT) in severe COVID-19 cases.  The immune landscape in severe COVID-19 The major elements of the human immune system (Figure 1) …

… incidence of cirrhosis, a late stage of liver damage, in the general population varies between 4.5% and 9.5% (4).  In Qatar, according to a 2017 Global Burden of Disease report, liver cirrhosis was the seventh leading cause of death (5). … incidence of cirrhosis, a late stage of liver damage, in the general population varies between 4.5% and 9.5% (4).  In Qatar, according to a 2017 Global Burden of Disease report, liver cirrhosis was the seventh leading cause of death (5). …

The Role of Convalescent Plasma Therapy in Treating COVID-19 Patients 25 Aug 2020 Home Dr. Nour Majbour, Research Associate at QBRI’s Neurological Disorders Research Center, and Dr. Omar El-Agnaf, Executive Director of QBRI, discuss how convalescent plasma can aid recovery from COVID-19 Convalescent plasma was once the traditional therapeutic approach for preventing and treating bacterial and viral infections, but the development of antibiotics and vaccines saw its role greatly diminishing. …