All of us, at least once, have asked this question: there is life on other planets? When thinking about extraterrestrial life we usually imagine little green creatures with antennae on their head, but what scientists are looking for are microscopic organisms, more similar to bacteria than to humans. The American National Aeronautics and Space AdministrationContinue reading “Searching for extraterrestrial microbes”
Category Archives: English version
The double helix of DNA: the secret of life
DNA is made up of two chains of nucleotides that pair to form a double helix. Genes are sequences of nucleotides that contain the information needed to make proteins. The central dogma explains the passage of information from DNA to proteins via RNA. Human genome sequencing and biotechnology are the basis of gene therapy and cell therapy.
Vaccines, antibodies and herd immunity (in a nutshell)
Vaccines make us immune to viruses and bacteria stimulating the immune system to produce antibodies. They have significantly contributed to reducing infant mortality and improving the health of the population. Vaccination was first introduced by Jenner in 1976. Vaccines protect not only the individual but also the entire community.
From the experiments to the publication: story of a manuscript
In one of my previous posts, I wrote about what being a scientist looks like, and I said that the final product of a researcher work is the publication of a paper. But how long is the path to publication? We said that a new hypothesis based on the current knowledge on a topic isContinue reading “From the experiments to the publication: story of a manuscript”
What we know about SARS-CoV-2
“Novel Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2” by NIAID is licensed under CC BY 2.0 (Virus emerging from the surface of an infected cell) We have heard about a new virus that was causing pneumonia since December 2019; the virus was spreading in China and it was temporarily called 2019-nCoV. On February 11th, 2020, the International Committee on TaxonomyContinue reading “What we know about SARS-CoV-2”
COVID-19
Dear all,at the link below a letter from Italian scientists working all over the world to raise further awareness amongst academics over the apparent lack of appropriate countermeasures to the spread of the Coronavirus in several countries.Please share with your network if you find it appropriate.You can add your signature adding a comment to theContinue reading “COVID-19”
A scientist’s life
When we are introduced to someone new, one of the first questions we ask is “What’s your job”? When I answer “I am a researcher”, behind the smiling face that usually replies “Cool!”, a big question mark about what a researcher actually does is hiding. Well, I’m here to answer this question. Usually, people imagineContinue reading “A scientist’s life”
The most common chronic viral infection
Viral infections can be classifed into acute or chronic. In the case of an acute infection, the virus survives in the host for a limited period of time before being cleared; if the virus persists in its host, the infection becomes chronic. Chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is the most common worldwide, with 468Continue reading “The most common chronic viral infection”
International Day of Women and Girls in Science
Every year, on February the 11th, we celebrate the International Day of Women and Girls in Science, declared by the General Assembly of the United Nations in 2015 in order to promote full and equal access to science, technology, and innovation to women of all ages. With the occasion of this special date, I haveContinue reading “International Day of Women and Girls in Science”
2019-nCoV: a Virus is born
In the last few weeks, a new virus causing pneumonia in humans has been identified: it has been temporarily called 2019-nCoV (2019 novel Coronavirus) and was detected for the first time in Wuhan, China. The website of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) reports that by January 26th, 2020, 2026 cases haveContinue reading “2019-nCoV: a Virus is born”
Virus&Co. 