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Biochemistry Chemistry in the News Coronavirus

How does the Oxford & AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine work? A guide to viral vector vaccines

Relatively hot on the heels of the Pfizer & BioNTech RNA vaccine, today the UK has approved the Oxford University & AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine. The Oxford vaccine is a viral vector vaccine, which works slightly differently to the RNA vaccines. This graphic, made with the Royal Society of Chemistry, looks at how they work and […]

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C&EN Coronavirus Medicinal Chemistry

A guide to COVID-19 testing – in C&EN

We’re several months into the COVID-19 pandemic, and testing is vital to preventing the spread of the novel coronavirus. The latest edition of Periodic Graphics in Chemical and Engineering News looks at how current diagnostics work and what they tell us. Click to view the full graphic on the C&EN site.

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Chemistry in the News Coronavirus Medicinal Chemistry

Antibody tests, part 2: How do antibody tests work?

Last week, we looked at what coronavirus antibody tests can and can’t tell us. In part 2 of this series of graphics on antibody testing, we look at how the tests work to arrive at their results. As we’ll see, there’s not only one type of antibody test and they can vary in accuracy and […]

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Chemistry in the News Coronavirus Medicinal Chemistry

Antibody tests, part 1: What can antibody tests tell us?

Have you already had COVID-19? Even if you’ve had symptoms consistent with it, you may not know for certain if you didn’t have a test at the time. But newly approved antibody tests may be able to tell you if you had the infection. What exactly can these tests tell us? Part one of this […]

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Biology Coronavirus Medicinal Chemistry

How does immunity work? In C&EN

When you recover from an infection, what stops you from catching it again? The latest edition of Periodic Graphics in C&EN looks at how our immune system responds to infections like coronavirus, how we can test to see if someone’s had an infection, and how vaccines work to prevent them. View the full graphic on […]

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Biology Chemistry in the News Coronavirus

Four ways to destroy coronavirus

How do you fight something you can’t see? That’s the question when it comes to the coronavirus crisis which currently has many of us holed up at home. Physical distancing is one important answer to preventing the spread of the virus, as avoiding catching it in the first place stops you from spreading it to […]