In a recent study published in Nature Structural & Molecular Biology, researchers led by Prof. ZHANG Xinzheng at the Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, utilized cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) along with their self-developed algorithm, GisSPA, to capture dynamic, periodic changes in ribosomal translation within the cells of Saccharomyces cerevisiae—also known as Brewer’s yeast—at near-atomic resolution.

Nipah virus (NiV) is a zoonotic paramyxovirus that has recently emerged as a crucial public health issue. It can elicit severe encephalitis and respiratory diseases in animals and humans, leading to fatal outcomes, exhibiting a wide range of host species tropism, and directly transmitting from animals to humans or through an intermediate host. Human-to-human transmission associated with recurrent NiV outbreaks is a potential global health threat. Currently, the lack of effective therapeutics or licensed vaccines for NiV necessitates the primary utilization of supportive care. In this review, we summarize current knowledge of the various aspects of the NiV, including therapeutics, vaccines, and its biological characteristics, epidemiology, pathogenesis, and clinical features. The objective is to provide valuable information from scientific and clinical research and facilitate the formulation of strategies for preventing and controlling the NiV.

Pediatric ear, nose and throat (ENT) infections are highly prevalent and may require invasive surgical procedures to extract samples for identifying causal pathogens. However, this takes time and patients are prescribed broad-spectrum antibiotics until results are available. This leads to increased treatment costs and antibiotic-derived side-effects. A new Pediatric Investigation study examines the potential of a new diagnostic tool – microbial cell-free DNA (mcfDNA) testing – which may offer a simple alternative to traditional culturing methods.