SARS-CoV-2 articles from across Nature Portfolio

SARS-CoV-2 Omicron lineage BA.2.86 has over 30 mutations compared to the parental BA.2 lineage. Here Bdeir and colleagues apply reverse mutational scanning to determine which among these mutations present in Omicron BA.2.86 are epitopes linked to immune escape from antibody recognition.

Long Fung Chau and colleagues report the generation of transgenic pigs expressing human ACE2, and show that they exhibit clinical signs and immunopathology consistent with COVID-19 following infection with SARS-CoV-2, suggesting that human ACE2 transgenic pigs are a viable large animal model for COVID-19.

A unified evolution-driven deep learning framework is presented, which outperforms state-of-the-art methods across various virus mutational driver predictions, and which captures fundamental patterns of virus evolution.

Phosphorothioate-linked guanosine 12mer inhibits the interaction of viral genomic RNA with nucleoprotein in the cytoplasm, suppressing the proliferation of coronaviruses and influenza A viruses that have the potential to cause future pandemics.

COVID-19 severity is linked to microthrombus formation. Here, using an in vivo two-photon imaging technique in mice and human scRNA-Seq data, the authors show increased adhesion molecules on vascular neutrophils leading to platelet aggregation and reduced lung perfusion.

Here the authors show that contemporary SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variants are evolving towards the upper respiratory tract while causing less severe disease in the lung. The more antigenically distinct variant JN.1 fails to transmit in the male hamster model and causes reduced pathology.

Two recently published studies have provided new insights into the long-term effects of COVID-19 on the nervous system.

Paper on hydroxychloroquine led by French researcher Didier Raoult is second-most-cited study ever to be withdrawn.

Could human–AI collaborations be the future of interdisciplinary studies?

Confidence that researchers will make decisions in the public interest rose slightly from 2023 to 2024.

A hallmark of post-viral lung disease, including post-acute sequelae of COVID-19, is dysplastic lung repair. CD8⁺ T cells contribute to aberrant repair through induction by IFNγ and TNF of IL-1β in macrophages, halting differentiation of alveolar type 2 cells.

Children under the age of five infected with SARS-CoV-2 produce lower levels of some immune cells than older children and adults do.