Have you ever wondered why you have to get a flu shot every year, but some vaccines are one-and-done? It all has to do with how and how fast viruses evolve - and that depends on mutation rates.

Receptor binding site of the A/Texas/37/2024 hemagglutinin Leu226 mutant (yellow) in complex with the human receptor analog LSTc (cyan). LA JOLLA, CA—Avian influenza viruses typically require several ...

Helen Branswell covers issues broadly related to infectious diseases, including outbreaks, preparedness, research, and vaccine development. Follow her on Mastodon and Bluesky. You can reach Helen on ...

Although this year’s flu vaccine doesn’t protect as well against the dominant subclade K strain, doctors still say that ...

New research shows how small shifts in the molecular makeup of a virus can profoundly alter its fate. These shifts could turn a deadly pathogen into a harmless bug or supercharge a relatively benign ...

This month’s story comes from the Bloom lab using their signature deep mutational scanning technique to identify mutations in the surface protein of Lassa virus -called glycoprotein- that escape ...

A phylogenetic tree of SARS-CoV-2 sequences, built with Nextstrain, displays sequences colored by their clade and organized by collection date. Over time, sequences mutate and diverge, forming new ...