Gathering big data to accelerate the COVID-19 fight

A nationwide collaboration of clinicians, informaticians and other biomedical researchers aims to turn data from hundreds of thousands of medical records from coronavirus patients into effective treatments and predictive analytical tools that could help lessen or end the global pandemic. Through the National COVID Cohort Collaborative, about 60 clinical institutions affiliated with the National Institutes…

A versatile antiviral emerges to fight COVID-19

Scientists everywhere are working overtime to develop treatments for COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. Many existing drugs and new candidates are being tested, with the hope of easing the global pandemic ahead of a vaccine. An article in Chemical & Engineering News, the weekly newsmagazine of the American Chemical Society, reports…

The evolutionary puzzle of the mammalian ear

The vertebrate ear is a remarkable structure. Tightly encapsulated within the densest bone of the skeleton, it comprises the smallest elements of the vertebrate skeleton (auditory ossicles) and gives rise to several different senses: balance, posture control, gaze stabilization, and hearing. Nowhere else in the vertebrate skeleton are different functional units packed so close together…