News: Infectious Diseases
Read the latest news from the College of Natural Sciences at The University of Texas at Austin
UT News
Texas Biologics to Bolster Research in Therapeutics
A new University of Texas at Austin initiative will focus primarily on biologic research and development.
![A graduate student in a white coat pipettes in a lab wearing gloves](/sites/default/files/uploads/images/default/mclellan_lab-2400x1350.jpg)
UT Austin Leads in New Summary of Top “Degrees of the Future”
A new report releases what the nation’s best degrees of the future are.
![Photo of the UT Tower lit burnt orange with windows lit to form the number "1"](/sites/default/files/uploads/images/default/3-2-tower-one.jpg)
Dried Bacteria Could Revolutionize Testing, Laboratory Science
What if there were a way to make proteins, enzymes and reagents right in the lab, in small amounts, on demand?
![Microscopic image of e.coli bacteria stained blue against a black background](/sites/default/files/uploads/images/default/e-coli-bacteria-1400p_20220303-173817_1.jpeg)
Frog Pandemic
Frogs are also struggling through their own pandemic that has several eerie parallels with COVID-19.
![A green frog rests on a tree branch](/sites/default/files/uploads/images/default/phasma_2400x1350.jpg)
Texas Scientist
UT Austin Harnesses Power of Biology in Partnership with Army Research Laboratory
Inside the "biological foundry" at the Army Research Lab's ARL-South partnership on the campus of UT Austin
![A scientist leans into a laboratory hood and moves samples under a robotic arm](/sites/default/files/uploads/images/default/i-tktq4r6-4k.jpg)
Department of Molecular Biosciences
Breakthrough in Fight on Tick-Borne CCHF Virus is Latest Use of New Strategy Against Diseases
Scientists are developing vaccines and other treatments for the tick-borne Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF)
![A multicolored molecule](/sites/default/files/uploads/images/default/gc-proteinantibodies1660-taller.png)
McLellan Honored for Contributions to COVID-19 Vaccines
Jason McLellan, UT Austin molecular biosciences professor, has received the 2021 Shirley Bird Perry Longhorn Citizenship Award
![A man in a white lab coat holds a model of a viral protein](/sites/default/files/uploads/images/default/mclellan_063021-2400x1600.jpg)
Department of Molecular Biosciences
'Last Resort' Antibiotic Pops Bacteria Like Balloons
A new study reveals that colistin, a last resort antibiotic “punches holes in bacteria, causing them to pop like balloons.”
![A pink bacterium with a long tail](/sites/default/files/uploads/images/default/263791_web.jpg)
Department of Molecular Biosciences
Our Immune Systems Blanket the SARS-CoV-2 Spike Protein with Antibodies
Most antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 circulating in the blood target areas of the viral spike protein outside the receptor binding domain, or RBD
![A spike protein from the virus SARS-CoV-2 with antibodies attached](/sites/default/files/uploads/images/default/antibodies-and-spike-white1400.jpg)
Department of Molecular Biosciences
Human Trials Begin for a Low-Cost COVID-19 Vaccine to Extend Global Access
A COVID-19 vaccine in human trials in Vietnam, Thailand and Brazil, holds promise for affordable vaccine manufacturing in countries currently dependent on imported vaccines.
![A masked person holds a glass vial of vaccine](/sites/default/files/uploads/images/default/gpo-75571_v2.jpg)