Directorate-General for Research & Innovation logo Horizon: the EU Research & Innovation magazine | European Commission logo
Receive our editor’s picks

Coronavirus outbreak

environment | health | space | coronavirus outbreak
17 December 2020

Twenty surprising scientific facts we learned in 2020

From corals bunkering down in deeper waters to wait out climate change stress, to how vaccines can boost our immune system beyond a specific disease – here are the 20 most surprising scientific facts that we discovered this year. 

The SARS-CoV-2 virus binds with human cells through its spike protein and researchers have recently discovered that it does this in two different ways. Image credit - rawpixel.com/ CC0 1.0
interview | coronavirus outbreak | health | frontier research
15 December 2020

Q&A: How Covid-19 hijacks human cells

The virus that causes Covid-19 hijacks human cells by exploiting a ‘doorway’ that is potentially also used by other deadly viruses such as HIV, dengue and Ebola, according to recent research that may help to explain why the coronavirus is so highly infectious to a wide range of organs in the body. Dr Yohei Yamauchi, a viral cell biologist at the University of Bristol, UK, who led the research, believes that the finding could not only lead to new drugs against Covid-19, but other anti-viral treatments that could be used to save patients’ lives in future pandemics. 

It’s normal for people to experience fever, fatigue or pain at the site of the injection in the first one or two days after the vaccine. Image credit - pexels.com/Gustavo Fring, licenced under pexels licence
coronavirus outbreak | health
11 December 2020

Five things you need to know about: mRNA vaccine safety

The world’s first mRNA vaccine has begun its rollout after being produced at unprecedented speed as part of the global effort to end the Covid-19 pandemic. A second one is hot on its heels. The two – one made by Pfizer/BioNTech and the other by Moderna – mark the first time this vaccine technology has been approved for use.

Around 20% of people surveyed by Prof. Bartels reported increased levels of happiness, optimism and meaning in life since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. Image credit - Meike Bartels
interview | coronavirus outbreak | frontier research
07 December 2020

Q&A: Why some people’s wellbeing has improved during the pandemic

As the social isolation compelled by the pandemic swept many of us into a flurry of panic, grief and mental funk, a section of people actually reported improved levels of wellbeing, found biological psychologist Meike Bartels, a professor of genetics and wellbeing at VU Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

Vaccines can train our innate immune system. Scientists like Christine Stabell Benn are now studying whether a TB vaccine confers protection against Covid-19. Image credit - Lone Morch
interview | health | coronavirus outbreak | frontier research
25 November 2020

Q&A: How vaccines can strengthen immune response beyond a specific disease

Live vaccines can give health effects beyond just protecting us from a specific disease and may even help us combat other infections such as Covid-19, according to Christine Stabell Benn, a professor in global health at the University of Southern Denmark.

People’s willingness to have a vaccine changes depending on how at risk they feel, says anthropologist Heidi Larson. Image credit - RF._.studio/Pexels, licensed under the Pexels licence
coronavirus outbreak | health
16 November 2020

Q&A: Talking about the ‘race’ for a coronavirus vaccine could reduce public confidence

Efforts to achieve herd immunity against Covid-19 with a vaccine could be hampered by low levels of confidence in immunisation programs in some European countries, warns Professor Heidi Larson, director of the Vaccine Confidence Project and an anthropologist at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, in the UK.

Researchers found that the level of preparedness for a pandemic was patchy across Europe, despite warnings for years from health experts. Image credit - Diario de Madrid/CC BY 4.0
coronavirus outbreak
12 November 2020

Lack of solidarity hampered Europe’s coronavirus response, research finds

Competition between European countries for equipment, test kits and medicines needed to tackle Covid-19 may have hampered the region’s ability to respond to the pandemic.

Based on size alone, bats should live around four years but in fact they can reach the age of 40. Image credit - https://www.pikist.com/licenced under CC0
coronavirus outbreak | frontier research
26 October 2020

Five things you need to know about bats, disease and coronavirus

Bats are in the limelight these days because they are rumoured to be the source of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that caused the coronavirus pandemic. But that is just part of their story. Bats turn out to be miraculous creatures. Their ability to age without decrepitude or cancer, as well as fight off a multitude of infections, are giving us clues about how to do the same for ourselves.

Prof. Sunetra Gupta spoke of her hopes for a pan-coronavirus vaccine at the European Research and Innovation Days conference. Image credit - European Commission
coronavirus outbreak | frontier research | policy
24 September 2020

We ultimately should be able to make a pan-coronavirus vaccine, says theoretical epidemiologist

The world’s pressing need is a vaccine to fight the current threat of Covid-19, but ultimately we may be able to develop a pan-coronavirus vaccine, Sunetra Gupta, a professor of theoretical epidemiology at the University of Oxford, UK, said at the European Commission’s annual research event.

CureVac began testing its mRNA vaccine candidate in people in mid-June and will shortly proceed to the next phase of trials. Image credit - Picture alliance/dpa
coronavirus outbreak | health
18 September 2020

‘So far, so good’: The view from inside a coronavirus vaccine trial

Dr Lidia Oostvogels is feeling the pressure.

Pages