Unique mutations in the H5N1 strain enhance replication in human cells and cause severe disease in mice. The virus has spread from birds to mammals, including dairy cows, and infected humans, with one ...

Researchers have discovered new regions of the human genome particularly vulnerable to mutations. These altered stretches of DNA can be passed down to future generations and are important for how we ...

Most mutations that cause disease by swapping one amino acid out for another do so by making the protein less stable, according to a major study of human protein variants that was published in Nature ...

Scientists have revealed parts of the genome that are especially vulnerable to mutations that occur very early on in development. These areas are in the initial portions of genes, where the cell tends ...

Scientists have found a mutation in our DNA that snipped our tails off. The mutation may have allowed our ancestors to walk upright. But it may also be behind a birth defect that still affects babies ...

Concern surrounding the highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1 influenza virus currently circulating in dairy cows in the United States is growing. A total of 58 human cases have been reported as of ...

A new study by biologists from the Scripps Research Institute shows that a bird flu virus is just a single mutation away from having human-ready receptors. If the H5N1 virus does make the switch, it ...

The patient in Louisiana who was hospitalized with severe bird flu illness was found to have a mutated version of the virus, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced last ...

A new study has raised alarm bells about the potential for the H5N1 bird flu virus to evolve into a strain sparking a human pandemic. A single mutation in the virus currently ravaging dairy farms ...