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5 Important New Findings
A roundup of Covid-19 research we’re following
2 min readApr 23, 2020
- Covid-19 targets: Researchers have identified the cells that are likely targeted by the coronavirus when it’s entering the body. A subset of cells in the lung, nasal passage, and intestine express two proteins that help SARS-CoV-2 enter human cells, researchers report in a paper published on Wednesday in Cell. The researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard said in a press release that they hope the findings will help scientists develop new drug treatments for the coronavirus and test existing treatments.
- Covid-19 is not sexually transmitted: Doctors in China found no evidence of the coronavirus in the semen of 34 males who were being treated for the disease, suggesting that the virus cannot be transmitted sexually. The researchers, who published their findings in Fertility and Sterility on April 14, also reported that six of the patients expressed experiencing scrotal discomfort around the time they tested positive for the virus.
- Detecting the coronavirus in public: Environmental engineers in Zurich are working to develop biosensors that can detect the presence of the coronavirus in crowded public spaces, like train stations and hospitals. The device they are developing uses optical and thermal sensors. The engineers developing the technology published their work in ACS Nano, a journal of the American Chemical Society, on April 13.
- Loss of smell and taste: New data on loss of smell and…
