Galway Bay fm newsroom - A research team at NUI Galway has advanced the understanding of the Covid-19 infection process.
The team within the Advanced Glycoscience Research Cluster discovered how human respiratory cells respond to the virus.
Researchers say that all pathogens need the right combination of carbohydrates and proteins to attach to their host and cause infection.
The team at NUI Galway found that in Covid-19, the spike-glycoprotein is covered with carbohydrates and binds to the "ACE2 receptor" protein on human respiratory cells to start the infection.
It notes that mutations cause minor changes in this "molecular handshake" - many of these can be insigificant and neither beneficial nor detrimental to the virus or the host.
However, others can alter the infectivity and severity of the disease such as the UK, South African and Brazilian variants.
It's hoped the data science analysis carried out at NUI Galway will help gain a better insight into the immune response to Covid-19, and lead to the development of improved biomarkers and therapeutic responses to the Covid-19 virus.
