Richard Harris

Scientists are trying to determine whether blood serum taken from recovered COVID-19 patients could help prevent the disease in others.

Recent studies have raised fears that immunity to the coronavirus might be fleeting, thus making potential vaccines ineffective. The reality of the science is more complex — and more reassuring.

Some studies suggest immunity to the coronavirus doesn't last long. That might have implications for the development of vaccines.

A single test that can give false reassurance sounds bad. But a $10 test for the coronavirus, if repeated daily, would discover real infections, say proponents of such tests as screening tools.

Vaccines being developed in China and Britain are showing promise according to the latest report from those labs. The vaccines stimulate an immune response and seem to have mild side effects.

Coronavirus vaccine studies in Great Britain and China have both reported encouraging results. These projects are on the vanguard of vaccine development, but now they are awaiting large-scale tests.

Testing in more than 1,000 people found the vaccine spurred an immune response and had no severe side effects. Larger trials are underway.

When scientists revved up the production of an enzyme called GPLD1 in older mice, it stimulated nerve growth in their brains and the animals navigated a maze better.

Scientists have discovered an enzyme that is elevated in people and mice who exercise a lot. They hope the discovery could lead to medicine that would have some of the benefits of exercise.

The surge in coronavirus cases has led to a sharp demand for testing, making labs fall further behind. That, in turn, is hampering efforts to identify and isolate people who are spreading the disease.

Faced with a glut of pandemic research from around the world, scientists are confronting their biases and learning to engage with science conducted at institutions they're unfamiliar with.

Instead of running a coronavirus test on every specimen, a lab combines multiple samples. If the batch is negative, then everyone is in the clear. A positive leads to a second round of testing.

The White House held a coronavirus task force briefing for reporters, the first since late April. Case numbers are surging in states such as Texas and Arizona.

The White House coronavirus task force gave its first public briefing in months on Friday after daily COVID-19 case numbers have reached record levels.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention acknowledges that the real number of the coronavirus cases might be 10 times the official count and says pregnant women have added risks.

Dr. Anthony Fauci and other top federal health officials have testified Tuesday in the House. The committee is probing the Trump administration's response to the coronavirus pandemic.

The standard test for infection with the coronavirus looks for a genetic fingerprint. Laboratory errors, including contamination, can lead to false results, a problem seen with environmental testing.

A wildlife biologist got involved in coronavirus research by raising important questions about the accuracy of the test used to diagnose COVID-19.

A study of patients who initially tested negative for the virus, but weeks later tested positive again, has found they do not appear to pass the disease to personal contacts such as family members.

Even as the nation's economy slowly reopens after shutdown, reports of millions more unemployed keep rolling in. NPR's economics and science correspondents discuss the latest coronavirus news.