United News of Bangladesh

Two Chinese scientists accused of smuggling or shipping biological material into the United States for use at the University of Michigan will remain in custody after waiving their right to a hearing Friday in federal court. Yunqing Jian and Chengxuan Han said in separate court appearances in Detroit that they would not challenge the government's request to keep them locked up while their cases move forward. “This is a constantly evolving situation involving a large number of factors,” Han's attorney, Sara Garber, told a judge. She didn't elaborate and later declined to comment. Han was arrested Sunday at Detroit Metropolitan Airport after arriving on a flight from China, where she is pursuing an advanced degree at Huazhong University of Science and Technology in Wuhan. She planned to spend a year completing a project at the University of Michigan lab, and is accused of shipping biological material months ago to laboratory staff. It was intercepted by authorities. The FBI, in a court filing, said the material is related to worms and lacked a government permit. Experts told The Associated Press it didn't appear to be dangerous. Jian's case is different. She is charged with conspiring with her boyfriend, another scientist from China, to bring a toxic fungus into the U.S. Fusarium graminearum can attack wheat, barley, maize and rice. The boyfriend, Zunyong Liu, was turned away at the Detroit airport last July and sent back to China after authorities found red plant material in his backpack. UN conference on Palestinian state postponed because of Middle East tensions Jian, who worked at the university lab, was arrested June 2. Messages between Jian and Liu in 2024 suggest that Jian was already tending to Fusarium graminearum at the lab before Liu was caught at the airport, the FBI said. Jian's attorneys declined to comment Friday. Federal authorities so far have not alleged that the scientists had a plan to unleash the fungus somewhere. Fusarium graminearum is already prevalent in the U.S. — particularly in the east and Upper Midwest — and scientists have been studying it for decades. Nicknamed “vomitoxin” because it’s most known for causing livestock to throw up, it can also cause diarrhea, abdominal pain, headache and fever in animals and people. Researchers often bring foreign plants, animals and even strains of fungi to the U.S. to study them, but they must file certain permits before moving anything across state or national borders. The university has not been accused of misconduct. It said it has received no money from the Chinese government related to the work of the three scientists. In a statement, it said it strongly condemns any actions that “seek to cause harm, threaten national security or undermine the university’s critical public mission.”  

China scientists have claimed that Covid-19 may have originated in India or Bangladesh.

Melita Vujnovic, the representative of the World Health Organization (WHO) to Russia, has said that the novel coronavirus could have existed in a dormant state long before its outbreak in late December last year.

Using artificial intelligence (AI) technologies, an international research team led by Chinese scientists has developed a rapid and accurate screening model to detect lymph nodes, which can assist doctors in cancer treatment.

China has agreed that the World Health Organization (WHO) will send experts to Beijing to exchange ideas with Chinese scientists and medical experts on science-based cooperation to trace the origin of the COVID-19 virus, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said Wednesday.

Chinese scientists have expressed concern after detecting  another new strain of flu that has the potential to become a pandemic.   The newly emerged flu virus is carried by pigs, but can infect humans and transmit from human to human, they say.   The researchers expressed their concern that it could mutate further so that it can spread easily from person to person, and trigger a global outbreak, reports BBC.   Although it is not an immediate problem, they say, it has "all the hallmarks" of being highly adapted to infect humans and requires close monitoring.   As it is a new type of virus, people could have little or no immunity to it, the scientists said.   Measures to control the virus in pigs, and close monitoring of swine industry workers, should be swiftly implemented, they wrote in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.   New Pandemic threat When the world is struggling with Covid-19 pandemic, experts have been watching for a new strain of influenza is among the top disease threats.   Earlier in 2009, a swine flu outbreak began in Mexico- but that was less deadly than initially feared, largely because many older people had some immunity to it.   The virus, called A/H1N1pdm09, is now covered by the annual flu vaccine to make sure people are protected.   The new flu strain that has been identified in China is similar to 2009 swine flu, but with some new changes.   So far, it hasn't posed a big threat, but Prof Kin-Chow Chang and colleagues who have been studying it, say it is one to keep an eye on.   The virus, which the researchers call G4 EA H1N1, can grow and multiply in the cells that line the human airways.   They found evidence of recent infection starting in people who worked in abattoirs and the swine industry in China.   Current flu vaccines do not appear to protect against it, although they could be adapted to do so if needed.   Prof Kin-Chow Chang, who works at Nottingham University in the UK, said "Right now we are distracted with coronavirus and rightly so. But we must not lose sight of potentially dangerous new viruses."   While this new virus is not an immediate problem, he says: "We should not ignore it."   Prof James Wood, head of the Department of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Cambridge, said the work "comes as a salutary reminder" that we are constantly at risk of new emergence of pathogens, and that farmed animals.   “Humans have greater contact than with wildlife, may act as the source for important pandemic viruses,” he added.

Chinese researchers have determined the high-resolution crystal structure of the main protease (Mpro) from the COVID-19 virus and identified drugs that may have promise against COVID-19, according to the research published online in Nature on Thursday.

Chinese scientists say they have more evidence that the new virus that recently emerged in China likely originated in bats. In two papers published Monday in the journal Nature, scientists report that genome sequences from several patients in Wuhan show the virus is closely related to the viruses that cause Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, or SARS.

An expert known as one of the world's top virus hunters is working with Chinese scientists and public health officials to develop strategies for enhancing the basic science needed to reduce morbidity and mortality caused by the novel coronavirus outbreak.

Chinese scientists are conducting research to help provide timely analysis of the epidemic situation and support to formulate targeted strategies for the prevention and control of the novel coronavirus outbreak.