Aaron E. Lin

TL;DR: The results uncover a multipronged strategy utilized by SARS-CoV-2 to antagonize essential cellular processes to suppress host defenses.

TL;DR: It is found that ZIKV circulated undetected in multiple regions for many months before the first locally transmitted cases were confirmed, highlighting the importance of surveillance of viral infections.

TL;DR: Analysis of sequences from 232 patients sampled over 7 months in Sierra Leone, along with 86 previously released genomes from earlier in the epidemic, confirms sustained human-to-human transmission within Sierra Leone and finds no evidence for import or export of EBOV across national borders after its initial introduction.

TL;DR: Cas13-assisted restriction of viral expression and readout (CARVER), an end-to-end platform that uses Cas13 to detect and destroy viral RNA, is developed, demonstrating Cas13 can be harnessed to target a wide range of ssRNA viruses and CARVER's potential broad utility for rapid diagnostic and antiviral drug development.

TL;DR: Investigating the introduction and spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 in the Boston area across the first wave of the pandemic provides powerful evidence of the importance of superspreading events in shaping the course of this pandemic and illustrates how some introductions, when amplified under unfortunate circumstances, can have an outsized effect with devastating consequences that extend far beyond the initial events themselves.