Knowledge, awareness and practices of Pakistani professionals amid-COVID-19 outbreak.

End of the year 2019 marks an unprecedented outbreak of a pandemic named COVID-19 caused by the SARS-CoV-2. It was first discovered in China and later spread to the whole world, currently inflicting almost 200 countries. After China, few other countries have emerged as potential epicenters of this disease including the US, Italy, Spain and Pakistan, as indicated by the World Health Organization (WHO).

Assessment of general awareness among Pakistani students regarding COVID-19 outbreak.

At the end of 2019, a novel infectious agent known as severe acute respiratory syndrome corona virus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) originated from Hubei, China; from where it spread to other regions of the globe. In March 2020, World health organization (WHO) expressed fears that Pakistan might emerge as the next epicenter of corona virus infectious disease 2019 (COVID-19). Since proper preventive and curative measures are currently unavailable, only remedy is self-isolation which necessitates ample awareness among people.

Human BK and JC polyomaviruses: Molecular insights and prevalence in Asia.

Polyomaviridae family consists of small circular dsDNA viruses. Out of the 14 human polyomaviruses described so far, BKPyV and JCPyV have been studied extensively since their discovery in 1971. Reportedly, both BKPyV and JCPyV are widely distributed across the globe with the frequency of 80-90 % in different populations.

Merkel cell polyomavirus DNA sequences in the blood of healthy population of Pakistan.

This study aimed at detecting and quantifying Merkel cell polyomavirus (MCPyV) viral loads in the peripheral blood of healthy Pakistani individuals. A total of 221 whole blood samples obtained from healthy individuals were examined by qPCR. MCPyV was detected in the peripheral blood of 31.

The implication of CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing technology in combating human oncoviruses.

It is evidenced that 20% of all tumors in humans are caused by oncoviruses, including human papilloma viruses, Epstein-Barr virus, Kaposi sarcoma virus, human polyomaviruses, human T-lymphotrophic virus-1, and hepatitis B and C viruses. Human immunodeficiency virus is also involved in carcinogenesis, although not directly, but by facilitating the infection of many oncoviruses through compromising the immune system. Being intracellular parasites with the property of establishing latency and integrating into the host genome, these viruses are a therapeutic challenge for biomedical researchers.