Prof. Eric Alm speaks with Wall Street Journal reporter David Winning about how wastewater could be used to help track the spread of Covid-19. “The flu is pretty tricky to test in wastewater,” says Alm. “For Covid-19, we’re fortunate that it is excreted in large enough amounts.”

Dr. Francis Collins, director of the NIH, spotlights a study by MIT researchers that characterizes the cells targeted by Covid-19. The findings, “might ultimately help to explain why some people are more susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 than others, and how exactly to target the virus with drugs, immunotherapies, and vaccines," writes Collins.

STAT reporter Sharon Begley writes that MIT researchers have used CRISPR to develop a rapid diagnostic for Covid-19. “It’s inexpensive, does not require a lab, and can return results within an hour using a paper strip, not unlike a pregnancy test,” explains Prof. Feng Zhang. “This helps address the urgent need for widespread, accurate, inexpensive, and accessible Covid-19 testing.”

Gizmodo reporter Ryan Mandelbaum writes that MIT researchers have found that single-celled organisms can survive in atmospheres similar to what may be present on many exoplanets. “This should open up—continue to push—astronomers on what kinds of planets might be habitable,” says Prof. Sara Seager.