curiosityseekerscience

Today I am going to talk about how our body reacts to the infection of corona virus. To know how it enters the cell and hacks it to produce its own copy click here . So, let’s start: - After infecting the cells and making multiple copies, these copies moves out from the cell by exocytosis. Now when the cell gets infected the cell releases certain intermediates: - 1.The Interferon α and β which goes to the healthy alveolar cells of vicinity and this results in the release of antiviral peptides (these peptides are kind of self-defense mechanism). 2.They also release Damage-associated molecular patterns (DAMPs are endogenous molecules that are released from damaged or dying cells and activate the innate immune system(macrophages) by interacting with pattern recognition receptors). Now these macrophages activate the inflammatory mediators (Interleukin1, interleukin 6, TNF- α ) so that they can be used to kill the virus. They also move to the pulmonary capillaries whic...

 Structure and mechanism of attack of corona virus Let’s talk about the structure of COVID-19 Virus SARS COV 2 and also the mechanism of its entry. There are four families of corona Virus: - 1.        Alpha Corona virus 2.        Beta Corona Virus 3.        Gamma Corona Virus 4.        Delta corona Virus Out of which Alpha and Beta corona virus has shown transmission in Human being till now. Many outbreaks like the SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) outbreak in the 2002 and the MERS (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome) had been there in the past and both are related to the Beta Corona Virus family. Now let’s talk about the COVID-19 Virus (SARS COV 2) Structure of the COVID-19 virus SARS COV 2 is a virus of the family of Beta Corona Virus. It has a lipid bilayer which has 5 main structural proteins on the outer membrane of it and many...

Recombinant DNA Technology     The term recombinant DNA means the joining or recombining of two pieces of DNA from two different sources. Genetic modification using recombinant DNA allows us to move genes whose function are known. By making manipulations more precise and outcomes more certain, the risk of producing organisms with unexpected traits are decreased. ·         Steps involved in recombinant DNA technique (or gene cloning): - ·         The basic 7 steps involved in gene cloning are: Isolation of DNA [gene of interest] fragments to be cloned. Insertion of isolated DNA into a suitable vector to form recombinant DNA . Introduction of recombinant DNA into a suitable organism known as host. Selection of transformed host cells and identification of the clone containing the gene of interest. Multiplication/Expression of t...

Vaccine development for SARS COV2: - (reverse vaccinology approach.) The approach that we can take to develop vaccine is that we can identify the structure of the surface proteins present on virus and find the genome sequence responsible for the production of these proteins and can engineer the DNA sequence of it by using the recombinant DNA technology. We can copy the DNA sequence to make a huge number of it by the PCR method which will then be utilized to make proteins in another organism from where we would extract the proteins. These proteins will be given along with the adjuvants (i.e. substances that increases the efficacy of vaccine).to the patient so that the patient’s immune system can develop an immune memory which will be utilized whenever a virus attack. Two companies the Sanofi and the GSK have collaborated to develop vaccine against the SARs COV2. 1)       In this collaboration the Sanofi will be contributing the S-protein COVID-19 antig...

Vaccine : - A substance used to stimulate the production of antibodies and provide immunity against one or several diseases, prepared from the causative agent of a disease, its products, or a synthetic substitute, treated to act as an antigen without inducing the disease. Vaccine development strategies in case of viral infection Basically, there are three approaches that we take for vaccine development: - 1)       Traditional Approach 2)       Reverse vaccinology Approach 3)       Structural vaccinology Approach So, we will discuss them one by one: - 1)       Traditional Approach : - This approach generally includes the traditional methods that is the introduction of attenuated or inactivated infectious agent into the body of a person which helps the immune system to have acquired knowledge about the agent/antigen, so that any further introduction of that antigen into the...