In what sounds like the plot from a sci-fi movie, scientists have isolated an incredibly rare immune mutation to create a universal antiviral treatment.
Only present in a few dozen people worldwide, ISG15 immunodeficiency causes people to be more susceptible to certain bacterial illnesses, but it also grants the people with this condition immunity to known viruses. Researchers think that the constant, mild inflammation these individuals experience is at the root of the immunoresponse.
Where things get really interesting is how the researchers have found a way to stimulate protein production of the most beneficial 10 proteins of the 60 created by the natural mutation using 10 mRNA sequences inside a lipid nanoparticle. Lead researcher [Dusan Bogunovic] says “we have yet to find a virus that can break through the therapy’s defenses.” Researchers hope the treatment can be administered to first responders as a sort of biological Personal protective equipment (PPE) against the next pandemic since it would likely work against unknown viruses before new targeted vaccines could be developed.
Hamsters and mice were given this treatment via nasal drip, but how about intranasal vaccines when it comes time for human trials? If you want a short history of viruses or to learn how smartwatches could help flatten the curve for the next pandemic, we’ve got you covered.
There is a mistake in the article. The lead research’s name is Dusan Bogunovic not Vagelos Bogunovic. It seems that Vagelos is the name of College of Physicians and Surgeons of Columbia University.
I just hope this is an honest mistake and not a quick sum up made with an LLM…
Thanks! Fixed.
To err is human. :)
Thanks! That’s what I get for using the university press release to grab the name instead of the journal paper! I’m more or less human, but IDK if they’re using LLMs on their end.
Nope it’s totally in the press release too, not sure how I fumbled that. Thanks again though!
The bad thing is about a certain government leader trying to defund mRNA. That’ll affect cancer therapies as well as this.
Yeah the drugs companies don’t have the money to do the research, they unfortunately spent it all on uh.. let’s say ‘poor kids’?
He defunded mRNA vaccines for upper respiratory infections only, based on scientific analysis that showed that the approach has limited effectiveness and that the research efforts would be better spent on other methods for upper respiratory infections.
And the announcement specifically stated that other mRNA research was not cut, and that research into other mRNA treatments showed promise.
It was a nuanced decision.
And it wasn’t the leader, it was his appointed expert, who is a member of “your side” and was at one time a presidential candidate.
Note that this is a common technique for outrage cultivation: take something specific and nuanced, then generalize it so that it “sounds like a sweeping evil”.
I used to go to ground-level truth whenever I heard some outrageous claim like yours, and invariably (read: Every. Single. Time.) discovered that what actually happened was in reality quite reasonable.
This turned out to be true for claims made by both the left and the right.
Now I amuse myself by cataloguing various ways the news can report something as “directionally true”, but misleading so as to cause outrage.
Here’s an example from XKCD, and I see it all the time in the news. Various outlets round up or down, and outlets report on stories from other outlets, to the point where any scientific breakthrough is completely garbled when it gets to the public.
https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/2585:_Rounding
Take the time to dive deeper. What you hear in the media is distorted and often wrong.
Ah yes, mRNA vaccines for upper respiratory infections, such as the famously ineffective COVID vaccines. I’m sure the crash in COVID infection rates following the vaccine rollout was a coincidence.
Try looking at the statistics again. Then factor in the people whose lives have been ruined by adverse reactions to the vaccines. Then figure in Pf and Mo pushing vaccines for youngsters for whom it does no good whatsoever. Finally, consider the worldwide censorship of those who pointed out problems with those mRNA vaccines, and identified conventional medicines effective against COVID.
What about the people whose lives have been ruined by becoming dead? The vaccine saved a huge number of people. That’s all you can hope for. Collateral damage is unavoidable, but beats dying.
If there’s one thing the pandemic taught us, it’s that some people would rather be dead than be exposed to a risk.
correlation is not causation, remember kiddo
https://xkcd.com/1756/
Doesn’t constant mild inflamation over the long term make one more likely to get cancer? I’m also wondering about joint pain.
I’d imagine this to be the kind of thing you’d use if you work at a hospital during the first weeks of the Great Horse Flu Pandemic of 2047. Not intended for long term use in the general population.
Oh great, the Seattle Slew Flu was supposed to be a surprise!
From the linked article: “Bogunovic’s therapy is designed to mimic what happens in people with ISG15 deficiency, but only for a short time.”
Seems like they’re on it.
IMHO, better patent it AND make sure it is available for free and CANNOT be locked behind corporate paywall, similarly how the original insulin patent was.
I would love to see that.
Anyone remember how that last pandemic started?
A worker in a Wuhan wet market picked up a zoonotic disease from a raccoon dog or a pangolin or a bat. When it started to spread like wildfire between humans, China’s government pretended nothing was wrong and tried to cover it up, wasting an opportunity for early containment and giving it a lengthy head start over medical experts, thus enabling it to become a global pandemic.
You actually believe that, or are you trolling?