Skip to main content
https://www.highperformancecpmgate.com/rgeesizw1?key=a9d7b2ab045c91688419e8e18a006621

Scientists Identify antibodies that can kill the Omicron variant of the Coronavirus

Image Credit:CIPhotos via Getty Images By Denise Chow

A global team of scientists has discovered antibodies that can kill the variant responsible for the rise of Omicron around the world. In addition, the scientists claim that these antibodies can neutralize other variants of Covid19 as well.


New treatments may be explored

According to one of the study researchers, David Veesler of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and the University of Washington School of Medicine, the antibodies work by targeting areas of the virus spike protein that are unchanged by mutations. Protein, scientists can develop vaccines and antibody treatments that  work not only against the Omicron variant, but also against any mutation that may occur in the future.

The Omicron variant of the coronavirus has 37 mutations in its spike protein, which is considered an unusually high number for a virus. For this reason, countries like the US and UK are urging citizens to get a booster dose (a third vaccination) to increase the body's antibody response in the event of infection. Studies have shown that the variant, while  less fatal, is more transmissible and able to evade the protection offered by vaccines designed with previous variants in mind.

Why the virus keeps mutating

If the virus continues to mutate (which it won't if the vaccine inequality is not addressed), one day a more deadly and  transmissible variant could emerge that could spark another  wave of infections like the one seen during the Delta wave in India.

The team behind the antibody identification  believe that Omicron mutations could be due to a weakened immune system in a person infected with the variant. It is also possible that the virus jumped from humans to animals and then back to humans.

The researchers also found that the Moderna, Pfizer / BioNTech, and AstraZeneca (Covishield) vaccines offered some  protection against Omicron, unlike Sputnik V, Sinopharm, and Johnson and Johnson, which did not show the ability of Omicron to penetrate cells prevent. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Uber co-founder Garrett Camp steps back from board director role

Uber co-founder Garrett Camp is relinquishing his role as a board director and switching to board observer — where he says he’ll focus on product strategy for the ride hailing giant. Camp made the announcement in a short Medium post in which he writes of his decade at Uber: “I’ve learned a lot, and realized that I’m most helpful when focused on product strategy & design, and this is where I’d like to focus going forward.” “I will continue to work with Dara [Khosrowshahi, Uber CEO] and the product and technology leadership teams to brainstorm new ideas, iterate on plans and designs, and continue to innovate at scale,” he adds. “We have a strong and diverse team in place, and I’m confident everyone will navigate well during these turbulent times.” The Canadian billionaire entrepreneur signs off by saying he’s looking forward to helping Uber “brainstorm the next big idea”. Camp hasn’t been short of ideas over his career in tech. He’s the co-founder of the web 2.0 recommendatio...
Post a Comment
Read more

Drone crash near kids leads Swiss Post and Matternet to suspend autonomous deliveries

A serious crash by a delivery drone in Switzerland have grounded the fleet and put a partnership on ice. Within a stone’s throw of a school, the incident raised grim possibilities for the possibilities of catastrophic failure of payload-bearing autonomous aerial vehicles. The drones were operated by Matternet as part of a partnership with the Swiss Post (i.e. the postal service), which was using the craft to dispatch lab samples from one medical center for priority cases. As far as potential applications of drone delivery, it’s a home run — but twice now the craft have crashed, first with a soft landing and the second time a very hard one. The first incident, in January, was the result of a GPS hardware error; the drone entered a planned failback state and deployed its emergency parachute, falling slowly to the ground. Measures were taken to improve the GPS systems. The second failure in May, however, led to the drone attempting to deploy its parachute again, only to sever the line...
Post a Comment
Read more

How the world’s largest cannabis dispensary avoids social media restrictions

Planet 13 is the world’s largest cannabis dispensary. Located in Las Vegas, blocks off the Strip, the facility is the size of a small Walmart. By design, it’s hard to miss. Planet 13 is upending the dispensary model. It’s big, loud and visitors are encouraged to photograph everything. As part of the cannabis industry, Planet 13 is heavily restricted on the type of content it can publish on Instagram, Facebook and other social media platforms. It’s not allowed to post pictures of buds or vapes on some sites. It can’t talk about pricing or product selection on others.   View this post on Instagram   A post shared by Morgan Celeste SF Blogger (@bayareabeautyblogger) on Jan 25, 2020 at 7:54pm PST Instead, Planet 13 encourages its thousands of visitors to take photos and videos. Starting with the entrance, the facility is full of surprises tailored for the ‘gram. As a business, Planet 13’s social media content is heavily restricted a...
3 comments
Read more