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We Made One Gram Of Remdesivir

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Re: We Made One Gram Of Remdesivir

#181

Post by javajosh »

whatshisface wrote: post #178
koboll wrote: post #161

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is such a great description. Compare how Wikipedia describes the same process [ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adenosine#Research ]: > The adenosine analog NITD008 has been reported to directly inhibit the recombinant RNA-dependent RNA polymerase of the dengue virus by terminating its RNA chain synthesis. This interaction suppresses peak viremia and rise in cytokines and prevents lethality in infected animals, ra…

Gibberish to someone with limited knowledge of biology, but significantly more informative for someone who is using Wikipedia as a reference source and not a textbook.

I'm not so sure about that. I've read wikipedia articles about subjects I know well and found the language to be needlessly packed with jargon such that it could at least momentarily dazzle and confuse the inventor of the subject himself!

Rigorously precise language (e.g. "jargon") is almost never needed for a top-line description of a thing, and I think should be discouraged, in general. Yes, highly technical descriptions targeted toward professionals and academics in the field have their place in wikipedia, but ought to be relegated to periodic additions to the body of the article. That's just my opinion, of course, but as such I think its quite correct and admirably justified!

Re: We Made One Gram Of Remdesivir

#182

Post by djaque »

michaelt wrote: post #165
darawk wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> My advisor's explanation on publishing was that if we had great results that followed our initial theory of what's going on then we could write a paper and nobody would question it. But, now that we contradict theory the threshold of evidence is much higher and he doesn't want to go ahead with it. Isn't that sort of the most important thing to publish? Something that contradicts theory means something new. Seems li…

If the theory says it's possible to juggle five chainsaws but nobody's managed to demonstrate it, and I try it without success, have I proven it impossible? Or have I just proven I'm not good a enough juggler?

Exactly, that's the state of the experiment. There's just so many things that could have gone wrong without us noticing. Even though we trust the instrument is working, we don't know if the material under study is exactly as we expect.

Re: We Made One Gram Of Remdesivir

#183

Post by applecrazy »

qnt wrote: post #57
applecrazy wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is there a successor to this forum? I’m a CS undergrad and kind of want to explore this field.

No, there isn’t really. There is a treasure of info on that site though. I also have a CS background before I moved to the quant area. Things that might help pique your interest: - For both academic and practical problems: http://quant.stackexchange.com/ - For keeping tabs on new ideas in the blogosphere (generally average, occasionally something useful): https://quantocracy.com/ - Useful information on getting start…

Thank you for the list of resources. Given the current situation, this will make interesting reading/study material.

If you're comfortable, could you please share how you made the transition to quant from a programming/SWE background?

Re: We Made One Gram Of Remdesivir

#184

Post by nbabitskiy »

dang wrote: post #179
nbabitskiy wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>> look at the main structure and you'll agree I don't know much about RNA, but this sentence is pure bs. How would I know where to look in RNA sequences?

This comment broke the site guidelines. Even if you're right, it is a problem to address another user this way, because the container isn't strong enough to hold that level of (let's call it) energy. When you post like this, you're breaking the already-weak bonds that hold this community together, which is what makes it a moderation issue. Would you mind taking a look at https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.ht…

I agree, and I'm sorry. I can see how this kind of reaction to a nonsense statement can become problematic, if everybody uses it.

Re: We Made One Gram Of Remdesivir

#185

Post by nbabitskiy »

numpad0 wrote: post #38
nbabitskiy wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>> look at the main structure and you'll agree I don't know much about RNA, but this sentence is pure bs. How would I know where to look in RNA sequences?

Let’s call it the Ocean’s Eleven Phenomenon, the moment when two or more experts be like “See that? There.” “Yeah, Christ, that’s totally that ” “yeah... 5 years old would notice” and you just stand in between dumbfounded

I could certainly believe that "similar" molecules behave alike, but it would be a cheap belief, like e.g. some of my friends believe in psychics. There would be no discovery, just a pseudo-scientific bullying.

Re: We Made One Gram Of Remdesivir

#186

Post by jijji »

favipiravir is alot cheaper to synthesize and is used as a drop in replacement for remdesivir all over asia...

Good things to have on hand during this covid-19 pandemic (because you can't rely on hospitals to give it to you) are:

1) hydroxychloroquine sulfate taken orally 400 mg per day for a week ($180/kg on alibaba)

2) azithromycin taken orally 500 mg per day for a week ($150/kg on alibaba)

3) Camostat mesilate taking orally 200 mg three times a day for a week [1] ($50/g on alibaba)

4) favipiravir one dose of 1600mg two times on the first day, and then 600mg twice per day after that for a week [2]. ($40/g on alibaba)

5) covid-19 rapid test kits that use blood antibody tests and produce results between 3 to 10 minutes and cost about $1.50 per kit [3] .... although it looks like in the last week or so Alibaba has been blocking searches for these kits for some reason... although the search below does work but you have to look at the suppliers to find the ones that are actually selling it.

all this stuff can be bought on Alibaba and delivered in a week

[1] https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04321096

[2] https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/anti-flu-drug-effe...

[3] https://m.alibaba.com/products/covid-19_rapid_test_kit.html

Re: We Made One Gram Of Remdesivir

#187

Post by bewaretheirs »

xg15 wrote: post #102
kccqzy wrote: post #22

Remdesivir is an analog of adenosine, one of the four building blocks of RNA. Just look at the main structure and you'll agree they look similar. It turns out the mechanism of action of this drug is that it's supposed to be confused with adenosine, so that the viral RNA replication process uses remdesivir instead of adenosine, which later breaks the RNA†. Our body, or really, all biological processes can synthesize i…

Out of curiosity: We seem to have a very good understanding how synthesis in biological processes works (from DNA to the eventual molecules), we are able to create DNA/RNA molecules with arbitrary content and we're increasingly able to simulate what molecule a particular nucleotide sequence would produce. So, putting the three together, would it be possible to use actual biosynthesis for designed molecules by basical…

Transgenic goats have been produced which secrete drugs in their milk -- one transgenic female goat can produce about six pounds a year of human antithrombin, a blood thinner, in her milk.

From 2009: https://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/07/business/07goatdrug.html

Re: We Made One Gram Of Remdesivir

#188

Post by vikramkr »

rocqua wrote: post #68
est31 wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is no RNA cloning machinery in our cells. The RNA is instead copied from the DNA in the nucleus. Viruses like the coronavirus actually bring their own RNA cloning machinery that's assembled by the cell. Remdesivir only blocks the RNA cloning proteins of the virus.

Doesn't that mean that Remdesivir would essentially defeat _all_ RNA viruses? Or is the effectiveness dependent on the exact RNA cloning mechanism used by the virus?

Yep. This is the same drug they tried to deploy against Ebola, and that's why they think itll be useful for such a wildly different drug virus here as well

Re: We Made One Gram Of Remdesivir

#189

Post by garmaine »

> remdesivir, possibly the most promising candidate

Is there any evidence of this? It was a highly anticipated drug, but the first studies it was in showed only slight improvement over expected outcomes, far less than was seen with the chloroquine/zinc/antibiotic combo treatment.

I mean I think it's still interesting as a possible drug to add to the cocktail for maximum effectiveness. But let's not oversell it.

Re: We Made One Gram Of Remdesivir

#190

Post by prewett »

javajosh wrote: post #181
whatshisface wrote: post #178

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Gibberish to someone with limited knowledge of biology, but significantly more informative for someone who is using Wikipedia as a reference source and not a textbook.

I'm not so sure about that. I've read wikipedia articles about subjects I know well and found the language to be needlessly packed with jargon such that it could at least momentarily dazzle and confuse the inventor of the subject himself! Rigorously precise language (e.g. "jargon") is almost never needed for a top-line description of a thing, and I think should be discouraged, in general. Yes, highly technical descri…

Feynman shared your opinion, so I’d say you’re in good company!
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