371–380 of 389 posts
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This very cool article explains the mRNA sequence chunk-by-chunk which might give you a flavour of why differences exist: https://berthub.eu/articles/posts/reverse-engineering-source...
That is a fascinating read (and the perfect level of depth in this field for me). How did you happen across it? Always looking to add a good source to my RSS feed list
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This is a great animation of the life cycle of an HIV virus. It’s not exactly what happens with the pandemic virus but it gives you a good idea of the complexity of the process of viral reproduction (vaccine or immune response isn’t covered here): https://vimeo.com/260291607 Animation of transcription from mRNA: https://youtu.be/TfYf_rPWUdY
It blows my mind to see how life (and death) work at the molecular level--it's almost like some kind of manmade machine, but far more subtle and complex.
Transcriptase: https://youtu.be/5MfSYnItYvg DNA polymerase: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bee6PWUgPo8 The Ribosome: https://youtu.be/TfYf_rPWUdY
I'm sure it's more complex than I grasp as a layperson, but I'm utterly amazed at how simple this _appears_. I get the feeling that this is something I have a better chance of understanding than the average SaaS Terms and Conditions. I expected to have to scroll through pages upon pages of indecipherable text. Instead it's no bigger than a large paragraph of text, and I can easily fit it on my screen.
I'm sure it's more complex than I grasp as a layperson, but I'm utterly amazed at how simple this _appears_. I get the feeling that this is something I have a better chance of understanding than the average SaaS Terms and Conditions. I expected to have to scroll through pages upon pages of indecipherable text. Instead it's no bigger than a large paragraph of text, and I can easily fit it on my screen.
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It blows my mind to see how life (and death) work at the molecular level--it's almost like some kind of manmade machine, but far more subtle and complex.
These might interest you then: 3d visualizations of cellular processes in real time. I was shown them in my intro to biology class, which filled me with the same interest. Transcriptase: https://youtu.be/5MfSYnItYvg DNA polymerase: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bee6PWUgPo8 The Ribosome: https://youtu.be/TfYf_rPWUdY
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Doesn't this describe almost ANY vaccine - I think that it's probably bad public policy to allow anyone to patent ALL COVID vaccines - I think that patenting a particular vaccine (a particular mRNA string) should be allowed, but not effective wildcards in the RNA
No. It doesn't describe the viral vector vaccines (J&J/AstraZeneca). It doesn't describe the inactivated virus vaccines. It doesn't include the viral fragment (NovaVax) vaccines. And it wouldn't describe some possible mRNA vaccines because of differences in formulation or differences in targeting. While this particular Moderna claim would likely affect BioNTech/Pfizer's mRNA vaccine, it's not clear whether it would s…
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The protein they're trying to manufacture is indeed quite simple - AFAIU both BioNTech and Moderna put together their sequences in a weekend. (Though there was a more involved process of winnowing down the sequences for the most effective ones.) The technically challenging parts are: - delivery mechanism: you need to take a very unstable molecule, protect it from the environment - both external, and when inside the p…
> put together their sequences in a weekend meh, I could do that over a weekend never sounded so scary, or impressive at the same time. That weekend just so happened to stand on the shoulders of prior decades of research though. i guess this is big pharma's version of `apt-get install`
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Yes. Another important metaphor is that the common idea of DNA as blueprints is entirely wrong. It's not blueprints, it's a recipe. A blueprint describes what something is. A recipe describes the steps needed to make something, making use of a lot of complex existing machinery and parts with only a reference to them.
Interesting reasoning. But isn't it true to say that the "complex existing machinery and parts" which interprets the DNA was itself put together from instructions found in other DNA? I suppose that metaphors are rarely entirely comparable.
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Umm, isn't that kind of scary? Like could you create a virus with this Ψ that our immune system can't fight at all?
No. For a number of reasons. First of all, the virus uses the nucleotides (A, G, C and U, for wich Ψ is used as a substitute) produced by the attached cell to create a copy of it's genome (RNA). The nucleotides are produced by the cell, the virus does not instruct the cell to produce them. It just tells the cell to produce and assemble the proteins AND the RNA. Second, our immune system doesn't just attack and recogn…
You are correct, the antibodies are made and they end up not recognizing the nucleocapsid protein while it is in the virus but when the infected cell displays internal proteins with MHC I, which helps T-Cells target the infected cell. MHC I displays self and MHC II displays proteins that have been "eaten" by the surveillance cells of the immune system.