Scripps Research finds ‘possible Achilles heel’ in the coronavirus
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Scripps Research in La Jolla reported on Friday that there appears to be a specific area of the coronavirus that could be targeted with drugs and other therapies, a finding that also could help with the development of a vaccine.
Scripps scientists say the spot is crucial to spreading the highly contagious virus, and that its composition suggests that it would be vulnerable to drugs.
The spot “is a possible Achilles heel” in the coronavirus, said biologist Ian Wilson, who led the team that made the finding. The discovery was published Friday in the journal Science.
The advance arose from a huge and growing effort by scientists globally to find human antibodies that can neutralize or destroy the coronavirus.
Wilson examined an antibody that had been taken from a SARS patient years ago and noticed that it latched onto a specific place in that virus.
The team then discovered that the same SARS antibody latched onto virtually the same spot on the coronavirus. The antibody did not grip it quite as hard, but it helped identify the spot as a possible weak point in the makeup of the virus.
“That high degree of similarity implies that the site has an important function that would be lost if it mutated significantly,” Scripps Research said in a statement Friday.
The researchers need to explore the matter further, which won’t be easy.
“We found that this (spot) is usually hidden inside the virus, and only exposed when that part of the virus changes its structure, as it would in natural infection,” Wilson’s colleague, Meng Yuan, said in a statement.
Scripps Research also will search for antibodies that do a better job of latching onto the vulnerable region of the virus.
The institute is seeking the public’s help. Researchers are looking for COVID-19 survivors who would be willing to donate some of their blood, which would then be screened for potentially useful antibodies.
All humans have five basic types on antibodies. But there’s lots of variability among those groups. Scientists are looking for the ones that are best suited to identify and neutralize the virus.
People who wish to participate should contact Scripps Research directly at covid-19survivorstudy@scripps.edu
The institute says that it is particularly interested in talking to people who have been symptom-free for two to three weeks. The antibodies that people produce to fight the virus can become stronger over time, scientists say.
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No politics please.
Many thanks to Sky Dog for sharing this news.
Where is Sky Dog.
Sounds like progress.
I don't know if this is politics but at least they relaxed the rules on gay men being able to donate blood.
( same here: Where is Sky Dog?? )
It is thrilling to see scientific research in action. It certainly brings hope that we can save ourselves from this virus. Much better to read scientific articles identifying potential weaknesses in the virus and the potential for a combative method rather than articles proclaiming that this virus is a result of human sin.
Say hi and thanks for the article to Sky Dog for me SP. This article is certainly a bright spot in a sea of dark news. Hope this turns out to be a real break-through!
Thank God! I hope it works out for us all.
... yeah, right.
Thank Science.
Thank God
... yeah, right.
The discovery was published Friday in the journal Science.
So now God is publishing in "Science"?
Good for her...its about time!
Great article SP. Thank Sky Dog for us and let's hope this leads to a quicker vaccine.
hope this works, smart people working hard will find a solution
There are a lot of really smart people working on this. There's no doubt in my mind that there will be success!
Hopefully it will come soon!!
Any port in a storm. Every possibility needs to be explored, and I hope they get the funding they require.
In this case I think they will-- this is indeed a priority.
I hope that this is a breakthrough in the battle against coronavirus.
I am encouraged a bit by this. Keep up these efforts!
and yet the 2019-2020 flu season...
This novel virus has no vaccine or pills or liquids so far to alleviate or mitigate its symptoms and death factors. It is running 'wild' in and out of the world's people - looking for suitable hosts. Our tools are so far unworthy of the 'Challenger.' So we pull back, use social isolation, and stop the spread of the microbe and its threat. And, pneumonia-related diseases are graded worse and more damaging even before they become highly contagious. My opinion.
We went through the same thing with swine flu without shutting down the country.
Vaccine at 6 months.
We should expect a vaccine in a couple of months...
My opinion.
Hi SP. My question is this: Did the Swine Flu carry a general 'signature' of severe pneumonia or fatal breathing problems? Or was the Swine Flu more of a flu-sickness? Curious.
Tough answer, it more closely resembles influenza with the usual symptoms that for many developed into pneumonia and or respiratory failure.
Like COVID19, H1N1 did not respond to previous medicines or vaccines.
The BIG difference is that there was extensive testing and surveillance for H1N1 so we knew who was infected even if they were asymptomatic and they were quarantined, while those who tested negative but had 'flu like' symptoms were not.
Another matter which makes this highly contagious virus able to shut down the country is the speed of its transmission and progression to respiratory failure. It's speed of progression, our lack of immunity or a vaccine, its high contagion factor, and its capacity to overwhelm doctors and nurses and facilities all add up to shutting down the country.
There's not the slightest doubt in my mind that there will be a vaccine. The only question is when...but it will happen!
I saw that Ford will deliver 50,000 ventilators at approximately $16,750 a piece starting with 6,000 in June.
GM was "forced " to sign a contract for 30,000 at the same price with initial deliveries estimated for mid June.
Wanna start a pool on how many ventilators are in the national stockpile by September?
Under 100K or over?
Yikes! The same company that delivered us the Pinto?
Seriously though, companies across the country are cranking out products and research at a rapid pace to slow/stop this disease. Rising to the occasion as American industry did during WW2 but this time with the help of modern technology.
One and the same.
I wonder where they will mount the oxygen bottle?
too much junk in the exploding trunk
American Motor's Pacer (cerca 1975 through 1979). Now , that was a sturdy piece of work!
the Fishbowl > ?
I am old enough to remember the Rambler's original public relations failure when a very large batch of steering knuckles failed regularly enough, causing partial disconnect of one of the cars front wheels.
Later when there the cars were more reliable with Ford or GM engines paired to Chrysler tranmissions, it was the bizarre things that haunted AMC reliability were generally tied to AMC's shaky financial status.
Used car lots everywhere had Pacers with the front door handle broken off and the part supplier refused to sell them to AMC on credit. What good is a car you can't get into.
Ahhhh memories.
H A ! Or, if you will, "the Jetson."
One of these two rides jumped off the page and lived out its hey day. Aaahh memories!! ! Bada-bing bada-boom.
rut row
Hopefully this speeds up progress. Until now, it was estimated that a vaccine would not be available for up to 18 months.
The Covid-19 curtain is still up.
We need help! We want help. We are ready to receive help! We appreciate the best and brightest who are out there facing the tide every day and the researchers who are looking into the makeup of this germ. You can do it. You have done it before! We salute all your efforts.
Bring down the Covid-19 curtain—now.
We have a local plasma donation center that's been asking people to donate blood if they've recovered from C-19. If I get it and survive I will be a research rat for them
That is a good thought. Me, too. I will do it if the time comes. We are in this together. I am so grateful to those men and women, boys and girls, who have solved life's crushing health crises in the past. Praying the have it in them to "Do it - Again."
This from the page SP provided (a link on the page):
Erica and Co. you are 'greenlighted' to come along! Welcome aboard!
Some more help is on the way for California and it will be shared beyond our borders :
This is interesting (do note the date of the informative story) and on par with the discussion:
Your computer can help scientists seek potential COVID-19 treatments
IBM's World Community Grid hosts Scripps Research project to virtually screen chemical compounds that might help fight COVID-19.
April 01, 2020
LA JOLLA, CA — Under a collaboration between IBM and Scripps Research, anyone in the world with a PC, laptop or Mac and an internet connection will be able to help scientists seek chemical compounds that might be effective against COVID-19.
To do so, volunteers' devices will perform small, virtual experiments to identify chemical compounds, including those in existing medicines, that might be used as treatments candidates for COVID-19. Compounds that show promise for treating COVID-19 will undergo further testing and analysis.
The project, designed and led by Scripps Research, will be hosted on IBM's World Community Grid , a trusted, crowdsourced computing resource provided at no charge for scientists.
Volunteers download a small, safe app that works when their devices are otherwise idle or in light use. Operating unobtrusively in the background without slowing users' systems, the app distributes computational assignments and returns completed calculations to researchers, all via the IBM cloud. Volunteers need not have any special technical expertise to participate; the process is automatic and secure. Personal information is never shared, and the software cannot access personal or business files. (You can sign up to participate at www.ibm.org/OpenPandemics .)
By crowdsourcing power from thousands of computing devices, the project, called "OpenPandemics - COVID-19," will easily be able perform hundreds of millions of calculations needed for simulations. This can potentially accelerate the drug discovery or drug re-purposing process, traditionally performed more slowly in a traditional laboratory. As with all of IBM’s World Community Grid projects, all data generated by this effort will be made publicly available.
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I signed up for this, thanks.
We will see what happens.
Maybe we will save the world?
I am strongly thinking about SIGNING UP! I think I will give them a call and get several more details and proceed accordingly! Will let you know what I decide to do. 'SAVE THE WORLD' - now that is a stellar idea all wrapped into one!
Well, you know what? I am "All IN" this time. No more pausing around like a deer in headlights! This is a good work these actionable men and women are doing and they need my help! This coronavirus, Covid-19, a respiratory invader and killer, scared my socks off several weeks ago! It is time for me to man-up and push back in every which way I can. Starting with lending my computing power to the World Community Grid (WCG).
WCG make me, us, proud!
Life be a computation.
The OpenPandemics project will launch soon and we will notify you as soon as this happens, with a link to instructions about how to put your computer to work against COVID-19.
In the meantime, you can click here to learn about the other projects we're supporting that help scientists study cancer, AIDS, tuberculosis, and the human microbiome
So I am signed up for the whole beeswax with them, because IT'S ALL GOOD!!!
I am running something for 2 hospitals - it took 3 hours to load and now it's doing calculations.
20% complete, 56 tasks completed. 2 hours left.
I am leaving it run over night - check back tomorrow.
Aahh! I just looked and it seems I have 48:55 minutes left doing "Microbiome Immunity Project " Elapsed time 1:16:10 60% Remaining time: 48:55. (Maybe it is my download?)
You reminded me to leave the system up tonight! Thank you!
It just keeps going & going.
"Work done for this project": 818
Broad Institute, Massachusetts General Hospital & UCDavis?
"Work done for this project": 276. 92 % I will let it do what it does. Will try to understand what it means today. (Smile.)