613 replies to this topic

[casino]

Boris in hospital. Feck. 

[jonnyboy]

Crikey. Obviously routine test line is unlikely he's obviously in a bit of bother. Hope he's OK we kind of need him at the moment!  

[FLD]

I see the protease active site has been crystalographically mapped which gives a small molecule approach to treatment.  There are also several small molecule dockings which look promising.

[jonnyboy]

Whats that in English Matt? 

 

Serious request! 

[FLD]

Its part of the mechanism for how the virus replicates in the cell.  Think of it as a key machine on a production line.  The active site is like the control panel.  In essence we have a picture of the control panel we just need to interpret it.  This is one of the ways HIV is treated and why it's no longer so terrible.  The downside is that a crystallographic structure is fixed whereas in reality the active site can move around a little. 

 

Docking (not that sort of docking) is putting in small, drug like, molecules into the active site (via computer)  and seeing how they fit into the site.  Kinda like a 3D jigsaw.  There are a few very good fits that I know of in the public domain so I imagine there's a few others too.  This is very promising for future drugability.

 

[casino]

Its part of the mechanism for how the virus replicates in the cell.  Think of it as a key machine on a production line.  The active site is like the control panel.  In essence we have a picture of the control panel we just need to interpret it.  This is one of the ways HIV is treated and why it's no longer so terrible.  The downside is that a crystallographic structure is fixed whereas in reality the active site can move around a little. 

 

Docking (not that sort of docking) is putting in small, drug like, molecules into the active site (via computer)  and seeing how they fit into the site.  Kinda like a 3D jigsaw.  There are a few very good fits that I know of in the public domain so I imagine there's a few others too.  This is very promising for future drugability.

This sounds like the beginning of something promising. So if the control panel can be switched off then the Miley Cyrus cant replicate? 

[coldel]

So what are the time consuming bits of the end to end process of developing a vaccine / cure ? 

 

I presume some short cuts in testing will be used, but that still might be months and months?

[jonnyboy]

Testing 

 

https://en.wikipedia...er_Laboratories

[techieboy]

Boris now in Intensive Care.

[casino]

Come on Boris, you have to win this. 

[PaulCP]

Boris now in Intensive Care.

and apparently the Russians knew before he did

 

https://news.sky.com...-claim-11969398

[techieboy]

Yeah, I drove down to Waitrose at about 7:50pm and there was an item on LBC with a "Government spokesman" denying Russian media reports that he was in intensive care. By the time I got home, the news was breaking.

[techieboy]

I reckon Raab knew things weren't progressing too well with Boris at his virus update press conference this evening. He could barely string together a sentence without referring to his notes. Seemed very distracted, even when he was talking about things within his Foreign Office brief.

[Zoobeef]

Hopefully the reporter was asking if boris was taking up a bed someone else could be using will sit and think about what he said tonight.

[Johnboyhgt]

Just shows how well connected Russia is, Raab definitely knew.

Sent from my SM-G903F using Tapatalk

[casino]

Didn’t Putin spend a day with a doc who later tested positive ? Not heard a word from him for a while

[TheRealVXed]

Interesting that people think China haven't reported correctly. Im not a 5G mast burner far from it but their infection rates just don't add up. Look at this. Pure BS.
 

 

 

I can't find any available evidence that they are mis-reporting following a dig around some normally reliable sources.  That being said, it by no means proves they are not...

 

I would like to see other countries curves when they are at the same state as China is now, i.e. long term lockdowns and restricted movements for prolonged periods plus large enough scale testing.

 

Interestingly, we will probably have no idea of the scale of this until it is over and everyone can be antibody tested (tests for the immune cells created as a result of exposure to the virus) rather than antigen tested (which relies on the person having the virus at the time).  This will give us an accurate picture of the virus spread as some people will have been asymptomatic.  

 

Greater antigen testing (such as in South Korea) provides a more accurate insight into the true infection and death rates in real time.  Testing only front line staff does not provide any indication as the severity of the spread in the population as the likelihood of infection of this subset of the population is very high compared to other subsets.

 

Sad news about Boris indeed.  Just proves even further that this is nothing to do with standing, race, religion, background, geography etc etc.  This is a human disease and we need to deal with it as humans, as animals.  There is a controversial element to this in our singular purpose as a species, which is to ensure continuation at all costs.  I'm sure there are many sociopaths out there who would gladly see us sacrifice large proportions of our society.  From a purely biological point of view I can sympathise with this viewpoint, however we, as a species, have evolved beyond that basic instinct and to our benefit, or not as the case may be, our goal is not only to ensure our survival as a group, but to extend our survival as individuals at all costs as well.  Which of these two outlooks are selfish?  Now there's a question....

[Zoobeef]

Hindsight will tell us a great number of things in the next 5-10 years, let's just hope that the number of deaths from recession and the halt of things like cancer screening dont drastically exceed the numbers we're looking at from COVID-19.

The fact they've also halted alot of the fertility treatments will stop thousands of lives happening let alone ending.

Recession wise, this is estimated to be many times worse than 2008. 

[ICD]

 

 

 

  From a purely biological point of view I can sympathise with this viewpoint, however we, as a species, have evolved beyond that basic instinct and to our benefit, or not as the case may be, our goal is not only to ensure our survival as a group, but to extend our survival as individuals at all costs as well.  Which of these two outlooks are selfish?  Now there's a question....

 

 

One answer to your question is.

 

Depends on how close to home it is. A member of .org lost a very close cousin yesterday.

I personally havent seen my mother for 2 weeks who has been holed up in a hospital having icu / oxygen that is in lock down.

 

I personally would rather be in debt, rather than dead, but others may differ.
 

[Rosssco]

Hindsight will tell us a great number of things in the next 5-10 years, let's just hope that the number of deaths from recession and the halt of things like cancer screening dont drastically exceed the numbers we're looking at from COVID-19.

The fact they've also halted alot of the fertility treatments will stop thousands of lives happening let alone ending.

Recession wise, this is estimated to be many times worse than 2008. 

 

I think in a number of years it will become clear that we've went completely OTT with this 'event', our lack of preparedness (esp. in comparison to some east Asian countries) has become our undoing far more than a virus this is likely to be only slightly more lethal than some of the flu strains we are used to dealing with. I guess it shows ultimately how inter-linked and fragile our societies have become in the modern age of globalisation and huge media influence.

 

Not that that's necessarily anyone's fault specifically - fear and panic drive a lot of the socio-economic disasters that have befallen us more than the original threat.

 

I genuinely feel sorry for anyone who's lost loved ones and family members due to or related to this latest virus (I lost elderly family members last year, mainly due to flu and bacteria infections), but I also think we've lost perspective on the fact that there's many things out there to make us sick and ultimately kill us. Focusing all our energy on one is going to (and currently is) going to have severe knock-on effects for years to come.

Edited by Rosssco, 08 April 2020 - 08:45 AM.