Dan, the albanyweblog man, decided to confound me:
A Pharma Corporation called Inovid is trying to speed up production of COVID-19 vaccine. They take virus DNA, convert it to RNA, pick out the right bits of the RNA according to a computer program, then inject it into bacteria, which makes lots of virus DNA that can be used to stimulate antibodies in the human, thus making an effective vaccine. What I want to know is how do they convert the virus DNA to RNA on cue? They talk about this like it’s NBD.
As I understand it – and I REALLY DON’T –
So what’s COVID-19’s story? Is a hint in what normally binds the receptor?
Perhaps sometime in the past, a virus formed, or came to include, human DNA or RNA instructions for making an integrin, which is a protein that binds to ACE2. Integrins glue our cells to surrounding connective tissue. The viral spike masquerades as the integrin, grabbing our cells.
In other words, a viral epidemic may arise as an accident, of sorts, of biochemistry and evolution.
Vaccine!
One of the things I learned as a librarian is that sometimes I don’t understand what I’m passing along. It’s just beyond my comprehension. Check out this article, which may, or may not be useful.
Fiction
Carla, an old colleague of my wife’s, wants to know:
Roger, Have you ever thought of writing fiction; or do you write fiction?
I’ve thought to do it. But a long piece seems too hard. You have to have a consistent universe. See, e.g., this post by Jaquandor. And I haven’t loved the short pieces I’ve written.
But if I live long enough, I’ll probably write a roman a clef. Or two.
Kevin, from my home county and the Wind Sun News, wants to know:
Who was your favorite Professor at New Paltz?
Of the ones I had class with, probably Glenn McNitt in the political science department. He was very smart but easy going. I remember listening to Stevie Wonder at his house more than once. I also recall specifically hearing Simple Twist of Fate by Joan Baez from her Diamonds and Rust album. She did a wicked Dylan impression and I cracked up.
Of the ones I did not have, probably Pam Tate, the head of Innovative Studies. I knew her in part because I was on the Financial Council and some of our budget went to her program. I was the Education chair so her program was in my jurisdiction.
Since asking this question I’ve learned that converting RNA to DNA is done routinely in the cheek swab test for COVID-19. They add some chemical that does the trick. I guess it’s easy to do because that’s RNA’s job, to make DNA on cue. Thanks Mr. Green for tackling this.