Corona Virus Now Spreading

artiemom

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molly92 molly92 Thanks for posting the explanation. It hink I fell asleep when mRNA was explained in class.... You gave a great refresher course.

I did see the PBS special on CRISPER technology. I will admit it was a bit too much for a before bedtime documentary. as 2 hours long. I think, if I watched it while drinking a cup of coffee, taking notes, and breaking it up into 2, one hour episodes, would really help me understand .....
 

Willowy

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What kinds of secret herbs?

I never used to get the flu shot (my mom is mildly anti-vax and that affected me) but a few years ago I got. . .something, maybe the flu, and sat up all night gasping for breath. It was terrible. So now I get the flu shot, 3rd year in a row. I'm not doing that again if I can help it.

I'd rather wait until the vaccine has been around for a while so that the side effects are well understood, but, yeah, I'll definitely get the COVID vaccine.
 

di and bob

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I'm definitely getting the vaccine when it is available for me. I hear people all the time say, but I get it and still get sick, yeah, not everything covers 100% and the 'regular' flu vaccines often are only 50%. But if you DO get it after a vaccination it is almost always not as bad because your immune system is revved up. I got a shot last year and my husband didn't, I was sick with the flu for less than a week, he was way over two weeks and was weak for a lot longer than that. Almost all vaccines are NOT live viruses that give you the flu. They are modified dead viruses that gear up your immune system to recognize that virus and react against it. If you feel tired, a little sick after a vaccination, that is good actually, it is your immune system gearing up!
 

Mia6

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If anyone would like an overview of the science involved:

In a normal human cell, your DNA is inside the nucleus and it has to stay there, but the structures that assemble proteins and everything in and around the cell are outside the nucleus. Since the DNA doesn't travel out to these structures, mRNA does instead. It copies a piece of DNA in the nucleus, travels outside the nucleus, and gives the instructions to structures that make proteins from it. That's why it's called messenger RNA.

The coronavirus takes advantage of this setup by carrying around pieces of mRNA and injecting them into human cells. The structures of the cell just know that it's mRNA, and that proteins are made from mRNA. They can't tell that these pieces of mRNA didn't come from the cell's own DNA. So they follow the instructions, which are actually instructions to make more viruses and that's how viral infection occurs.

The mRNA vaccine uses this trick against the virus. Instead of injecting all of the pieces of mRNA that a virus would into the cell, though, they just inject one piece. That piece isn't enough to make a whole virus, just a portion of it that floats aimlessly about and can't do any damage. If we can trick our own cells into making enough of these viral pieces, then soon we'll have harmless viral pieces floating around and coming into contact with immune cells. The immune cells recognize it as something different, and make antibodies against it, creating immunity. Now, when the actual virus does come into that person's body, the immune cells will notice that piece that they saw before and have antibodies ready to go.

It takes two shots to ensure that your cells have made enough of this protein that immune cells can recognize it.

Traditional, non-mRNA vaccines also work by showing the immune system something similar enough to the virus that they'll recognize it if infected with the real virus. But, the difference is those vaccines inject actual pieces of the virus directly, whereas with mRNA, we're injecting instructions for those pieces and then letting our cells actually make the pieces from that. So it's an extra step for our cells to do, but it means way fewer steps for the lab and scientists to do, which is why this vaccine was made so fast and why everyone thought mRNA was going to be the first method to be successful. It's always easier to let cellular machinery do the work for you if you can!

The drawback is that RNA is such an unstable molecule because in the cell, it's meant to be temporary. It gets made quickly and destroyed quickly. DNA has two backbones but RNA only has one. And also, because RNA viruses are everywhere in nature, living things make tons of RNAses which are enzymes designed to destroy RNA as a defense. RNAses are everywhere and very, very hard to remove from the environment, so RNA is always at risk of being destroyed by RNAses. RNAses don't work well at cold temperatures and RNA is less likely to break apart if it's frozen very solid, so ultra cold temperatures preserve it. They can also make modifications and add molecules that help protect RNA, but it's so fragile that ultra cold temperatures are usually used as a precaution. Pfizer says theirs has to be kept at -80 C (ultra cold) while Moderna says theirs can be kept at -20 C (standard freezers). Why there is a difference comes down to the formulation and molecules they add to protect it, but the details they're going to keep secret because they don't want anyone else copying their trade secrets.


If you're referring to making any permanent alterations to our cells, it has to be done to DNA, not mRNA, since the mRNA is a temporary messenger. Once its instructions are "read," it's broken up and reused for parts.

But, you're touching on a very interesting different area of biotechnology that is focused on modifying actual DNA, which would make permanent changes and be able to fix many diseases! The technology for this is called CRISPR-cas9, which you may have heard of. The scientists behind it just won the Nobel Prize this year. There possibilities are infinite, and there is a lot of research going on right now to figure out how to use it effectively.
I take it you doc or scientist? Thanks you for explanation, I actually understood it!
 

artiemom

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Got a phone call last night from the building's director. They are providing more Free Covid Testing on Wednesday. The consent form has to be in this morning.

It is provided by the City, in conjunction with an ambulance company, who will be administrating it.
This time it is the nasal swab.. not the really deep one, but the other one..

I am all for it. Eventhough I only go shopping, during senior hours.. and are in and out.. I feel I should take advantage of all testing they are providing.

It is hard for me to understand why people would not take advantage of this; yet, there are always many who do not participate. There are at least 35-30 people who refits to take any testing at all.

One of my neighbors, flat out and said to me: "It is all a political election game! This, (Covid) is not as bad as they re saying! It will disappear on it's own/"....I was flabbergasted!

It took me a minute to reply, but I said, "Well, I believe in Science and Medicine. I was in the medical field. I believe in Science"....

To which he replied; "We all have our own opinions"....

UGH>>>>>
 

Willowy

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Can't say. It's illegal to claim that anything natural cures an illness. So that's why it's a secret. All I know is that I got rid of the flu in 2 days.
It's not illegal for regular people to say something "cures" influenza, just for people making money on it. And it's not illegal for them to say what's in their "health supplement"; just to claim that it cures something. So be careful! Some herbs can be dangerous.
One of my neighbors, flat out and said to me: "It is all a political election game! This, (Covid) is not as bad as they re saying! It will disappear on it's own/"....I was flabbergasted!

It took me a minute to reply, but I said, "Well, I believe in Science and Medicine. I was in the medical field. I believe in Science"....

To which he replied; "We all have our own opinions"....
People like that make me nuts. Does he think all those people in your building who died or got severely ill were just playing political games?
 

ZombieTiger

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People like that make me nuts. Does he think all those people in your building who died or got severely ill were just playing political games?
They also don't seem to understand how countries are losing billions worth of money every week because of this business.
 
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Willowy

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They also don't seem to understand how countries are losing billions worth of money every week because of this business.
They'll say that the financial loss is due to the restrictions/lockdowns, not the virus. But we know that's not true because even businesses in places without restrictions are experiencing financial loss.

As far as conspiracy theories go, I can understand the one saying that the virus was deliberately introduced to thin the population or something like that. But not the "it's not real; it's all political" theory. That's just so easily disproved if you pay any attention to the world at all.
 

LTS3

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Having pneumonia is worse than the flu IMO.

I'll get the covid vaccine when it's available to the general publuc, after seniors and other higher priority people get it first.
 

ZombieTiger

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I assume so. There aren't many things that feel as bad as the flu! Like you're dying.
I don't know about that, some food poisonings will make you really, really sick. Food poisonings all come from bacteria.

Influenza is what you get from virus(es).

The thing is, you can very often treat light bacterial infections with home and herb remedies. When it's something serious, home remedies and whatever herbs tend to make more harm than help. It's not better just because it's more natural.

Bacteria and virus are different animals.
Against viruses, herbs are less than useless.
 
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jeannem

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I will get the Corvid vaccine when it is available. I have got the flu shot every year since I was 25 when I had it twice 6 months a part. The 2nd time wasn't quite as bad. I will always get every recommended shot. I believe the science. I had enough microbiology and virology with my degree. I may be 30-40 years out of date but the basics are the same.
j
 

Lari

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I don't know about that, some food poisonings will make you really, really sick. Food poisonings all come from bacteria
I had what I presume to be norovirus for a weekend several years back. I think that's the most miserable I've ever been.

I hope L&D personnel are among the medical people to get the vaccine first, for selfish reasons, but they are working with a vulnerable population.
 

Xraystyle

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The sickest I ever got was with Mono. I had it 10 years ago and it definitely impacted me long-term. I was still getting super tired easily six months after "recovering." A lot of the Covid aftereffects sound like Mono's aftereffects.

I sort of believe we should inoculate healthy younger people first (starting with anyone in essential positions, ie, people who are out there working now). So much spread is from asymptomatic people, so this would slow that down. Plus, because these vaccines are being rolled out faster than any previous ones, I feel like healthy young people will be less affected by any potential negative side effects. Giving a new vaccine to a compromised old person just sounds as dangerous as letting an asymptomatic nurse care for that old person.

I have a friend who is a traditional medicine doctor so I always hesitate to totally poo-poo that branch of medicine. I wouldn't trust it to cure anything serious (cancer, pneumonia, etc.), but I'd prefer to get an herbal tea for a cold than the packs of pills the regular doctors here prescribe:
1606868834866.png

Chinese medicine was the most scientifically advanced medicine the world had for quite a while, they must have been doing something right. But I think most of the success was probably for indigestion, skin rashes, etc. Anything more serious was just about alleviating symptoms, not actually curing the disease (which could be said about all medicine until the 19th century).
 

molly92

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I did see the PBS special on CRISPER technology. I will admit it was a bit too much for a before bedtime documentary. as 2 hours long. I think, if I watched it while drinking a cup of coffee, taking notes, and breaking it up into 2, one hour episodes, would really help me understand .....
I agree, CRISPR gets pretty complicated. I'm only really vaguely aware of how it works.
 
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