An Unproven Theorem

Molecular Biophysics Unit Of IISc Makes Crucial Breakthrough In Structure Of SARS CoV-2 Virus Research team at the Molecular Biophysics Unit (MBU) of the Indian Institute of Science has made a crucial breakthrough in the study of the spike protein (S Protein) of the SARS-CoV-2 virus which causes Covid-19. The research team has observed that around 68 per cent of the S-proteins exist in open formation at physiological pH 7.4, but their proportion decreases when the pH is slightly higher (pH 8.0) or lower (pH 6.5). The structural insights gained from this study could aid in developing therapeutics against SARS-CoV-2, including vaccines that target the S-protein, according to the authors of the study. "This suggests that the interaction between the S protein and receptor is more favoured at physiological pH (pH 7.4) than on either side of the biological pH scale," the Assistant Professor at MBU, IISc, Somnath Dutta who led the research team stated. Several other published studie...

India's COVID-19 emergency The Lancet Published: May 08, 2021 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(21)01052-7 The scenes of suffering in India are hard to comprehend. As of May 4, more than 20·2 million cases of COVID-19 had been reported, with a rolling average of 378 000 cases a day, together with more than 222 000 deaths, which experts believe are likely to be substantial underestimates. Hospitals are overwhelmed, and health workers are exhausted and becoming infected. Social media is full of desperate people (doctors and the public) seeking medical oxygen, hospital beds, and other necessities. Yet before the second wave of cases of COVID-19 began to mount in early March, Indian Minister of Health  Harsh Vardhan declared  that India was in the “endgame” of the epidemic. The impression from the government was that India had beaten COVID-19 after several months of low case counts, despite  repeated warnings of the dangers of a second wave  and the emergence of n...