Race to find COVID-19 treatments accelerates Kupferschmidt, Kai; Cohen, Jon
Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science),
03/2020, Letnik:
367, Številka:
6485
Journal Article
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WHO launches megatrial to test repurposed drugs and experimental drug candidates.
As the race to find treatments for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) accelerates, the World Health Organization ...(WHO) last week announced a major study to compare treatment strategies in a streamlined clinical trial design that doctors around the world can join. SOLIDARITY—an unprecedented, coordinated push to collect robust scientific data rapidly during a pandemic—could include many thousands of patients in dozens of countries and has emphasized simplicity so that even hospitals overwhelmed by an onslaught of COVID-19 patients can participate. The study will examine an experimental antiviral compound called remdesivir; the malaria medication chloroquine (or its chemical cousin hydroxychloroquine); a combination of the HIV drugs lopinavir and ritonavir; and that combination plus interferon-beta, an immune system messenger that can help cripple viruses. WHO hopes to start to enroll patients as early as this week.
Countries test tactics in 'war' against COVID-19 Cohen, Jon; Kupferschmidt, Kai
Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science),
03/2020, Letnik:
367, Številka:
6484
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Lockdowns and closings proliferate, but virus testing and contact tracing are lagging.
After 2 months of mostly waiting and seeing, many countries have suddenly implemented strict measures to slow ...the spread of coronavirus disease 2019. They had little choice, given the rapid rise in the number of cases and deaths in Europe and the United States. "This is war," President Emmanuel Macron told the French people. But how to fight that war is still under discussion. The hastily introduced measures vary widely between countries and even within countries. That reflects different phases of the epidemic, as well as differences in resources, cultures, governments, and laws. And there's also confusion about what works best, and how to balance what is necessary with what is reasonable.
In search of blue Kupferschmidt, Kai
Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science),
2019-May-03, 2019-05-03, 20190503, Letnik:
364, Številka:
6439
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New tools are aiding the age-old quest for the rarest of pigments.
Humans across the ages have craved to master true blue. Ancient Egyptians came up with Egyptian blue, the first synthetic pigment. ...In the 19th century there was a race to create a synthetic ultramarine and then a synthetic indigo. And in the 21st century, the fascination continues as a group of researchers working in different fields is trying to create new blues: A plant biotechnologist funded by Japan's largest whisky producer is trying to create a blue rose. A geologist in the United Kingdom is working to turn the common mantle mineral ringwoodite into a blue pigment that's stable on Earth's surface. A solid-state chemist in Oregon accidentally discovered a new blue that is being commercialized now. A British plant scientist is trying to create a natural blue food colorant from a plant named
Clitoria
. This is their story.
Delta variant triggers new phase in the pandemic Kupferschmidt, Kai; Wadman, Meredith
Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science),
06/2021, Letnik:
372, Številka:
6549
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Scientists are probing why a fresh set of viral mutations is taking the world by storm.
A SARS-CoV-2 variant called Delta is slowly taking over the pandemic. Denoted a "variant of concern" by the ...World Health Organization, Delta appears to be more transmissible than previous variants and better able to infect people that have only had one vaccine dose. The surge has set off a frenzy of research to understand why the variant appears to spread so much faster than the three other variants of concern, whether it is more dangerous in other ways, and how its unique pattern of mutations, which cause subtle changes in its proteins, can wreak havoc. Delta's arrival has also brought fresh attention to the potential of SARS-CoV-2 to evolve and adapt in the months and years ahead.
Some say the country should reopen—even if it causes cases to surge—once vulnerable populations are vaccinated.
On its face, the curve of COVID-19 infections in Denmark looks reassuring enough. A ...nationwide lockdown has led numbers to plummet from more than 3000 daily cases in mid-December 2020 to just a few hundred now. But this could be the calm before the storm, as there are two epidemics: one, shrinking fast, that's caused by older variants of SARS-CoV-2, and a smaller, slowly growing outbreak of B.1.1.7, the variant first recognized in England and now driving a big third wave of the pandemic there. If B.1.1.7 keeps spreading at the same pace in Denmark, it will become the dominant variant later this month and cause the overall number of cases to rise again, despite the lockdown. The same is likely happening in many countries, but a massive virus-sequencing effort has allowed Denmark to track the rise of the new COVID-19 variant more closely than any other country.
Can China's COVID-19 strategy work elsewhere? Kupferschmidt, Kai; Cohen, Jon
Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science),
03/2020, Letnik:
367, Številka:
6482
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Rapid decline in cases is real, expert mission concludes—but it came at a high cost.
A new report confirms drops in the spread of COVID-19 in China and contends that the effective response there ...could inform other countries. But critics say the report failed to acknowledge the human rights costs of the most severe measures imposed by China's authoritarian government: massive lockdowns and electronic surveillance of millions of people. The report was jointly written by an international team of scientists, organized by the World Health Organization, who toured five cities in China with colleagues from that country to better understand the COVID-19 epidemic there. Using the country's massive data set about cases, the report offers many insights about the severity of the disease and how it affects different age groups and people with underlying health problems. It concludes that efforts to contain the virus in Hubei province prevented potentially hundreds of thousands of cases in other provinces. A key feature was the lockdown in many cities in Hubei, which restricted much of the transmission to households, where the virus eventually burned out. Many public health and legal experts questioned whether these stringent strategies would work elsewhere and noted the downsides to mandatory quarantines and the intensive surveillance done by governments.
A Lethal Dose of RNA KUPFERSCHMIDT, KAI
Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science),
08/2013, Letnik:
341, Številka:
6147
Journal Article
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Researchers are using a new technology called RNA interference to help plants fend off insects on their own with very little collateral damage. The first results may come on the markets before the ...end of the decade.
Cholera vaccine faces major test in Yemen Kupferschmidt, Kai
Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science),
06/2017, Letnik:
356, Številka:
6345
Journal Article
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On 15 June, a group managing the modest global reserve of cholera vaccine decided to dispatch 1 million doses to war-torn Yemen, which is suffering from a massive cholera outbreak. Cases began rising ...sharply in April and have already reached an estimated 200,000, causing 1300 deaths, most of them in the west of the country. There are now 5000 new cases every day, on both sides of the front lines. The vaccination campaign will be one of the biggest tests yet for the vaccine; the global stockpile was created only 4 years ago and has been used mostly for smaller campaigns. But where to deploy it within Yemen is still under debate.
Buzz food Kupferschmidt, Kai
Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science),
2015-Oct-16, 2015-10-16, 20151016, Letnik:
350, Številka:
6258
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Insects may well be the animal feed of the future, scientists say. The world's appetite for meat and fish is growing, and the production of feed is an increasing strain on land and water. Insects ...such as maggots and mealworms could provide much of the protein animals need at a much lower environmental cost; many insect species can feed on organic waste. Regulatory agencies are now weighing the benefits against potential safety risks of insects as feed; a recent report by the European Food Safety Authority concluded that more research is needed. But a few entrepreneurs have already started rearing insects at an industrial scale.
