essay in signification of scientific outlook during pandemic
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essay in signification of scientific outlook during pandemicThe COVID-19 pandemic has brought to the fore the importance of a thriving scientific ecosystem for dealing with global crises. In this two-part article series, Kaushik Biswas, Associate Professor at the Division of Molecular Medicine, Bose Institute, Kolkata, discusses how innovative scientific endeavours are paving the way for better prevention and treatment strategies for this rapidly-spreading disease. It’s not a question of “Whether”, it is rather a matter of “When” we will face such a pandemic” was the warning issued by Larry Brilliant, an epidemiologist who helped in the eradication of smallpox. In fact, Brilliant was one of the chief advisors of the 2011 Hollywood Blockbuster “Contagion”, which surprisingly foretells much of what we are seeing around us today.
On 31 December, 2019, reports of a cluster of patients from Wuhan, China with a pneumonic fever of unknown origin reached the district level office of the World Health Organization (WHO). Within 10 days, WHO declared the infectious agent to be an RNA virus of the family Coronaviridae (named after the crown-like outer structure of the virus; “corona” means “crown” in Latin) and a close relative of the viruses which caused the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) outbreak in 2002-04 and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) in 2012.
But this one was new. The world had never seen this particular virus before and neither had this virus seen humans. It appears that the virus transferred to humans from an animal host (in this case, bats) by acquiring some new mutations. Officially named SARS-CoV‑2, and informally called the novel coronavirus, this virus causes a completely new respiratory disease – COVID-19.
And therein lies the problem. We now have an “enemy” that we cannot see, and that we do not know much about. How do we fight such an enemy? The only way is to study and learn more about it — what it wants, what it does in order to survive, and where its weaknesses lie. And this is where science plays a significant role.
This COVID-19 pandemic has brought to our attention how building up scientific temperament and propagation of scientific culture are critically important to tackling a pandemic of this scale. The knowledge so acquired can help us understand the very basics of the disease process, helping us make progress in treating and preventing it.
Understanding the “enemy”
Broadly, viruses can be classified into two main types depending on the nature of their genetic material – DNA viruses and RNA viruses. This genetic material enables the virus to hijack the host’s cellular machinery and synthesize proteins critical for its survival. SARS-CoV‑2, like other coronaviruses, contains RNA as its genome.
Each single viral particle (often called “virion”) contains an envelope, consisting primarily of molecules called lipoproteins as well as three characteristic proteins — the spike (S) protein which gives the virion the characteristic appearance of a crown, the envelope (E) protein and the membrane (M) protein. This envelope can be broken down and destroyed by soap, which is why doctors are asking you to wash your hands often. Apart from this, there is also the nucleocapsid (N) protein which surrounds the RNA genome.
In the few months since we first encountered this infectious pathogen, researchers around the world have embarked upon an almost undeclared joint venture. They have proceeded at breakneck speed to decipher
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