How can science help us fight coronvirus? Give any 5 ways.
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The SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus pandemic of COVID-19 has led to the unprecedented mobilisation of an industry whose role is key in this crisis: scientific research. The journal Nature estimated that by March 12, some 900 studies had already been conducted on a virus that was not even known three months earlier. Here we review the milestones science is reaching and the challenges still to be met in the battle against this global threat.
Preparing for epidemics
South Korea’s success in containing the COVID-19 epidemic without requiring the mass confinement of its population has been praised around the world. Studies have highlighted as key factors the implementation of mass testing, the isolation of those infected and the quarantine of their contacts, as well as controversial case tracking via mobile phones or credit cards. But this effective response is not the result of improvisation; following the outbreak of the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) coronavirus, which in 2015 infected 186 people in Korea, 36 of whom died, the Korean government launched a special epidemic preparedness plan, which is now bearing fruit.
BBVA-OpenMind-ciencia derrotar al coronavirus_ retos y herramientas-Futuro coronavirus 2-Desinfección de la calle en Taiwan. Crédito: Military News Agency Zhou Lihang
Street disinfection in Taiwan. Credit: Military News Agency Zhou Lihang
In contrast, other countries have been criticised for their lack of preparedness. In September 2019, the report “A World at Risk” from the Global Preparedness Monitoring Board, a body established by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Bank, warned of the risk of a pandemic caused by a deadly respiratory pathogen and of the low level of global preparedness, an alert that has proved to be prophetic. The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic is helping scientists improve epidemiological models, but it will be the responsibility of governments to listen to science in order to address this and future epidemics.
Diagnostic test
One of the achievements of science in the battle against SARS-CoV-2 is the development of the first diagnostic test in less than three weeks from the date of the WHO’s announcement of the outbreak in China, back when the virus did not even have a definitive name. In just a couple of months, there are already hundreds of diagnostic tests on the market or in development. The importance of these tools in the fight against the pandemic is underlined by a slogan oft repeated by Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the Director-General of the WHO: “Test, test, test.”
BBVA-OpenMind-Como derrotar al coronavirus_ retos y herramientas-Futuro coronavirus 3-Existen ya centenares de test de diagnóstico: Crédito: U.S. Air Force/Brooke Moeder
There are hundreds of diagnostic tests. Credit: U.S. Air Force/Brooke Moeder
The most widespread tests are based on the detection of the genes of the virus by Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR). Other tests are also coming on stream with the aim of lowering the cost and speeding up the diagnosis, rapid tests that do not require the samples to be sent to large automated centres, but can be carried out at medical care sites or even at home. Serological tests, which detect antibodies against the virus in the blood, are particularly important. They make it possible not only to diagnose the sick, but also to detect who has recovered from the infection even without symptoms, which experts say will serve to identify people already immune to the virus and to appreciate the true scale of the pandemic. Serological tests have already been used in Singapore and China, and are expected to be available soon for mass use in other countries.
New Antivirals
In the field of new virus-specific treatments, one approach is the use of monoclonal antibodies, molecules similar to those our immune system makes to fight infection, designed in the laboratory to target certain pieces of the virus. The structure of the Spike (S) protein that the virus uses to infect cells has been mapped out, a clear target for the design of these antibodies.
BBVA-OpenMind-Materia-ciencia derrotar al coronavirus_ retos y herramientas-uturo coronavirus 4-Estructura de la proteína Spike (S) que el virus utiliza para infectar. Crédito: NIAID
Structure of the Spike (S) protein that the virus uses to infect cells. Credit: NIAID
A second approach is to create drugs that interfere with the vital proteins of the virus. One study has revealed the structure of the main protease that SARS-CoV-2 uses to process the proteins that build new viral particles, along with that of an inhibitor that can block this function and prevent the virus from reproducing. However, any new treatment will have to undergo a long process of clinical trials, which means years of waiting.