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Category: biotech/medical – Page 1,900

Final edition of stem cell neurotherapy for COVID-19.

We have just finished the Final Edition of Stem Cell Neurotherapy for COVID-19. We repurposed some tools from the Stem Cell Therapy for Cancer/Brain Tumor. Those tools are T-Cells, B-Cells, and Natural Killer Cells. Instead of programming those cancer killing cells to attack cancer cells, we have programmed them to seek out, identify, attack, and destroy all the Coronavirus cells in the entire body.

We still program the stem cells to transform themselves into new cells for the lungs, liver, and kidneys to replace those cells infected by the Coronavirus.

So, stem cells have a dual function in this therapy:

A. Destruction of the Coronavirus cells

B. Replacement of Virus Infected Cells in the Lungs, Liver, Kidneys, and other Organs with new, pure Cells in those Organs.

Continue reading “Cell therapy weekly: Phase I clinical trial for corona-related respiratory distress proposed” | >

The first study on vitamin D and COVID-19 was released as a preprint on April 23, and a second study was released as a preprint on April 26. Here’s what we can learn from the second study. The first study, which I reported on a few days ago, focused on disease severity, while the second one, which I’m reporting on here, focused on mortality.

The Results

The electronic health records of 780 laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 cases from the government hospitals of Indonesia between March 2 and April 24 was searched for data on vitamin D status prior to admission, age, sex, preexisting conditions, and mortality. Vitamin D status was classified as normal (≥30 ng/mL), insufficient (21−29 ng/mL), or deficient (≤20 ng/mL).

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Jordan says Moderna is able to scale up quicker than traditional manufacturers, as its vaccines are created by manipulating mRNA, the molecule that carries genetic instructions from DNA to a cell’s protein-making ribosome. Moderna manipulates mRNA so that it instructs human cells to produce certain viral proteins; the proteins themselves don’t cause infection, but they do invoke an immune response. “The RNA uses the human body as its bioreactor,” says Jordan, so Moderna itself doesn’t have to manufacture the proteins. “To create a different vaccine candidate [for Moderna] is to trigger a different RNA sequence. We don’t need to build a different cell processing plant,” says Jordan.

The central dogma of molecular biology deals with the detailed residue-by-residue transfer of sequential information. It states that such information cannot be transferred back from protein to either protein or nucleic acid.— Francis Crick.

The dogma is a framework for understanding the transfer of sequence information between information-carrying biopolymers, in the most common or general case, in living organisms. There are 3 major classes of such biopolymers: DNA and RNA (both nucleic acids), and protein. There are 3×3=9 conceivable direct transfers of information that can occur between these. The dogma classes these into 3 groups of 3: three general transfers (believed to occur normally in most cells), three special transfers (known to occur, but only under specific conditions in case of some viruses or in a laboratory), and three unknown transfers (believed never to occur). The general transfers describe the normal flow of biological information: DNA can be copied to DNA (DNA replication), DNA information can be copied into mRNA (transcription), and proteins can be synthesized using the information in mRNA as a template (translation). The special transfers describe: RNA being copied from RNA (RNA replication), DNA being synthesised using an RNA template (reverse transcription), and proteins being synthesised directly from a DNA template without the use of mRNA. The unknown transfers describe: a protein being copied from a protein, synthesis of RNA using the primary structure of a protein as a template, and DNA synthesis using the primary structure of a protein as a template — these are not thought to naturally occur. [6].

The BARDA investments could go to waste, but ramping up Covid-19 vaccine production will help avoid delivery delays if a vaccine is approved.

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We can reprogram our DNA. The nucleus of a cell is not read only. It is actually read and write. Basically, the cell is a programmable device, in response to environmental information.

The templates for protein synthesis are RNA (ribonucleic acid) molecules. In particular, a class of RNA molecules called messenger RNA (mRNA) are the information-carrying intermediates in protein synthesis. Other RNA molecules, such as transfer RNA (tRNA) and ribosomal RNA (rRNA), are part of the protein-synthesizing machinery. All forms of cellular RNA are synthesized by RNA polymerases that take instructions from DNA templates. This process of transcription is followed by translation, the synthesis of proteins according to instructions given by mRNA templates.

The flow of information is dependent on the genetic code, which defines the relation between the sequence of bases in DNA (or its mRNA transcript) and the sequence of amino acids in a protein.

We can send therapeutic messages to the DNA inside the stem cells’ nucleus. DNA sends the information (in the form of nerve impulses) to the RNA molecules called messenger RNA. The transfer RNA synthesizes proteins to carry out the instructions given by messenger RNA templates for the stem cells to become new neurons and cells to replace the neurons and cells that were damaged or destroyed.

This 3D animation shows how proteins are made in the cell from the information in the DNA code.

Continue reading “From DNA to protein — 3D” | >

The arthritis drug tocilizumab has shown early promise in preventing extreme inflammation in gravely ill COVID-19 patients, according to a French clinical study.

The treatment, which suppresses the body’s natural , was found to reduce “significantly” the number of deaths or life support interventions compared with a control group of patients.

The study, carried out by the Paris university hospital trust (AP-HP), looked at 129 people hospitalised with moderate or severe viral pneumonia, which occurs in 5–10 percent of COVID-19 patients.

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