COVID-19 — It’s Everywhere . . . Breakthrough in Basic Research May Defeat COVID-19
Breakthrough in Basic Research May Defeat COVID-19
by
Columbia University Professor Emeritus, Dr. David Figurski
presented by
Donna O’Donnell Figurski
(Disclaimer: The World Health Organization <WHO> has officially named the new coronavirus as SARS-CoV-2 and the disease it causes as COVID-19. Because the majority of people, including much of the press, commonly refers to the virus as “COVID-19,” to avoid confusion I use COVID-19 as the name of the virus in these posts.)
David H. Figurski, Ph.D & Survivor of Brain Injury
Exciting results indicate that a novel idea might bring COVID-19 under control. The new technology has been shown to work at the lab bench. Now scientists are doing animal studies and, later, human studies.
Scientists at Boston University (BU) and the University of California at San Diego (UCSD) have made coated nanoparticles that are covered with pieces of lung cell membrane. (About 1000 tiny particles, or “nanoparticles,” can line up in the space equal to the width of a human hair.) The coated nanoparticles mimic the lung cells that normally bind the virus and allow an infection to start. But, when the virus tries to infect a coated nanoparticle, the virus dies. Essentially, the coated nanoparticle is a lethal decoy. 
Research in the lab indicates that the new technology might be able to end the COVID-19 pandemic. Also, if the technology works in humans, coated nanoparticles will likely be important for inactivating other viruses and for dealing with future pandemics.
Specific nanoparticles can be made to mimic any cell that any virus infects. So, coated nanoparticles can be made that are specific for any virus (for example, for influenza virus or for Ebola virus). Also, once the cell normally infected by a previously unknown virus to start an infection has been identified (as it was for COVID-19), the relevant coated nanoparticles can be made. So, a novel virus can be inactivated even though little is known about the molecular details of its biology.
Scientists were surprised to learn that the coated nanoparticles for COVID-19 bind the SARS-2 coronavirus even better than the lung cells normally infected by the virus. So, this approach for COVID-19 is likely be very efficient.
In COVID-19 infections, sometimes the immune response is too active and causes severe disease or death. The dexamethasone breakthrough I wrote about earlier works by dampening the immune response. The scientists surprisingly found that coating another batch of nanoparticles with membrane pieces from cells of the immune system also dampened the immune response.
The scientists envision a protective coated nanoparticle mixture for COVID-19 that has two types of coated nanoparticles (one that mimics the lung cells that are infected and another that dampens the immune response). The mixture would be simply administered as a nasal spray.
Stay Safe and Healthy!
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feelings of a memory.
Ramirez and his collaborators (including first author Briana Chen of Columbia University) used genetically engineered mice whose neurons glow when they’re activated. Those cells can later be artificially activated with laser light. The team found that a negative memory (like getting a mild electric shock to the feet) activates cells at the bottom of the hippocampus. A positive memory (like being in the presence of a female mouse) activates cells at the top of the hippocampus.
Is American football a dying sport? With football’s prominence in American culture, it seems safe to assume no one would predict that its days are numbered. But, there is a growing undercurrent that may eventually lead to the demise of football as we know it. There is more and more evidence that the constant subconcussive hits experienced by football players lead to a high risk of the brain disease 
depression, suicidal thoughts, or problems with cognition, memory, or impulsive behavior.
The results have important implications for players. Many players feel they’ve been left ignorant of the risks of brain injury by the NFL, or worse, assured by the league that there is minimal risk. [Some players have quit or retired early (
famous Pittsburgh Steeler Center, wrote an 
This preliminary study has extended evidence of the inosine benefit from mice and rats to a primate. The result indicates that inosine may one day benefit human victims of brain injury. Inosine is already in clinical trials for the treatment of multiple sclerosis and Parkinson’s Disease. Inosine appears to be safe – athletes have taken inosine supplements for decades.
It wasn’t until CTE (Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy) came to the forefront when neuropathologist, Dr. Bennet Omalu discovered the disease in the autopsied brain of 50-year-old Mike Webster, a once-upon-a-time revered Pittsburgh Steeler whose life unexpectedly declined soon after retirement. This left Webster homeless and exhibiting abnormal behaviors. Soon after, the brains of many other deceased NFL players were examined and various degrees of (Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy) were also found. Dr. Omalu’s discovery began to open eyes of many other scientists and Boston University began a study. 89 of the 93 donated NFL player brains, were found to have CTE, which explained to the families the many bizarre behaviors their loved ones were exhibiting before they died.
Jim wrote his book, “
Concussions from playing soccer rank second to football in boys’ sports, but they are first in girls’ sports and second among all sports. Of the more than 3 million youths playing soccer in the U.S., 50,000 concussions were reported among high-school soccer players in 2010, more than the number from wrestling, basketball, baseball, and softball combined. Parents and players brought a lawsuit accusing U.S. Soccer and other U.S. youth soccer organizations of negligence. As a result, U.S. Soccer established new rules that prevent heading by players age 10 and under and prohibits heading by 11- to 13-year-olds in practice. There are also new guidelines for 
substitution. For example, a player who replaces another player who has to leave the game because of a suspected concussion does not count as a substation.
heading for players 14 and under, applauds the new rules. (The advisory board of Safer Soccer includes Brandi Chastain, Cindy Parlow Cone, and Joy Fawcett – former players of the women’s U.S. national soccer team, which has won four Olympic gold medals since 1996.) (
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