– Richismita Hazra, Amity University Kolkata
SARS-CoV-2 being a new pathogen, did not restrict itself to accumulate mutations across its genes.
Researchers from the University of Melbourne, in Australia, developed a new software tool COVID-3D, which proofs itself to be powerful enough for harnessing genomic and protein information about the virus and its mutations which could lead us a step ahead towards successful COVID-19 vaccine and drug production.
“In the context of therapeutic drug design and discovery, these mutations, and the patterns by which they accumulate within the virus’ protein structures, can affect the ability of vaccines and drugs to bind the virus, or to create a specific immune response against it,” Ascher said.
This predicts the changes in the virus with time really important.
“It is only when you know how a mutation will affect the 3D shape of a protein, that you can predict if it will compromise your drug’s ability to bind,” Ascher said.
“As the global scientific and medical community gains a better understanding of the biology behind the SARS-CoV2 infection and disease, this will be a powerful resource to predict problems with mutations and to guide the development of more effective therapies,” he added.
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Painless Injection of drugs into patients – IIT Kharagpur develops micro-needle thinner than human hair
-Prama Ghosh, Amity University Kolkata The researchers from electronics and electrical communication engineering at IIT Kharagpur have developed the micro-pump and the micro-needle – thinner than a human hair to feed into the transdermal drug delivery systems painlessly. While a human hair is 50-70 micrometers thick, the micro-needle is 55 micrometers thick. Developed with high […]