Invisible pages from nature's textbook

Today, the SARS-CoV-2 has spread to about 210 countries with close to 3 million active cases. Of those cases that have obtained an outcome, 81% of the patients have recovered but the remaining have failed to survive the dreaded coronavirus pandemic. It has been observed that patients aged over 65 years, those with lowered immunity or any chronic diseases such as diabetes and hypertension are more susceptible to death caused due to COVID-19. Of the active cases today, about 3% face severity in the symptoms of the illness and are moved to critical units for observation and recovery. Although these numbers provide us with a general trend to analyse the nature of infection by the virus, it is not accurate and does not entirely provide the actual picture. Reasons for this include insufficient testing, non-inclusion of fatalities without testing, scenarios where governments refrain from testing or providing information and also specific cases like the incorrect number of cases reported ...

The nCoV-19 (SARS-CoV-2) is much like a warrior that mother nature has begotten to reclaim what her child has been plundering. She doesn't need to do it, but every now and then he forgets his place. He is mankind, her dearest child of all creation that is more brilliant and ferocious than any other. He realises that he has lost the battle, but its time to win the war. The war against the deadly virus and a cure to heal them all.  Let's get down to the science. This virus comes armed with a lethal trimeric spike protein that interferes with porphyrin in RBCs. The membrane of this virus packs envelope proteins that aid in shielding the RNA within. The RNA codes for a protease that is involved in active replication within host cells. Thanks to leaps in technology we already have solved crystal and Cryo-EM structures of the protease and its spike protein. A detailed list of all their structures can be found here . Several researchers have studied the morphology of infected ho...

The nCoV-19 (novel-Corona Virus 2019) epidemic that originated from Wuhan, China is now a pandemic. A recent update from the WHO reported that more than 146 countries have been affected. The coronavirus that causes SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) is communicable through contact with an infected person or touching surfaces harbouring droplets from an infected person. The symptoms of the infection might not appear up to at least 14 days (2 weeks) in humans. In December 2019,  Dr Li Wenliang a 29-year-old whistleblower tried warning the public to prepare for such an outbreak on social media. The doctor was warned by local officials from spreading any such news. China's government ignored and buried any evidence of the warning and were definitely not prepared for the outbreak. The first case of the virus was reported in Hubei province of China on the 11th January 2020, a month before the surge in cases during Jan-Feb 2020. Japan and Thailand were the first hosts to t...

I haven't posted anything here for a long time. I started out this blog in the hope to resurrect it someday when I was eligible enough to discuss the topic. I need a hobby, and writing about what I am passionate about helps me. This idea about writing on biological evils, the kind of biological war between humans and other humans or between humans and nature is well documented by experts. Here, I would like to discuss my naive perspective of it. I also get my inspiration from reading books, news, sitcoms, and movies.  Update [7 Sept 2021]: The movie Contagion was released in 2011. Nobody cared about it. People believed that it was a very unlikely event and the extent of reality in the movie had lost all its meaning. However, looking at current day events, the reality is far from what was fiction a few years ago. Watching the movie World War Z (WWZ) is quite amusing to me. I don't just mean the cinematography, story, acting, or visual effects, what I really like about it is the...

Don't get me wrong I do appreciate spreading the blog alike a virus. This is a viral blog, in the sense, we will mostly discuss viral (biological) episodes and other biological disasters that man is not always ready to deal with. We should be up and running in no time. Meanwhile, beware of all those organisms, they are everywhere and can do everything. While some of them are bad for us and harm us, some are badass and help us: digesting our food, preparing biological products like antibiotics, pharmaceutical products, some help in cleaning up oil spills and many other. Sundays are a great time for me to catch up on my blog writing. I realise that Sundays are not the best time to work or do anything serious. Weekends are not easy for me. Until I build a strong passionate need and have enough experience to discuss interesting topics I will be out there exploring the world and building my career in a field where I can contribute to this fight against our invisible enemies. ...