Monday, February 22, 2021

Will Canadian P.M Justin Trudeau try to sell the Trans Mountain Pipeline to President Biden?

The moment of truth for Mr. Trudeau

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Keith Stewart, Greenpeace Canada Unsubscribe

10:01 PM (1 hour ago)
to me

Hi Nelson,

Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland said it herself: the restart of the Canadian economy must be green and it must be equitable. [1]

With the spring budget being written as you read these words, now is the time to remind the federal government that you are still watching — and you are ready to hold them accountable.

Today, let’s send them a message together: you cannot build back better for a greener, fairer world without building back fossil fuel free.

Saying you are going to ‘build back better’ is one thing. But putting the funding where it needs to go — into building clean energy infrastructure, good paying jobs protecting and restoring nature, and better supports for Canadians such as a universal basic income — and not into the deep pockets of giant fossil fuel corporations, is quite another. Justin Trudeau has already dumped billions of dollars into the Trans Mountain Pipeline, a project that has jumped by 70% in cost to $12.6 billion. [2]

Imagine what that $12 billion could do for a national child care program, or for job training support for fossil fuel workers to transition into the growing clean energy sector? Enough is enough: tell the federal government to stop giving your tax dollars to climate-destroying fossil fuel corporations and build back fossil-free.

Time is running out on nice words and empty promises — and the consequences of climate inaction will be dire. A new peer-reviewed study using novel modeling techniques has shown that air pollution from burning fossil fuels caused 1 in 5 deaths worldwide in 2018, killing more than 8 million people. This is double the findings of previous studies, leading the researchers to conclude that the health gains of getting off fossil fuels are twice what they thought yesterday. [3]

The science is clear: transitioning the economy away from fossil fuels is a must for stopping runaway climate change and for building safe, healthy communities for our loved ones.

This makes the spring budget the most significant federal budget of our lifetime. What our elected representatives choose to fund with our tax dollars today will determine the path our future takes. And increasingly, it seems the majority of Canadians don’t want a fossil future. [4]

This is your money, so have your say: tell the federal government to immediately cancel the TMX pipeline and build back fossil free.

If nothing changes, nothing changes. Today, raise your voice with me and demand our politicians do what they promised: restart the Canadian economy for a greener, more just world.

Thank you for everything that you do,

Keith

Senior Energy Strategist, Greenpeace Canada

  1. Freeland says restart of economy needs to be green, equitable. Global News, August 18 2020
  2. Cost to build Trans Mountain pipeline jumps 70% to $12.6 billion. Financial Post, February 7, 2020.
  3. Fossil Fuel Air Pollution Linked To 1 In 5 Deaths Worldwide, New Harvard Study Finds. February 9, 2021
  4. Most Canadians, including most Albertans, appear to be ready to give up on Keystone XL pipeline: poll. February 9, 2021

Saturday, February 20, 2021

The NSPRRA region of SARS-CoV-2 is a possible DELETION variant for a promising vaccine candidate.

GENTLE READERS:

PLAIN ENGLISH IS FOUND BELOW THE SCIENCE BASED TERMINOLOGY.


" Remarkably, the recently reported SARS-CoV-2-like bat strain, RmYN02, also displays a deletion of QTQT (16), indicating that some SARS-CoV-2-like viruses in animals may not encode QTQTN in their spike gene. The origin of the polybasic cleavage site (PRRA) is important for understanding the evolutionary history and for tracing the potential animal reservoir(s) of SARS-CoV-2. Here, the different deletion frequencies observed in vitro and in vivo have provided clues that will aid further investigation of this evolutionary tale.

 The absence of NSPRRA in isolated SARS-CoV-2 strains could be used to further investigate its infectivity in different potential intermediate animal hosts and resolve the origin of this feature of the SARS-CoV-2 genome. In addition, the different selective pressures observed on the NSPRRA region of SARS-CoV-2 in vivo and in vitro highlight the NSPRRA deletion variant observed in this study as a promising vaccine candidate in the future."

IN PLAIN ENGLISH:

 SOME ANIMALS HARBOUR A VIRUS WHICH RESEMBLES THE SARS-COV-2 VIRUS, BUT WHICH DOES NOT ENCODE QTQTN IN IT'S SPIKE GENE. FOR THESE ANIMALS, A NATURAL IMMUNITY IS CREATED AGAINST SARS-COV-2.

RESEARCHERS ARE TRYING TO UNDERSTAND HOW THIS WORKS.

 A BAT STRAIN OF SARS-COV-2 DISPLAYS A DELETION VARIANT KEEPING THE BAT PROTECTED FROM THE VIRUS. THIS DELETION VARIENT MAY PROVIDE A PROMISING VACCINE CANDIDATE IN THE FUTURE.

 THE QUESTION IS...HOW FAR IN THE FUTURE?

J.N.R.

Thursday, February 18, 2021

Tools to investigate SARS-CoV-2 infection.

COVID-19 - Accelerate Your Research to Find a Cure

Tools to Investigate SARS-CoV-2 Infection

COVID-19 is caused by the newly discovered coronavirus SARS CoV-2, previously called 2019-nCoV. It belongs to the Coronaviridae family and is broadly distributed in humans and other mammals. hCoV-229E, OC43, NL63 and HKU1 are some of the known coronaviruses that cause mild respiratory diseases unlike SAR-CoV and MERS that cause severe to fatal respiratory diseases [1].

Why is SARS-CoV-2 spreading faster than its two ancestors? Why is SARS-CoV-2 lethal? Recent publications have shown that there are differences in their genome structure and immunological response to SARS-CoV-2 infection. The key markers involved in these interactions include Spike protein (S), Nucleocapsid (N), ACE-2 receptor, FURIN protease in addition to the cytokines.

Image 1: Coronavirus with Spike Image
Coronavirus with Spike

Spike Protein (S): SARS-CoV2 enters the cells through the Spike mediated interaction with the ECD domain of the ACE2 cell receptor. (A recombinant fusion protein (RBD of Spike protein and ECD of membrane protein) can be a great tool to investigate this interaction.

Learn more about the purified recombinant Spike Protein (S).


Image 2: TMPRSS2 Image
ACE2 and TMPRSS2 in Coronoa virus

Transmembrane Serine Protease 2 (TMPRSS2): This is a serine protease that cleaves and activates the viral spike glycoproteins which facilitates virus-cell membrane fusions. A recent study showed that SARS-CoV-2 needs both ACE2 receptor and serine protease TMPRSS2 for protein priming to enter the cell.[2]

Tools for analyzing TMPRSS2

  1. ORF clones
  2. Goat and Rabbit Polyclonal Antibodies
  3. CRISPR kits
  4. Unique controls

Image 3: Nucleocapsid NC Image
Corona virus structure 

Nucleocapsid: The nucleocapsid phosphoprotein packages the viral genome into a helical ribonucelocapsid, thus playing a crucial role in viral self-assembly.

Tools for analyzing the Nucleocapsid

  1. Recombinant SARS-CoV-2 Nucleocapsid Protein
  2. Biotinylated recombinant SARS-CoV-2 Nucleocapsid protein
  3. SARS-CoV-2 N protein Rabbit Polyclonal Antibody

Image 4: ACE-2 Receptor Protein Image
ACE-2 Receptor Protein

ACE-2 receptor: ACE-2 is the host cell receptor responsible for mediating infection by SARS-CoV-2.

Tools for analyzing ACE-2 protein

  1. Human Recombinant Protein Angiotensin Converting Enzyme (ACE2)
  2. ACE-2 specific Mouse Monoclonal Antibody
  3. ACE-2 Human ORF clones

Find out more about the additional ACE-2 specific tools here


Image 5: Furin Protein Image
ACE-2 Receptor Protein 

Furin: It is a protease present in many human organs that recognizes and activates a specific site on the SARS-CoV-2 Spike protein, thus facilitating a tighter binding to the ACE-2 receptor and might play a role in the higher infection rate [3].

How can you analyze Furin? Learn about the tools for analyzing Furin.


Image 6: IL2 Pathway Image
IL2 Pathway

Cytokines: Studies have shown a strong correlation between severity of the disease and concentrations of IL2, IL7, IL10, GCSF, MCP1 and TNF alpha [1].

Tools to analyze the 6 cytokines associated Cytokine Storm:
IL2 | IL7 | IL10 | GCSF | MCP1 | TNF alpha

References:

  1. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12098-020-03263-6
  2. https://science.sciencemag.org/content/367/6483/1260
  3. https://science.sciencemag.org/content/367/6483/1260

Friday, February 12, 2021

Leor Weinberger and his viral hijacker therapy.


Discoveries

NOISE-DRIVEN FATE SELECTION

A VIRAL-ENCODED LATENCY PROGRAM IN HIV AND ITS EVOLUTIONARY BENEFIT

'NOISE MODULATOR' MOLECULES

NOVEL GENE CIRCUITS

TIPS (THERAPEUTIC INTERFERING PARTICLES)

 


ADAPTIVE TRANSMISSIBLE THERAPIES: A NEW CONCEPT FOR DISEASE CONTROL


Existing measures for infectious disease control face three ‘universal’ barriers:


(i)  Deployment (e.g. reaching the highest-risk, infectious ‘superspreaders’ who drive disease circulation)


(ii)  Pathogen persistence & behavioral barriers (e.g. adherence)


(iii)  Evolution (e.g. resistance and escape)


These barriers exist because pathogens are dynamic—they mutate and transmit—while existing therapies are static, neither mutating nor transmitting.  To surmount these barriers, we have proposed a radical shift in therapeutic paradigm toward developing adaptive, dynamic therapies (Metzger et al. 2011).  Building off data-driven epidemiological models, we show that engineered molecular parasites, designed to piggyback on HIV-1, could circumvent each barrier and dramatically lower HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa as compared to established interventions. 


Above: A representative model for how a small 'core groups' of high-risk 'superspreaders' (e.g. commercial sex workers and their clients) drove the HIV-1 epidemic in sub-Saharan Africa along the trans-Africa highway in the 1980s.  These hard-to-reach groups--often stigmatized and disenfranchised--disproportionately drive disease spread and can be described by the Pareto '80/20' rule - where 80% of new infections are driven by 20% of the population.


Above: Theoretical model of how Therapeutic Interfering Particles (TIPs) would act to reduce the burden of HIV on a population-wide scale. Small blue "pools" of infection represent a local reduction in HIV by the TIP, and are rapidly spread by a "superspreader population".

These molecular parasites essentially steal replication and packaging resources from HIV within infected cells thereby generating Therapeutic Interfering Particles (TIPs)[1] which deprive HIV of critical replication machinery thereby reducing viremia.  The fundamental departure from conventional therapies is that TIPs are under strong evolutionary selection to maintain parasitism with HIV and will thus co-evolve with HIV, establishing a co-evolutionary ‘arms race’ (Rouzine and Weinberger, 2013).


Like Oral Polio Vaccine, (OPV)—currently used for the W.H.O. worldwide polio-eradication effort—TIPs could also transmit between individuals, a recognized benefit for OPV.  TIP transmission would occur along HIV-transmission routes (via identical risk factors), thereby overcoming behavioral issues and automatically reaching high-risk populations to limit HIV transmission even in resource-poor settings. 


For review:  Notton et al. Current Opinion in Biotechnology 2014.


             HIV TIPs Executive Summary


Papers of note: Metzger, Lloyd-Smith, and Weinberger. PLoS Computational Biology 2011 (videos above) and Rouzine and Weinberger. Journal of Virology 2013 (Linked above).

http://jvi.asm.org/content/87/4/2081.long


A UNIVERSAL  TRANSMISSIBLE VACCINE IS COMING!

 Apparently I have to write my own post because advertising has infected so many science based blogs and articles that it is almost impossible to separated the facts from the hype.

I will make this blog as condensed and as brief as possible...

 The future will contain weakened forms of universal transmissible vaccines.

A vaccine that will act like a virus and will transmit from person to person in much the same way a virus does, but which will protect and not kill the host...aka...you!

The danger for this kind of vaccine is the fact that whatever parts of a virus it contains might mutate and regenerate back into a deadly form if transmitted over long periods of time....therefore...scientists are considering creating a temporary transmission period where a vaccine will transmit for only a short period of time before losing its ability to transmit.

The End.

The above words are based on facts and the vaccines should make an appearance within a few

years from this date. April 3, 2020.




Thursday, February 11, 2021

Prime Minister Trudeau is investing Millions in clean transportation.

Main Content

Nouveaux investissements dans le transport en commun pour bâtir des communautĂ©s fortes, lutter contre les changements climatiques et crĂ©er de nouveaux emplois Ă  travers le Canada 

Les investissements dans les infrastructures de transport en commun permettent de rĂ©duire la durĂ©e des dĂ©placements des familles et de crĂ©er de bons emplois pour la classe moyenne. De plus, ils favorisent la croissance de notre Ă©conomie et la rĂ©duction de la pollution de l’air. Depuis 2015, le gouvernement du Canada a accordĂ© plus de 13 milliards de dollars Ă  1 300 projets de transport en commun dans des communautĂ©s d’un bout Ă  l’autre du pays. C’est le plus vaste investissement dans le transport en commun de l’histoire canadienne. En rebâtissant en mieux après la pandĂ©mie mondiale de COVID-19, nous continuerons de faire ces investissements judicieux pour soutenir les Canadiens.

Aujourd’hui, le premier ministre Justin Trudeau a annoncĂ© l’octroi de 14,9 milliards de dollars dans des projets de transport en commun au cours des huit prochaines annĂ©es. Ceci comprend un financement permanent de 3 milliards de dollars par annĂ©e qui sera accordĂ© aux communautĂ©s canadiennes Ă  compter de 2026-2027. Cette initiative procure aux villes et aux communautĂ©s les fonds prĂ©visibles destinĂ©s au transport en commun qui leur sont nĂ©cessaires pour planifier l’avenir. Elle s’inscrit dans notre plan visant Ă  crĂ©er un million d’emplois, Ă  lutter contre les changements climatiques et Ă  rebâtir une Ă©conomie plus durable et plus rĂ©siliente. Ces investissements permettront d’atteindre les objectifs suivants :

Les investissements dans les infrastructures de transport en commun permettront de bâtir des communautĂ©s solides Ă  travers le pays et d’amĂ©liorer la qualitĂ© de vie de tous les Canadiens. Le gouvernement continuera d’investir dans les projets les plus susceptibles d’appuyer notre relance, de crĂ©er des emplois pour la classe moyenne, de stimuler la croissance Ă©conomique et de nous aider Ă  atteindre nos cibles climatiques. Ensemble, nous pouvons crĂ©er un Canada plus propre, plus compĂ©titif et plus rĂ©silient pour les gĂ©nĂ©rations Ă  venir.

Citations

« En investissant dans les infrastructures de transport en commun, nous soutenons de bons emplois pour la classe moyenne, amĂ©liorons les dĂ©placements, luttons contre les changements climatiques et contribuons Ă  rendre la vie des Canadiens plus facile et plus abordable. Nous continuerons Ă  faire ce qu’il faut pour assurer la relance de notre Ă©conomie après la COVID-19 et rebâtir un pays plus rĂ©silient pour tout le monde. »

« Alors que nous travaillons Ă  rebâtir en mieux, le moment est venu d’effectuer des investissements ambitieux dans des services de transport en commun modernes et durables Ă  travers le pays, afin de rĂ©duire la congestion, de contribuer Ă  la crĂ©ation d'un million d'emplois et de soutenir des communautĂ©s plus propres et plus inclusives. Le financement permanent Ă  long terme des services de transport en commun permettra de construire de nouvelles lignes de mĂ©tro, des trains lĂ©gers sur rail et des tramways, des autobus Ă©lectriques et des pistes cyclables. Il contribuera Ă©galement Ă  amĂ©liorer les rĂ©seaux de transport en milieu rural. Les Canadiens pourront ainsi se dĂ©placer plus rapidement et de façon plus propre et plus abordable. Enfin, ce financement nous aidera Ă  atteindre la carboneutralitĂ© et Ă  assurer un avenir plus durable Ă  nos enfants. »

« Notre gouvernement est rĂ©solu Ă  investir dans le transport en commun Ă  travers les communautĂ©s du pays. Nous agissons en collaboration avec les administrations municipales et les gouvernements provinciaux et territoriaux afin d’aider les Canadiens Ă  bâtir une Ă©conomie solide et Ă  crĂ©er un environnement propre. »

« Investir dans des modes de transport plus propres et plus abordables fait partie intĂ©grante du plan climatique renforcĂ© du Canada, lequel nous permettra de dĂ©passer notre objectif pour 2030 et d’atteindre la carboneutralitĂ© d'ici 2050. Le secteur des transports est Ă  l’origine d’un quart des Ă©missions au Canada. Il faut y effectuer des investissements judicieux dans la lutte contre les changements climatiques, comme ceux que nous avons annoncĂ©s aujourd'hui, pour soutenir de bons emplois canadiens, une Ă©conomie plus forte et une planète plus saine. »

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