Coronavirus

The 6 key components of the BioNTech/Pfizer vaccine are the cap, 5’-UTR, signal peptide, spike protein, 3’-UTR and a poly-A tail. The cap makes the vaccine mRNA look legitimate. The 5’-UTR helps with immune system evasion and translation. The signal peptide says this protein should exit via the endoplasmic reticulum (just like SARS-CoV-2). The spike protein is almost identical to the SARS-CoV-2 spike except for 2 proline substitutions. The 3’-UTR is chosen for RNA stability and expression. The poly-A tail protects the mRNA from degradation. See also Reverse engineering the BioNTech/Pfizer vaccine

In Reverse Engineering the source code of the BioNTech/Pfizer SARS-CoV-2 Vaccine, Bert Hubert breaks down the mechanism and key components of the BioNTech/Pfizer RNA vaccine. Here are the key ideas I took away from this fantastic article: The mRNA vaccine encodes the SARS-CoV-2 spike which generates an immune response. mRNA is fragile and must be stored in deep freeze. The vaccine consists of 6 high-level components. See also Zanny Minton Beddoes interviews Bill Gates about COVID-19

K: The Overlooked Variable That’s Driving the Pandemic (The Atlantic) is a fascinating approach to addressing a key spreader of the pandemic: super-spreading events. Here are 6 key takeaways from Zeynep Tufekci’s article: The overlooked variable is K, and it measures whether a virus spreads steadily or in bursts. We should be targeting clusters (a.k.a. super-spreading events) to reduce transmission numbers. Use backward tracing to trace 2-3X more cases than traditional forward tracing. Use fast, cheap, low-sensitivity tests to identify clusters. Sweden didn’t lockdown but instead targeted super-spreading. Japan committed to cluster-busting. See also The plan that could give us our lives back External links K number: what is the coronavirus metric that could be crucial as lockdown eases? (The Guardian)

How to Test Every American for COVID-19, Every Day (The Atlantic) is one of the most eye-opening articles I’ve read about testing in some time. The main ideas I got from it are: US isn’t delivering PCR results faster than the virus. Silent spreaders are the virus’s secret power. White House encouraged test competition, so nothing happened. We must out-volume the virus with a massive number of tests. PCR tests don’t measure contagiousness, so they don’t help stop virus. PCR tests are positive even when you’re not contagious. Squeeze more tests from PCR testing via pooling. Antigen tests are inferior around day 1-3 of an infection, but are way better at end of infection. Paper antigen tests are COVID-19 contagiousness tests. Paper antigen tests are fast but much less sensitive than PCR tests. FDA says antigen tests must have 80% sensitivity compared to PCR tests. See also Overlooked variable is key to pandemic