Coronavirus outbreak: How safe is your food

Can coronavirus spread through food

With the outbreak of the COVID19, strict instructions of staying quarantined have been passed in most countries around the world. The toll of confirmed cases is rising every minute in affected countries and at this rate, it can also go out of control if proper measures are not taken in time. The situation is becoming severe as we see it and if anything that has become more important than eating is staying clean and washing your hands and face as much as possible throughout the day. 

Coronavirus is declared a pandemic by the WHO and this has given rise to the pre-existent agitation among people all over the world. For the very same reason, it is important to keep the right information in hand and not let hoax news create any more panic than what already exists.

​False news

One most common false information that is being spread on a large scale is that the virus is capable of spreading through food. The researchers at European Centre for Disease prevention and Control (ECDC) said that even though the virus is likely to have spread from an animal source, it is now spreading through human contact by respiratory droplets that are either sneezed, coughed or exhaled by people.

​Food is safe

So, unless someone who has been infected by the virus, sneezes, exhales or has any form of droplet transmission through food or otherwise within one-metre distance, both you and your food are safe. Droplet transmission can also take place by sharing the infected person’s used cutlery like spoons, cups, plates, etc. The most common gateway for these droplets to enter your body is through your eyes, mouth and nose which is why the hygiene instructions mark as washing hands regularly and keeping hands off your face are prioritized by the World Health Organisation.

Is meat safe?

Being around the person who is infected with COVID19 can potentially increase your chances of getting the virus. But any information that claims that the virus can be spread through any food items, especially poultry, stand false at this moment. The director of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) has also talked about the consumption of poultry and has made it clear that if made under clean and hygienic conditions, poultry has no harm in the ongoing coronavirus. "As a common healthcare precaution, all kinds of meat should be thoroughly washed and properly cooked," he added. Many organisations and research centres such as the European Food Safety Authority have been working closely on this matter and have also claimed that currently there is no evidence that food is one of the likely sources of transmitting the coronavirus. 

​Important measures to stay safer
It is advised by experts to not eat food from outside and cook at home as much as possible because, at the end of the day, you do not know by whom your food is prepared and under which circumstances. It is also advised to avoid going out to parties, playdates, sleepovers, coffee shops, etc. Staying indoors is one of the easiest ways we can prevent ourselves from getting the virus and spreading it.

This is only for your information, kindly take the advice of your doctor for medicines, exercises and so on.     

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Scientists pinpoint protein that plays key role in lung cancer and melanoma progression

Scientists from Far Eastern Federal University (FEFU, Russia), University of Geneva (Switzerland), Minjiang University, and Fuzhou University (China) pointed out WDR74 protein playing an important role in lung cancer and melanoma primary tumors/metastases progression. During the research, the artificially gained WDR74 function brought about a high activity in cancer cells. 

However, when the function had been dropped cells failed to metastasize becoming more vulnerable to chemotherapy. Related articles are published in Cancer Letters and Oncogene.

Except for brain cancer and some forms of blood cancer, not the main tumor but its metastases kill the patient taking over vital organs.

Metastases form at a certain stage of the primary tumor progression when its cells start separating and entering the bloodstream. Such cells are called circulating tumor cells, and they give rise to metastases which are secondary tumors appearing in different parts of the human body.

Fortunately, just subtle minority, tenths or even hundredths of a percent, of circulating tumor cells is capable of metastasizing. A few years ago, Chinese scientists from the laboratory of Dr. Lee Jia (Fuzhou University) wondered what discriminates "successful" circulating tumor cells from "unsuccessful" ones. Searching for a possible answer, they analyzed tumor cells (proteomic analysis) and spotted proteins highly expressed in active metastatic cells and lost in passive ones. One of these proteins was WDR74; its expression level in "successful" circulating tumor cells was two times higher than in the initial tumor. Scientists set up hypotheses stated this protein is a trigger helping a circulating tumor cell turn into a secondary tumor.

Within this discovery, two of our scientific publications were being built, one devoted to lung cancer, and the other to melanoma. To test the oncogenic activity of WDR74 in circulating tumor cells of lung cancer and melanoma, we "turned off" this protein by the method of gene correction CRISPR / Cas9 and interfering RNAs to remove/reduce the amount of protein. After that, we monitored what happens to the cells in the context of their proliferation, colony formation, cell cycle, ability to migrate and grasp in body tissues. We have also conducted the opposite experiment increasing the amount of WDR74 protein in cancer cells. Both types of experiment confirmed that WDR74 plays a crucial role in the progression of the tumor and its metastases. Protein absence decreases, and the presence increases the oncogenic properties of circulating tumor cells. In vivo this confirmed during the experiments conducted on mice."

Prof. Vladimir Katanaev, one of the research authors, Head of the Laboratory of Pharmacology of Natural Compounds, Department of Pharmacology and Pharmacy of the FEFU School of Biomedicine

The scientist explained that WDR74 has at least two mechanisms of action. In different tumors, they have different priorities. In lung cancer cells, the protein primarily regulates WNT signaling pathways, which are active in tumor cells and passive in healthy cells of our body. In melanoma, WDR74 indirectly affects the expression of a number of other proteins, including the famous p53. The sequence is as follows: WDR74 regulates the amount of ribosomal protein RLP5, which has additional, extraribosomal properties; RLP5 regulates MDM2 protein ligase, and MDM2, in turn, leads to the degradation of p53 protein. The question of which mechanism is responsible for the expression of WDR74 itself remains unsolved.

Lung cancer is notorious for the lack of effective therapy methods. The same is melanoma: the mechanisms of its progression understood poorly. The published studies open up new paths to the development of effective curing methods for metastases of these two cancer types with targeted drugs. Such remedies should hit specific protein targets in the circulating tumor cells. The drugs development is the task of the next stage of the work of scientists from Russia, China, and Switzerland or other research groups.

In 2020, the laboratory of prof. Vladimir Katanaev and the team of Dr. Lee Jia started joint research to develop new drugs for obliterating circulating tumor cells of triple-negative breast cancer. Scientists are after DNA aptamers (analogs of antibodies, but synthesized using DNA chains) that will neutralize protein targets FZD7 and EpCAM. The work became possible thanks to a co-granting program from the Russian Federal Property Fund (19-515-55013) and National Natural Science Foundation of China.

This is only for your information, kindly take the advice of your doctor for medicines, exercises and so on.      https://gscrochetdesigns.blogspot.com. one can see my crochet creations   https://gseasyrecipes.blogspot.com. feel free to view for easy, simple and healthy recipes     https://kneereplacement-stickclub.blogspot.com. for info on knee replacement

Brain-Eating Monsters Exist

Naegleria fowleri is a free-living excavate form of protist that is typically found in warm bodies of fresh water. The amoeba in the water enters through the nose, then travel from the nose to the brain where it destroys the brain tissue. It then invades the nervous system and consumes the brain. It has only been found in warm fresh waters like lakes, rivers, and hot springs. 

THIS IS ONLY FOR INFORMATION, ALWAYS CONSULT YOU PHYSICIAN BEFORE HAVING ANY PARTICULAR FOOD/ MEDICATION/EXERCISE/OTHER REMEDIES.                                    PS- THOSE INTERESTED IN RECIPES ARE FREE TO  VIEW MY BLOG-                                                                                           https://gseasyrecipes.blogspot.com/       

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How dengue virus enters cells found

Scientists have unveiled the mechanism behind how dengue enters cells of our immune system, a finding that could help develop vaccine for the deadly virus.

Dengue fever, an infectious tropical disease caused by a mosquito-borne virus, afflicts millions of people each year, causing fever, headache, muscle and joint pains and a characteristic skin rash, researchers said. In some people the disease progresses to a severe, often fatal, form known as dengue hemorrhagic fever.

Despite its heavy toll, the prevention and clinical treatment of dengue infection has been a “dramatic failure in public health compared to other infectious diseases like HIV,” said Ping Liu of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Now, new research by Liu and her colleagues could offer vital insight into the mechanism of dengue virus entry into cells – and aid vaccine and clinical drug development. Liu along with dengue fever expert Aravinda de Silva, used high-resolution microscopes to examine the expression of a particular protein, known as DC-SIGN, on the surface of immune system cells called dendritic cells.

The normal role of DC-SIGN (dendritic cell-specific intercellular adhesion molecule grabbing nonintegrin) is to capture pathogens so that fragments of those pathogens can be presented as antigens on the surface of the dendritic cells.

Such antigens then are recognised by T cells – the workhorse cells of the immune system – “which is one of the first steps in the normal immune response,” Liu said. While it has been known for some time that dengue used DC-SIGN to attach to cells, Liu and her colleagues used high-resolution microscopy to study exactly how the viruses used the protein to gain entry into cells.
“DC-SIGN has a unique carbohydrate recognition domain on its extracellular portion, which binds to all sorts of carbohydrates on pathogens,” she said.

“An effective medication or vaccine should stop the process of dengue virus entry into cells,” Liu said. She said, de Silva and his colleagues have identified strong neutralisation antibodies that block dengue infection. By identifying the mechanism of antibody neutralisation, Liu and colleagues hope to advance the development of vaccines for dengue virus infections.

ps- this is only for information, always consult you physician before having any particular food/ medication/exercise/other remedies.

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