Musings on the Covid-19 Virus (SARS-CoV-2) - Jed Margolin 7/12/2020
A. Would X-rays kill the Covid-19 Virus?
Ultraviolet (UV) light kills viruses. It disrupts RNA and DNA. The wavelength that works the best is 254-nm which is short wavelength UV. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1280232/. Ultraviolet light is a form of electromagnetic radiation like radio waves and regular light but is higher in frequency (lower in wavelength) than our eyes can see. Although it is non-ionizing radiation (its photons lack the energy to ionize atoms) it can cause chemical reactions and causes many substances to glow or fluoresce. Consequently, the chemical and biological effects of UV are greater than simple heating effects, and many practical applications of UV radiation come from its interactions with organic molecules. Short-wave ultraviolet light damages RNA and DNA and sterilizes surfaces with which it comes into contact. For humans, suntan and sunburn are familiar effects of exposure of the skin to UV light, along with an increased risk of skin cancer. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultraviolet for more information on UV light.
The wavelength of 254-nm rings a bell with me because that is the UV wavelength that is used to erase EPROMs which were the first non-volatile semiconductor memory that the user could erase and reprogram. I wrote about it in 2001. www.jmargolin.com/patents/eprom.htm:
The wavelength of the ultraviolet light specified for erasing the EPROM was 254 nm. The reason for this is that UV fluorescent lamps of that wavelength were readily available because back then every barber placed his tools under a UV lamp to sterilize them between customers. Thus, UV lamps of the proper wavelength (called germicidal lamps) were available from your local barber supply house. Barbers do not generally use these lamps anymore but the lamps are used in water treatment plants and are popular in home spas.
...
By the way, bug lights use long wavelength UV which is 365 nm.
UV does not penetrate the human body but X-rays do. X-rays are also electromagnetic radiation but is ionizing radiation. Its photons have the energy to ionize atoms. That means that the electrons in the atom absorb so much energy that they fly away from the nucleus. Without its electrons the atom has a positive charge. It is an ion. That is why it is called ionizing radiation.
So my question is will X-rays kill the Covid-19 virus?
Here is a simple test.
1. Take several test subjects who have tested positive at an early stage.
2. Measure their viral load.
3. Subject them to full body low-dose X-rays.
4. Shortly afterwards measure their viral load again.
If their viral load has gone down then we are on the right track.
If it has not gone down then either we are on the wrong track or have not used a high-enough dose of X-rays. Then the decision whether to proceed with a higher dose requires ethical decisions. One is, would you rather die of cancer in 40 years or die of Covid-19 in the next two or three weeks? (Maybe in the next 40 years they will be able to cure more types of cancer.)
Note 1: When I wrote the article on EPROMs in 2001 barber shops had already been mostly replaced with hair salons. I don’t think hair salons use germicidal lamps to sterilize their tools. Maybe they should do that. Germicidal lamps are a special type of fluorescent lamp, now there are UV LEDs. Note that UV causes most plastics to become brittle so that the hair stylists would have to use metal tools (like metal combs).
Note 2: If you travel by air you are exposed to low doses of radiation. It comes from cosmic rays from space. The amount is generally considered to be less than the radiation in a chest X-ray. https://www.cdc.gov/nceh/radiation/air_travel.html
Note 3: We are all exposed to X-rays all the time. https://www.cancer.org/cancer/cancer-causes/radiation-exposure/x-rays-gamma-rays/natural-background-radiation.html. Some is the cosmic rays mentioned above that make it through the atmosphere. If you live at a high altitude (like Denver) you get more than if you live at sea level. For some people it is radon. And from the above reference: “For people who smoke, tobacco can account for a significant portion of the yearly radiation they receive.” That might explain the observation that smokers are less likely to contract Covid-19 (but are more likely to die if they do get it) https://www.sciencetimes.com/articles/25652/20200511/smokers-five-times-less-catch-coronavirus-twice-die-when-study.htm . Or it might be the nicotine. Or it might be that infected cells are more sensitive to carbon monoxide than healthy cells. Or is might be that smokers are now more likely to be socially distanced by non-smokers.
Some good epidemiological studies would be nice.
Note 4: An alert reader noted that even if it works, it will only kill the viruses in the blood, not in the cells. A dose of X-rays high enough to kill the viruses in the cells would also kill the cells. Yes, I suppose he is right, but if you can kill the viruses in the blood it should slow down the development of the disease giving the body more time to fight it off.
B. People Who Get Covid-19 and Recover Are Getting It Again
And some people get better for a few days and then get worse. The rollercoaster can go on for months.
Is the virus quickly mutating or is it that the antibodies you make in response to the virus don’t last very long?
The virus has mutated but that is not the reason. See this discussion of a study conducted by Swiss scientists: https://www.laboratoryequipment.com/566106-Swiss-Scientists-Call-COVID-19-Herd-Immunity-Unethical-as-Multiple-Studies-Indicate-it-s-Not-Possible/
The study, which included more than 61,000 participants, also found that 14% of people who tested positive for COVID-19 antibodies in the first round of testing no longer tested positive in follow-up tests conducted weeks later. This hints at the idea that—as has been suggested by other studies—immunity to COVID-19 is especially short-lived in people who experience mild or no symptoms. The research team used two IgG antibody tests aimed at different SARS-CoV-2 antigens to test a random, representative sample of Spaniards in what is believed to be the largest seroprevalence study in Europe.
The article is about herd immunity. For a discussion of herd immunity see this: https://apic.org/monthly_alerts/herd-immunity/. It is called herd immunity because herd animals (which are prey animals) live in a group (a herd) and when faced with a predator (or predators) the stronger animals (healthy adults) will surround and protect the weaker members such as the calves. That is why they live in herds. An example is the wild horses where I live in the Virginia City Highlands. When faced with their main predator (coyotes) the healthy adults will surround the foals and protect them from the coyotes. A well placed kick from a horse can kill a coyote. And horses can move a lot faster than you might think.
The Swiss scientists who conducted the study say that herd immunity is not going to work with Covid-19 because the antibodies don’t last very long. (Why are the antibodies disappearing or becoming inactive? Do they have a freshness date or is there something in the human body eating them?)
Here’s the problem.
The antibodies you will make from a vaccine are exactly the same antibodies you make from getting infected by (and recovering from) the Covid-19 virus.
Therefore, they will wear out, too. You would have to get vaccinated every month or two. How long before your immune system wears out from the constant challenge?
There are also the problems that:
1. Not everyone will get vaccinated. Some people will not be able to afford it. Then there are the anti-vaxxers who will refuse to get vaccinated.
2. No vaccine is 100% effective.
They are taking blood plasma from people who have recovered from Covid-19 and giving it to people who have an active infection. (Your blood plasma contains the antibodies you have made to the virus.)
Here’s an idea. If you have recovered from Covid-19 have some of your blood plasma taken and frozen. If you get infected again have your blood plasma thawed and put back in. You own it so you should not need permission from some committee to use it. Does anyone offer this service?
SAb Biotherapeutics of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, might have a better idea. They are using genetically modified cows to produce human antibodies to Covid-19. https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/06/cow-s-antibodies-could-be-newest-weapon-against-covid-19
https://www.sabbiotherapeutics.com/covid-19/
There are other companies working along the same idea.
C. Is the Covid-19 virus hiding?
Not all viruses immediately hijack the cell they have invaded. The varicella-zoster virus that causes chicken pox can hide in the cells for decades before becoming activated and causing shingles. The Covid-19 virus could be doing that but hiding for shorter periods.
Supposedly Covid-19 is just a regular virus, not a retrovirus. A retrovirus enters a cell and inserts itself into the cell’s DNA. It can then take over the cell immediately or it, too, can remain inactive for a period of time. When it does that it is replicated when the cell replicates thereby becoming a permanent part of the cell’s DNA.
An estimated 5% - 8% of the human genome is composed of ancient viruses that have become inactive through mutation. (Hopefully, they have become inactive.) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endogenous_retrovirus
Are they sure that Covid-19 is not a retrovirus?
D. The Covid-19 virus can infect all of the cells in the human body.
It is causing damaging inflammation. It is causing blood clots and heart attacks and strokes, and not just in old people. It is causing healthy people to develop diabetes. https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-01891-8 . One of the symptoms of the Covid-19 infection is the loss of the sense of taste and smell. It could be permanent. https://www.vumc.org/coronavirus/latest-news/five-things-know-about-smell-and-taste-loss-covid-19
It can infect the brain cells and cause the symptoms of dementia. https://www.statnews.com/2020/06/25/covid-19-brain-complications/
And now for a short diversion.
There is a parasite (a single cell organism) called Toxoplasma gondii that makes mice lose their fear of cats. It may even make them attracted to cats. As a result those mice are more likely to be eaten by cats. The parasite does not harm the cat. The cat is the only animal where the parasite can reproduce and it is excreted in the cat’s feces where more mice (and other animals) can get infected by it. A third of all humans are infected by it. It does not harm most of us but can be dangerous to developing fetuses and pregnant women. See https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/08/110817175920.htm and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toxoplasma_gondii .
So here’s the thing.
Since Covid-19 can cause the symptoms of dementia maybe it can cause other brain malfunctions as well.
Suppose Covid-19 can alter the brain to cause behavior that will help spread the virus.
Perhaps it causes people to refuse to wear a mask in public. (They justify it because it infringes on their G-d given right to not wear a mask.)
Perhaps it causes people to refuse to maintain social distance in public. (It infringes on their G-d given right to snuggle up to strangers.)
Perhaps it will eventually cause infected people to aggressively spread it by coughing or sneezing on strangers. Or by licking them. Or kissing them.
It would truly be the Zombie Apocalypse.
E. There is considerable literature about women who get Covid-19 while they are pregnant, such as
But I don’t see anything about women who get Covid-19 (and recover) and then get pregnant.
Covid-19 can affect any of the cells in the human body. What if Covid-19 makes you sterile?
What if after getting Covid-19 women have only girls? Frozen sperm can keep the human race going for a long time..
But what if they have only boys?
F. There is a recent article in the July 24, 2020 Nature (https://www.nature.com/articles/s41421-020-00192-8) (Sulfated polysaccharides effectively inhibit SARS-CoV-2 in vitro) that caught my attention.
A research group mostly at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute has shown that in vitro (literally, in a glass) “the well-known anticoagulant heparin has exceptional binding affinity to the spike protein (S-protein) of SARS-CoV-23.”
This July 27, 2020 article from https://www.laboratoryequipment.com/566583-Seaweed-Extract-Outperforms-Remdesivir-in-Cell-Studies/ explains it a little less technically:
In a test of antiviral effectiveness against the virus that causes COVID-19, an extract from edible seaweeds substantially outperformed remdesivir, the current standard antiviral used to combat the disease. Heparin, a common blood thinner, and a heparin variant stripped of its anticoagulant properties, performed on par with remdesivir in inhibiting SARS-CoV-2 infection in mammalian cells.
It looks like the Covid-19 virus binds to the Heparin molecule but can’t do anything with it. It becomes trapped.
I don’t think it means you should eat massive amounts of seaweed or start taking Heparin unless you really need an anti-coagulant. More work needs to be done but this could be a good start.
It makes me wonder.
1. Using it as a nasal spray or an inhaler would probably require FDA approval which means much testing for safety and effectiveness.
How about as a mouthwash? If it is extracted from seaweed it is just a food.
2. Could these polysaccharides be used in a filter, especially a mask?
No doubt much work would still need to be done, such as:
1. Can the polysaccharides be used to impregnate a mask material?
2. What mask material works best? (Cotton would be nice.) It might need an additional material that the polysaccharide binds to and then it binds to the mask material.
3. What polysaccharide works best for impregnating which mask material?
4. Can the polysaccharide attract the virus more effectively if the mask material has an electric charge using either a battery or the method used in electret microphones?
5. How long is the mask effective?
6. Can you make it cheap enough in mass quantities to be a viable product?
And the resulting mask has to be one that does not restrict breathing too much or else the mask would need some help with an air pump. Even if it does, it is not a deal breaker, it would just be a smaller market for the product.
Another huge application would be the filters used in forced air HVAC systems. Then a slight restriction in air flow could be tolerated. It could even have a reservoir of the polysaccharide to periodically refresh the filter.
When your polysaccharide traps the virus does it change any of the properties of the polysaccharide? Perhaps something that can be easily detected such as either optically or by electrical conductivity? It could be built into the mask (or filter) or as a standalone device as an instant test. Or a device that continuously samples and monitors the air in a room.
As an instant test it would have to be either a one-time-use test or it would have to be sterilized between uses. No problem, there are UV LEDs. Or maybe heat like what they do in those abominable vapor electronic cigarettes. Or maybe the electronics can be coupled through a cheap section that is thrown away.
G. Can a cell be engineered that the Covid-19 thinks is us, the virus goes into it but can’t do anything (like make the cell make copies of the virus) and thus the virus becomes trapped? Then it gets filtered out by the kidneys and you piss it away.
Maybe have it in something you drink, in which case make it in all of the popular flavors.
11/9/2020
There are at least two companies coming out with a “vaccine” except they are basically itself a virus.
Moderna: https://massivesci.com/articles/mrna-vaccine-covid19-coronavirus-moderna/
From the Massivesci article:
Initial supplies of the vaccine, if authorized, will be limited. Pfizer says up to 50 million doses could be available globally. by the end of the year, with 1.3 billion available in 2021. There are also expected to be distribution challenges. The vaccine must be stored at super-cold temperatures, which could make it extremely difficult to deliver to many places. Pfizer has said it is confident those issues can be managed.
“The vaccine must be stored at super-cold temperatures, which could make it extremely difficult to deliver to many places.”
That could be a real problem.
Pfizer and BioNTech's mRNA hopeful, dubbed BNT162b2, specifically raised eyebrows: The vaccine reportedly needs to be held in storage at -94° Fahrenheit, and will last for only 24 hours at refrigerated temps between 35.6° and 46.4°. Meanwhile, most protein subunit vaccines—the type being developed for COVID-19 by Sanofi and Novavax, among others—can be held at refrigerated temps for months, analysts said.
Given those constraints, the analysts argued that Pfizer's shot could only be used at certain hospitals and clinics with the proper equipment, and would require "intensive one-day vaccination events at such sites ... (that would) cover a fraction of the healthy population."
In a statement, Pfizer argued that its vaccine could be stored at refrigerated temps for up to 2 days, instead of the 24 hours cited by analysts. The drugmaker has also developed shipping containers using dry ice that it believes will solve some shipping worries.
Problem #1: Pfizer says it has developed shipping containers that use dry ice. How long does that last? Will it last long enough to be shipped by the U.S. Postal Service? Trump has ruined the USPS, making it very unwise to use it to send anything that is time critical. Not voting ballots, not regular medicines, and certainly not something that needs to be kept at -94° Fahrenheit. The degradation of USPS service may have crept into the other delivery services. Within the last two months I have had two packages sent to me by Fedex. One was supposed to be overnight. It took 4 days. The other was by Fedex Ground. It was two days late. (I don’t know if it has affected UPS.)
Problem #2: Does your pharmacy have a supercold refrigerator? I seriously doubt it.
Problem #3: Does your Doctor’s office have a supercold refrigerator? I seriously doubt that too.
With everyone crowding into the “certain hospitals and clinic with the proper equipment” They sound like super-spreader events to me.
Since these vaccines will be rushed out without the longterm testing that other vaccines have gone through, what about manufacturers liability if something goes wrong?
From this article in the New England Journal of Medicine (https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp2030600):
But large, up-front financial commitments to manufacturers are only half the solution when it comes to ensuring that companies will be willing to participate in the COVAX mechanism for vaccine distribution. Equally important is offering companies protection against potentially substantial liability should Covid-19 vaccines cause real or perceived injuries to recipients.
Manufacturers won’t agree to procurement contracts or ship vaccine without liability protection. According to an AstraZeneca executive, for example, in the company’s bilateral contracts, it has been granted protection against legal claims arising from the use of its vaccine products, since it “cannot take the risk” of liability.[1]
As early as 2006, the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations, the global pharmaceutical-industry lobbying group, publicly demanded that manufacturers be granted protection from lawsuits associated with vaccine-related adverse events if they were going to participate in pandemic responses.
In the United States, the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act provides manufacturers immunity from lawsuits related to injuries caused by vaccines, with narrow exceptions. People injured by Covid-19 vaccines must file claims with a fund administered by the Department of Health and Human Services.
No jury trial, just the Government deciding how much your loved one’s life was worth.
Let’s go back to how the vaccines are mRNA viruses.
From the Stat article:
Both Pfizer’s vaccine and Moderna’s use messenger-RNA, or mRNA, technology, which uses genetic material to cause the body to create a protein from the virus; the immune system then recognizes the virus and learns to attack. Other vaccines in the late stages of development use genetically engineered viruses for a similar purpose, or pieces of protein that are directly injected. No mRNA product has ever been approved by regulators.
They are both use Messenger RNA (mRNA) that infects your cells and causes your cells to produce a protein (a 3D molecule) that your body produces antibodies to. The mRNA has been engineered so that these new antibodies also work against Covid-19.
What could possibly go wrong with that?
Have you seen the movie “I Am Legend” with Will Smith?
The setup is that the Krippin Virus was genetically engineered from the Measles virus by Dr. Alice Krippin as a cure for cancer. KV at first appeared to be effective with no side-effects, but over time, the virus began to mutate and cause rabies-like symptoms in its hosts. The virus breaks out in December 2009. Despite the military's best efforts to contain KV, it eventually mutated into a lethal new strain of measles with a 90% kill rate, and went airborne. KV spread out from Manhattan across the globe, killing 5.4 billion people. Of the 600 million who did not die from the virus, only 12 million were naturally immune to KV; the other 588 million devolved into Darkseekers.
Darkseekers are basically very energetic zombies.
As the Covid-19 virus mutates it will be necessary to continually tweak the vaccine. How long does it take to do that? And test that it is safe?
Since the goal is to have the body produce antibodies to the virus I have a better idea.
Take the antibodies from people who have had Covid-19 and recovered. Lots of people. Test them to see which ones work the best and which ones last the longest. They might not be the same ones. Take the 5 that work the best and the 5 that last the longest. Clone them. Put them together in a cocktail. When they clone just one it is called a monoclonal antibody. Since we will be cloning several they will be polyclonal antibodies.
The goal is a vaccine that will last at least a year.
Unfortunately it will take several years to come up with this and prove that it is safe.
In the meantime, there are people who get Covid-19 who don’t die but don’t get well either. The Long Haulers. They can’t return to their lives. Some will need long term care. Some of them are young so they will need it for a long time.
In a war you don’t necessarily want to kill the enemy soldiers. If you wound them the enemy has to use valuable resources to take care of them. It is very bad for morale if you don’t take care of your wounded.
Covid-19 is an excellent weapon. It is extremely infectious. It kills people but leaves the infrastructure intact. It is better than a Neutron Bomb. The Neutron Bomb never really lived up to its hype anyway. https://www.airforcemag.com/article/the-neutron-bomb/
It looks like people who have low Vitamin D levels are more likely to get infected, and if they get infected, to die.
https://www.endocrine.org/news-and-advocacy/news-room/2020/study-finds-over-80-percent-of-covid19-patients-have-vitamin-d-deficiency
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/coronavirus/expert-answers/coronavirus-and-vitamin-d/faq-20493088
Make sure you have good Vitamin D levels.
And it helps if you have Type O blood. https://www.hematology.org/newsroom/press-releases/2020/possible-link-between-blood-type-and-covid-19
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Why are there different blood types anyway, and in particular the RH Factor?
It doesn’t make any sense. Are there any other species whose members have different blood types and RH Factors? It turns out that the answer is Yes.
From: https://genetics.thetech.org/ask-a-geneticist/rhesus-factor-evolution
Rhesus factor is a part of your blood type. It’s the “+” or “-“ in A+, B-, O+, etc.
You may be familiar with ABO blood group. Just like A is a blood type from ABO blood group, Rh factor is a blood type from Rhesus blood group. A previous post talked about basics of Rhesus factor so here, I will talk more about the evolution of Rhesus factor, and blood type in animals.
Where did Rhesus factor come from?
It did get its name from the Rhesus macaque monkey, but not because we got it from them! Scientists just happened to first discover this blood type in Rhesus monkeys.
It turns out that some forms of Rhesus molecules are found in most life forms … ranging from algae to fish to human! Even a few kinds of bacteria have Rh molecules.
Rhesus factor has an even more ancient origin. It’s descended from a molecule called Amt. Amt is found in every living thing -- even in Archaea, which is possibly the most ancient life form on Earth.
So Rh existed a long time ago, way before humans or monkeys walked on Earth.
What is the Amt molecule and why is it important?
From: https://medlineplus.gov/genetics/gene/amt/
The AMT gene provides instructions for making an enzyme called aminomethyltransferase. This protein is one of four enzymes that work together in a group called the glycine cleavage system. Within cells, this system is active in specialized energy-producing centers called mitochondria.
As its name suggests, the glycine cleavage system breaks down a molecule called glycine by cutting (cleaving) it into smaller pieces. Glycine is an amino acid, which is a building block of proteins. This molecule also acts as a neurotransmitter, which is a chemical messenger that transmits signals in the brain. The breakdown of excess glycine when it is no longer needed is necessary for the normal development and function of nerve cells in the brain.
The breakdown of glycine by the glycine cleavage system produces a molecule called a methyl group. This molecule is added to and used by a vitamin called folate. Folate is required for many functions in the cell and is important for brain development.
This only explains what it is, not why there are different versions of it. When we find life on other planets will it have the RH Factor, too? And will it have different blood types?
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Jed Margolin
Virginia City Highlands
Nevada
7/12/2020, 7/20/2020, 8/2/2020, 11/9/2020