Pandemic 1 year
The beast ran toward the doctor, then stopped again, turned from its place, and finally fell down, vomiting blood.
Albert Camus’ novel <페스트>It is a scene of. From the form of pneumonia to terminal necrosis of the body, the plague that painfully sacrifices humans, or the Black Death, has plagued Europeans for centuries. Infectious diseases do not go away. The current Corona 19 Pandemic hit not only Europe but the world at the same time. For mankind living in a hyper-connected society, the epidemic is no longer a single country. This is also an important premise to overcome the pandemic.
Pathogens such as the Black Death, cholera, and swine flu have adapted themselves to the development of human civilization. Even the Black Death alone broke out locally around the world by 2019. MERS, which put the Republic of Korea in fear in 2018, is still reported as infected. It is that difficult to end all infectious diseases immediately.
The whole world paid attention to K-Defense The first button was a quick diagnosis. Health authorities have tried to prevent the spread of the infection through intensive diagnostic tests and epidemiological investigations. ‘Quick diagnosis’ technology is underneath it.
The Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology developed rapid diagnostic technology by producing various antibodies that specifically bind to the corona 19 virus antigen. Like a pregnancy test kit, the technology used an antigen-antibody binding reaction to determine whether the virus was infected with the Corona 19 virus. When used in conjunction with conventional gene amplification (PCR: polymerase chain reaction) diagnostic tests, infection can be diagnosed more quickly and smoothly in the field.
A biosensor technology has also been developed that can check in real time whether the virus is infected with the Corona 19 virus in medical fields. This technology, developed by the Korea Basic Science Institute, was developed so that infection can be immediately confirmed by injecting the patient’s specimen (sputum, saliva) into a biosensor without a separate pre-treatment process. And in order to develop such a rapid diagnostic kit, it is important to secure excellent antibodies that specifically bind to the Corona 19 virus, and the Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology also supplied antigens to develop a Corona 19 antibody diagnostic device.
Furthermore, a corona 19 virus gene standard was also developed to reduce the error determination of the currently used novel coronavirus infection diagnosis kit. The Corona 19 test is a real-time gene amplification (RT-PCR) test method in which the’primer’ material of the diagnostic reagent binds to and amplifies the specific DNA of the Corona 19 virus. However, there was a problem in that the reference value was different for each diagnostic kit and the positive test was different. As the Korea Research Institute of Standards and Science developed a standard material containing 90% of the Corona 19 genome for the second time in the world, it is possible to increase the accuracy of the diagnostic kit, and it is expected to be used in response to virus mutations in the future.
Even if the Corona 19 pandemic ends, there is no law that’Corona 25′ should not appear again in the future. You should constantly monitor what mutations the virus causes and how antibodies are formed. Without researching vaccines and treatments based on that analysis, it will be difficult for humans to escape from the heinous grip of the epidemic.
Vaccines from which vaccination has begun are mRNA vaccine and vector vaccine. In the past, most vaccines that induce an immune response have put weak or inactive bacteria into our body. However, the mRNA vaccine does not use a live virus that causes COVID-19. It is a method of putting the mRNA that makes a specific school protein into the body. mRNA makes the’spike protein’ in the body. Immune cells form neutralizing antibodies against it. This neutralizing antibody is an antibody that binds to the spike protein on the surface of the Corona 19 virus. It neutralizes the virus by preventing it from entering the cell. On the other hand, the vector vaccine is a method of injecting the spike protein into another virus and injecting it into our body. When spike protein enters our body, the immune system works to make antibodies. In addition, various types of vaccines, such as inactivated vaccines, recombinant protein vaccines, and genetic vaccines, have entered the development stage.
In Korea, research is underway to develop a COVID-19 vaccine and treatment through a joint public-private partnership. The Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology has developed a candidate for COVID-19 vaccine. The developed recombinant protein vaccine technology has high safety compared to other vaccine types. Unlike DNA or mRNA vaccines, it is used as a commercially available vaccine worldwide. Pneumococcal vaccine and foot-and-mouth disease vaccine are typical.
The researchers confirmed that substances developed through animal experiments such as rodents form neutralizing antibodies. It is expected to be used as a corona 19 vaccine in the future. In addition, the Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology has developed a primate infection model that can confirm the efficacy of a corona19 candidate substance. The antiviral efficacy of some candidates was confirmed in an animal experiment similar to the human body and a preclinical primate infection model experiment.
Some countries, such as the United States, the United Kingdom, and the European Union, are currently vaccinated against COVID-19. ‘Open access’ is behind the rapid development of vaccines. Scientists around the world share viral genome information online. You can freely browse academic papers related to infectious diseases. Most of all, they went head-to-head together to find a way to detect, suppress, and cure Corona 19.
In Korea, there is an active movement to share research results related to Corona 19 and to share research data. The Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology has opened a portal that quickly collects data and news from Corona 19 research scattered around the world and provides it to domestic researchers. The Korea Institute of Science and Technology Information has established and operated a corner for providing science and technology information and data services related to Corona 19. In addition, it joined the Corona 19 HPC consortium led by the U.S. White House and shared the resources of’Nurion’ for supercomputer unit 5 with researchers around the world. This contributed to the acceleration of the development of COVID-19 treatment and vaccine. As the variant Corona 19 virus spreads rapidly, sharing key information among global scientists is more important than ever.
On the other hand, efforts to prevent the spread of infectious diseases are also a core competency. Research is also ongoing, such as predicting the risk of corona infection in multi-use facilities with AI or producing COVID-19 information content for the disabled through deep learning technology.
A fact that the joyful crowd does not know. In other words, I knew that the plague would never die or extinguish, survive steadily, and one day the day would come when it would wake the rats again to bring misery and lessons to humans and kill people.
-Alber Camus <페스트>–
It is predicted that the spread of Corona 19 will be reduced if the number of people with immunity becomes more than 60-70% of the world’s population. However, there is also a gloomy prospect that predicts the possibility of becoming endemic. That’s why it doesn’t sound uncommon for the story of Albert Camus to warn, “(The virus) remains alive in a room, a basement, a trunk, a handkerchief, or an old paperwork, and one day it may reappear to bring misery to humans.”
Sincere research and solid solidarity are key to solving the situation. In order to cope with the unfinished Corona 19 and the subsequent strains, it is necessary to continue research with patience and sincerity. Furthermore, the donor will faithfully carry out the response to Corona 19 through close cooperation with not only domestic and foreign related organizations, but also academia, business, and government authorities. <페스트> It is as if the citizens of Sok Orang organized a health school and joined forces.
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