From: nobody@microsoft.com   
      
   Do you remember polio? I worked with a chap whose one leg was crippled by   
   polio. Polio had been endemic for a long time and the virus may still be in   
   the environment. Why the epidemic in the 1950s? The best theory was that   
   attention to hygiene was too scrupulous and when children were exposed to   
   the virus they became sick. Two rough principles: 'use it or lose it' and   
   'what does not kill you makes you stronger'.   
      
   In humans there are two types of immunity, innate and acquired. Malfunctions   
   of the innate immune system can lead to autoimmune disease. Myasthenia   
   gravis is an autoimmune disease which results from antibodies that block or   
   destroy nicotinic acetylcholine receptors at the junction between the nerve   
   and muscle The innate immune system has the ability to distinguish between   
   self and other at the cellular level. For organ transplant surgery innate   
   immunity needs to be knocked down with immunosuppressive drugs. During the   
   Covid-19 pandemic all organ transplant surgery is canceled.   
      
   Kids who were permitted to be dirty exercised their innate immune system.   
   Those who were kept clean had no defense against polio and became sick. The   
   polio epidemic continued until the Salk polio vaccine was developed. This   
   insight may be applicable to Covid-19 disease.   
      
   From:   
   Morris, Biology How Life works   
      
   Thousands of viruses have been described in detail, and probably   
   millions more have yet to be discovered. It has been estimated that life   
   on Earth is host to 10^31 virus particles-ten hundred thousand million   
   more virus particles than grains of sand! Most of these viruses infect   
   bacteria, archaeons, and unicellular eukaryotes, and they are especially   
   abundant in the ocean (10^11 viruses per liter). Viruses are small,   
   consisting of little more than a genome in a package, and they can   
   reproduce only by hijacking host-cell functions, but as a group they   
   have had amazing evolutionary success.   
      
   =========================================   
      
   There is likely to be SARS-CoV-2 virus in seawater and in the air. We are   
   advised to stay indoors, "shelter in place". However there is no reason to   
   avoid the harvest of the sea nor to stop breathing. In my bedroom I use a   
   HEPA filter to remove particles down to the size of viral particles.   
      
   The risk that innate immunity may be overwhelmed may be related to 'viral   
   load'. However the test for SARS-CoV-2 virus is only +/- After inflammation   
   the acquired immune system may produce antibodies to the virus or we may   
   die. SARS-CoV-2 virus is most highly evolved and attaches to angiotensin   
   converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) an enzyme attached to the outer surface (cell   
   membranes) of cells in the lungs, arteries, heart, kidney, and intestines.   
   After viral load, the root of entry into the body is important. If it comes   
   through the nasal passages it can infect the brain. Respiratory illness,   
   cardiovascular disease, kidney failure, etc. are among the possibilities.   
      
   Everything about viral growth in an individuals or in the population is   
   about   
   exponential growth. You may have heard that Covid-19 disease doubles every   
   three days. We are compelled to flatten the curve. The epidemiology of   
   exponential curves gets to be repetitive. It is the same everywhere.   
      
   In China brave medical scientists (some of whom died) sequenced the genome   
   of SARS-CoV-2 with modern technology.   
      
   This took 24 hours and $100. There are four trans-membrane 'coat' proteins   
   that facilitate attachment to and entry into lung cells. I recently rebuilt   
   my graphics PC. This took seven months because according to Murphy's Law,   
   'everything that could go wrong did go wrong'. It has a GTX 950 GPU. I am   
   now running 'Folding@Home' software (this is a global effort) to solve the   
   structure of these coat proteins. SARS-CoV-2 enters cells by endocytosis,   
   fusion of its membrane with that of the cell.   
      
   Norm X, Ph.D.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)