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SergeStorms

(19,201 posts)
Tue Jun 23, 2020, 12:07 AM Jun 2020

Oh, please... don't let anyone tell Trump about this!

New research shows tiny, decoy 'sponges' attract coronavirus away from lung cells

Nanotechnology tested at BU's NEIDL stops SARS-CoV-2 from infecting cells and replicating

Boston University


Imagine if scientists could stop the coronavirus infection in its tracks simply by diverting its attention away from living lung cells? A new therapeutic countermeasure, announced in a Nano Letters study by researchers from Boston University's National Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratories (NEIDL) and the University of California San Diego, appears to do just that in experiments that were carried out at the NEIDL in Boston.

The breakthrough technology could have major implications for fighting the SARS-CoV-2 virus responsible for the global pandemic that's already claimed nearly 450,000 lives and infected more than 8 million people. But, perhaps even more significantly, it has the potential to be adapted to combat virtually any virus, such as influenza or even Ebola.

"I was skeptical at the beginning because it seemed too good to be true," says NEIDL microbiologist Anna Honko, one of the co-first authors on the study. "But when I saw the first set of results in the lab, I was just astonished."

The technology consists of very small, nanosized drops of polymers--essentially, soft biofriendly plastics--covered in fragments of living lung cell and immune cell membranes.

"It looks like a nanoparticle coated in pieces of cell membrane," Honko says. "The small polymer [droplet] mimics a cell having a membrane around it."


https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-06/bu-nrs061820.php?fbclid=IwAR238QFmBDSIeHMnpNS3wuYmMhS-zF1Iy-hhNVcC7g-tJOP_rRzEBWNOrvE&utm_source=fark&utm_medium=website&utm_content=link&ICID=ref_fark

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Oh, please... don't let anyone tell Trump about this! (Original Post) SergeStorms Jun 2020 OP
This is for real? niyad Jun 2020 #1
Apparently, yes. SergeStorms Jun 2020 #3
😳 SheltieLover Jun 2020 #2
Interesting. Don't know if it's viable, but like researching new approaches. Hoyt Jun 2020 #4
"It mops up the virus like a sponge". I hope so. rusty quoin Jun 2020 #5
So how do they get these "sponges" out of you once they've soaked up the virus? SunSeeker Jun 2020 #6
The immune system gets rid of dead cells and would do so in this case. It's in the article. : ) chowder66 Jun 2020 #8
The article says "could" not "would." Doesn't sound like they know for sure yet. SunSeeker Jun 2020 #9
My mistake. Could. chowder66 Jun 2020 #10
If anyone feeds Tiny Toadstool that headline Grokenstein Jun 2020 #7
Choke those down with a glass of Lysol... SergeStorms Jun 2020 #11

SunSeeker

(51,557 posts)
9. The article says "could" not "would." Doesn't sound like they know for sure yet.
Tue Jun 23, 2020, 04:58 PM
Jun 2020

These things are bigger than a cell fragment.

Grokenstein

(5,723 posts)
7. If anyone feeds Tiny Toadstool that headline
Tue Jun 23, 2020, 02:30 AM
Jun 2020

...he'll tell his cult to inhale ground-up Dobies.



And they'll do it.

SergeStorms

(19,201 posts)
11. Choke those down with a glass of Lysol...
Tue Jun 23, 2020, 06:37 PM
Jun 2020

and you're ready for another MAGA rally. Trump will go ape-shit when he hears of this.

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