By Dr. Lim Ju Boo
Date: 28/03/2021
(This article is dedicated to all who have been debating non-stop around the world in the social media about the efficacy and risks of Covid-19 vaccines)
The SARS-Covid 2 virus belongs to a group of corona viruses.
Its genome is composed of 30,000 nucleotides. It encodes four structural proteins - nucleocapsid protein, a membrane protein, spike protein and an envelope protein and several non-structural proteins.
The SARS-CoV-2 virus is no different from most corona viruses as they all contain a genetic blueprint called RNA.
This is a single-stranded RNA coded with a molecular message that makes it possible for it to produce proteins needed for the assembly of other protein materials including the infectious spike on the envelope of the virus.
The N protein that encapsulates the viral RNA genome plays an imperative role in its replication and transcription. The proteins expressed by its genetic core include nucleoproteins that strings to the RNA together to give it the shapes and forms, and to help the virus to reproduce itself.
Covering the RNA genome is an envelope of lipids made of fat molecules that protects the virus especially its genetic materials when it is not inside a host cell.
This outer envelope is the coating that latches onto the different arrangement of proteins needed by the virus to infect the cells of the body.
Proteins implanted in this layer helps the virus to produce new virus particles once it enters into a host cell.
Seen under an electron microscope, on the outside of the corona virus are spike proteins giving the virus its crown-like appearances.
It is this spike of proteins that act like hooks to allow the virus to latch onto host cells to force them open to gain entry into the cell.
By themselves they are unable to thrive and reproduce outside of a living host. This is the common characteristics of all viruses.
In the case of Covid-19 virus they only target the human host to attack for reason unknown to us.
How the Body Responds:
Once it gains entry into the body, the body will respond mainly by two actions, first by producing antibodies from the B cells, and the second by using T or thymus cells which is part of the white blood cell or T lymphocytes to seek out and destroy the virus as an adaptive immune response to confer cell- mediated immunity.
Some T cells, called T helper cells, produce cytokines that directs the immune response by producing toxic granules that contain powerful enzymes which induce the death of pathogenic infected cells. Cytokines are small proteins involved in cell signaling as immunomodulating agents. They are peptides and cannot cross the lipid bilayer of cells to enter the cytoplasm.
In some infections a cytokine storm or hypercytokinemia result. This is a physiological reaction in which the immune system causes an uncontrolled and excessive release of cytokines. Unfortunately their sudden release in large quantities can cause multiple organ failure and death..
Cytokine storms can be caused by a number of infectious and non-infectious reasons especially viral respiratory infections such as H1N1 influenza, H5N1 influenza, SARS-CoV-1, and SARS-CoV-2 viruses. This may be part of the reasons to account for high mortality in many Covid-19 patients
Other T cells, called cytotoxic T cells, produce toxic granules that contain powerful enzymes which induce the death of pathogen-infected cells. Cytotoxic T cells kill target cells bearing specific antigen presented by the SARS-Covid 2 virus or other pathogens while leaving uninfected cells intact.
Then there are other T cells called helper T cells that are the most important cells in almost all adaptive immune responses. They help to activate the B cells to secrete antibodies and the macrophages, a type of phagocyte which is a component of the white blood cells. Together by activating the cytoxic T cells they destroy most of the pathogens, and infected target cells,
The macrophages are responsible for detecting, engulfing and destroying pathogens like virus and bacteria and apoptotic cells. Macrophages are produced through the differentiation of monocytes, which turn into macrophages
A virus like SARS-Covid 2 binds to the cell surface receptors on the macrophage which then draws them inward while engulfing around it. This is another way the immune system works.
All the cells in a tissue are susceptible to destruction by the cytotoxic proteins of the T cells, but only infected cells are destroyed by lysis.
After activating the B cells and T cells, a number of them left behind serve as memory cells. These cells leave an everlasting memory about the presence of SARS-Covid 2 virus or any pathogenic antigens they have encountered previously.
These memory cells remain throughout our lifetime. They can remember and recognize every specific pathogen they have encountered or were presented, and are capable of mounting a potent and rapid immunological response if they detect or are presented by the same virus or any similar infection again. This confers acquired immunity to a person once infected.
The role of B-cells is to provide humoral immunity by producing antibodies known as immunoglobulins when presented by the virus or any pathogen. This is called antigen presentation since viruses and bacteria are protein antigens that elicit an immunological response
Immunoglobulins are also proteins produced as part of the body’s immune response. There are various types of antibodies or immunoglobulins namely, IgA, IgE, IgD, IgM, IgG. These are specific antibodies expressed during different types of protein antigen presentations.
These immunoglobulins are specific in actions, specific for each type of virus or pathogen presented whereby specific type or types of immunoglobulin are produce to match specific antigens.
Briefly explained, the way they do this is by locking up the proteins expressed by the SARS-CoV-2 or any pathogenic agents at certain sites of the virus or pathogen. They do this by inserting an immunological key to lock it up. This mechanism is very much like looking for the key hole in a lock, inset the key and lock it. If a wrong immunoglobulin is secreted it is the wrong key
The B cells that produce the immunoglobulin decide the type of specific key to use as the immune response to the proteins expressed by the SARS-CoV-2 proteins.
They can recognize what types of proteins are being expressed by the SARS-CoV-2 particles. They then respond appropriately just like using the right key for different locks. Once locked, the antibodies are found on the surface of the virus. Antibodies found on the surfaces of viruses and bacteria are specific for a particular infection
When the body encounters the same virus or bacteria, the immune cells producing the antibodies can recognize the proteins associated with that particular pathogen
After locking and destroying them during the recovery stage, a number of these antibody-producing immune cells serving as memory surveillance cells are ready to attack rapidly future infections by the same virus of the same strain or variant
But they fail to respond immediately when the SARS-CoV-2 virus or any bacteria or other viruses mutate by expressing a different type of proteins or antigen presentation the memory cells cannot recognize
In such an event the body will have to start all over again using different antibody specificity for that new strain
Hence we can expect this to be very problematic if the SARS-CoV-2 virus keeps changing its genomic expressions. Unfortunately the virus can easily do this when challenged by vaccines, especially currently by many types being used that threaten its existence
Unlike the body’s natural immunological response, vaccines cannot change once it is manufactured and come out of the factory.
Vaccines are all very specific and are manufactured according to the type of protein expressed by the genetic code of SARS-CoV-2 or any type of viruses or pathogenic bacteria.
They cannot change its specificity once manufactured to match future changes of the spike proteins of the virus if they mutate.
Only the natural living body can do this, and in the event of multiple infections by variants of this virus the vaccines meant for a specific variant becomes ineffective.
This virus to my feeling can be very aggressive if challenged by too many kinds and types of Covid-10 vaccines currently being produced using various biotechnology as the virus too needs to exist as part of evolution.
My feeling it can mutate at least up to 400 quintillion different variants See article here:
https://taionn.blogspot.com/2021/02/a-hundred-quintillion-strains-and.html?m=1
How are we going to deal with this virus if it decides to mutate 400 quintillion times when challenged by any type of hostile environment including the presence of natural antibodies inside our body either by natural herd immunity or by using various vaccines?
This is an extremely insurmountable problem if there are multiple mutations because this virus too has the right to exist on this planet since most viruses, probably including the family of corona viruses were already here since 4,000 million years ago when their first prebiotic synthesis became possible.
Homo sapient only emerged 250,000 to 160,000 years ago, and early agricultural life started only 12,000 years ago.
Hence viruses are far more adapted and resilient even as prelife RNA molecules than us. It is just part of the biological laws of survival for all life on Earth. They are here to stay.
How then can we deal with them if they decide to stay and continue to invade us when we are the least adaptable among all other species?
Obviously no drug or any kind of vaccine would be of any help should they become very aggressive and challenging by merely rearranging or altering its RNA sequence - a change called mutation.
Sequencing of a DNA or RNA means determining the order of the four chemical building blocks or "bases" that make up the their molecules. The sequence carries the genetic information in that particular segment of the DNA or RNA. On mutation they change their sequence and their genetic material expresses a different type of protein called gene expression whereby the memory cells in the immune system cannot recognize.
The SARS-Covid 2 RNA sequence is approximately 30,000 bases in length, though relatively long for a coronavirus, it is very short and easy for it to change its sequence to mutate.
In such a mutagenic event all our vaccines are wrong keys that cannot fit into new locks anymore.
What are we going to do about this? This is a dilemma scientists who produce all those vaccines need to answer us.
Jb Lim