# life: Black Death way revisited, the hypothesis, by Parag.

<< Good afternoon to everyone online and in the room. (..) Since yesterday, Denmark, Estonia, Lithuania, Netherlands and Nigeria have all reported their first cases. All these cases have links to Italy. 24 cases have been exported from Italy to 14 countries, and 97 cases have been exported from Iran to 11 countries. >>  

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

WHO Director-General's opening remarks at the media briefing on COVID-19. WHO. Feb 28, 2020.

https://www.who.int/dg/speeches/detail/who-director-general-s-opening-remarks-at-the-media-briefing-on-covid-19---28-february-2020

<< A striking overlap exists between the path of today's viral spread and the path of the Black Death in the 1300s. >>

<< It is, of course, far too soon to make such dire predictions about Covid-19. But a striking overlap exists between the path of today's viral spread and the path that emerged in the 1300s. >>

<< The 14th-century plague is said to have originated in northwestern China, with bacteria contracted from marmots. Hebei Province bore the brunt of China’s plague fatalities, with 5 million of its residents perishing in the 1330s. Making its way westward via Silk Road merchants and caravans, the plague took several years to reach Persia, where it killed the Khan overlord Abu Said as well as half the population. In 1347, it entered Europe via Italy’s port of Genoa. >>

<< Now compare that to what we’re seeing today with Covid-19. This time around, the source of illness may have been pangolins or bats instead of marmots. It started in Wuhan, which just happens to be Hebei's capital. The coronavirus reached Iran in a couple of weeks, and so far has infected hundreds of people, even the country’s deputy health minister. Next to Iran, the next worst outbreak is in Italy, with more than 300 cases and rising quickly- and likely spreading through Europe exactly as the plague did centuries ago. >>

<< It is, perhaps no coincidence that, in the past two decades, China has been the origin of SARS, the swine flu, and now the Covid-19 coronavirus. Nor should we be surprised that Iran and Italy have emerged, once more, as waypoints for pandemic spread. What do Iran and Italy have in common today? They are two major anchors of China’s Belt and Road Initiative- also known as the 21st century’s new Silk Roads. >>

Parag Khanna. IDEAS. Covid-19 Is Traveling Along the New Silk Road. Wired. Feb 28, 2020.

https://www.wired.com/story/covid-19-is-traveling-along-the-new-silk-road/

Also

keyword 'virus' by FonT

https://flashontrack.blogspot.com/search?q=virus

keyword 'virus' by Notes

https://inkpi.blogspot.com/search?q=virus

# life: fundamental lesson (also) in Economics, don't squeeze snakes and bats, please.

<< Global shares tumbled further on Friday, on worries that the economic fallout from the global spread of the coronavirus may be more severe than previously expected. >>

Chong Koh Ping.  More Markets Head Toward Corrections as Coronavirus Spooks Investors. Indexes in Tokyo and Seoul extend losses, putting them on track to join U.S. benchmarks in correction territory. By Feb 27, 2020 11:59 pm ET.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/more-markets-head-toward-correction-territory-as-coronavirus-spooks-investors-11582864550

<< PERFORMANCE  5 Day   -11.82% >>

Dow Jones Industrial Average. (Last Updated: Feb 27, 2020 5:20 p.m. EST)

https://www.marketwatch.com/investing/index/djia

Also

keyword "snake" in FonT & Notes

https://flashontrack.blogspot.com/search?q=snake

https://inkpi.blogspot.com/search?q=snake

keyword "bat" in FonT 

https://flashontrack.blogspot.com/search?q=bat

# life: inside the mysterious (i.e. secret) Yunnan cave, a key to the bizarre jump of the Chinese covid-19 virus

<< In 2004, deep in the wilderness of China’s Yunnan province, a group of scientists from the Wuhan Institute of Virology discovered a cave full of wild bats carrying hundreds of SARS-related viruses. Their work, published in a draft paper in 2005, ( Science. 2005 Oct 28;310(5748):676-9. Epub 2005 Sep 29.  https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16195424 ) unearthed the link between SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) and bats for the first time. >>

<< Now the virologist who led that study, Shi Zhengli, has revealed one of the strains found in that cave - the exact location of which is a closely guarded secret - is almost identical to the 2019-nCoV coronavirus which has so far killed at least 1,115 people and infected more than 45,000 worldwide. >>

<< Professor Shi ran the genome sequence of 2019-nCoV - now officially known as COVID-19 - through the bat-related virus database she built up over ten years and found it was a 96 per cent match to a virus found in the droppings of horseshoe bats. >>

Marnie O’Neill. Mysterious bat cave in Chinese wilderness could hold key to coronavirus. news.com.au Feb 13, 2020.

https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/health/health-problems/mysterious-bat-cave-in-chinese-wilderness-could-hold-key-to-coronavirus/news-story/530063aeb9de7020e626f1c4839b9777

Also

Zhou, P., Yang, X., Wang, X. et al. A pneumonia outbreak associated with a new coronavirus of probable bat origin. Nature. doi: 10.1038/s41586-020-2012-7. Jan 29, 2020.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-020-2012-7

Human uses of bats (also in chinese traditional medicine). Wikipedia. Last edited 11 days ago by Enwebb.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_uses_of_bats

Bat as food. Wikipedia. Last edited 7 days ago by Enwebb.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bat_as_food

# gst: NS3, how viruses self-cripple their genome replication machinery

<< An interdisciplinary team of researchers (..) has used computational chemistry, biochemistry and virology to uncover new information on how viruses such as West Nile, dengue and Zika replicate. Based on their research, the team said these viruses appear to cripple their own genome replication machinery.  >>

<< Nonstructural Protein 3 - or NS3 - in flaviviruses, (..) cause a number of diseases in humans. NS3 is a key enzyme that these viruses use to copy their genomes. >>

<< Most vaccines are developed by finding random mutations that slow down virus growth, (..) By understanding how viral enzymes like NS3 work in great detail, we can use that information to rationally design new mutant viruses that replicate less well and act better as a vaccine, without having to rely on chance to make the vaccine. This can help develop vaccines more rapidly and precisely. >> Brian Geiss.

New details on how a viral protein puts the brakes on virus replication. Colorado State University.  Feb 7, 2020.

https://m.phys.org/news/2020-02-viral-protein-virus-replication.html

Kelly E. Du Pont, Russell B. Davidson,  et al. Motif V regulates energy transduction between the flavivirus NS3 ATPase and RNA-binding cleft. The Journal of Biological Chemistry 295, 1551-1564. Feb 7, 2020.

http://m.jbc.org/content/295/6/1551

Also

keyword 'NS3 enzyme' in ncbi

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/?term=NS3+enzyme

# drugs: the inhibitor MCC950 of NLRP3, a small molecule tested against many large diseases

<< It seems too good to be true: a single drug that could treat humanity's worst afflictions, including atherosclerosis, cancer, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and arthritis. All of these diseases have one thing in common-they involve an inflammatory protein called NLRP3. >>

The molecule << MCC950 blocks NLRP3 with high specificity in the lab. However, a small clinical trial of the compound by Pfizer showed weaker potency than expected, as well as liver damage at high doses. Some companies are now using MCC950 as a starting point to design safer and more effective molecules, while others are trying to find inhibitors unrelated to the compound. Currently, several NLRP3 inhibitors with a range of mechanisms are in preclinical, Phase I and Phase II trials >>

One drug, many diseases. American Chemical Society. Feb 19, 2020. 

https://m.phys.org/news/2020-02-drug-diseases.html

Ryan Cross. Could an NLRP3 inhibitor be the one drug to conquer common diseases? Chemical & Engineering News. Vol 98, Issue 7. Feb 17, 2020

https://cen.acs.org/pharmaceuticals/drug-discovery/Could-an-NLRP3-inhibitor-be-the-one-drug-to-conquer-common-diseases/98/i7

Also 

keyword 'NLRP3' in ncbi.nih.gov

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/?term=NLRP3

keyword 'MCC950' in ncbi.nih.gov

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/?term=MCC950

# life: the fate of humans and insects intertwine

<< The fate of humans and insects intertwine, especially through the medium of plants. >>

Michael J.Samways, Philip S.Barton, et al. Solutions for humanity on how to conserve insects. Biological Conservation. Volume 242, 108427,  Review. Feb 9, 2020.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0006320719317793

Damian Carrington. Fates of humans and insects intertwined, warn scientists. Experts call for solutions to be enforced immediately to halt global population collapses. Feb 20, 2020.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/feb/20/fates-humans-insects-intertwined-scientists-population-collapse

Also

the beetle Carabaeus lamarcki, dancer and sky analyzer.  May 14, 2016.

https://flashontrack.blogspot.com/2016/05/s-behav-beetle-carabaeus-lamarcki.html

# brain: lizard, an ancient dreamer (2)

<< Reptiles have a brain area previously suspected to play a role in mammalian higher cognitive processes, and establish its role in controlling brain dynamics in sleep. >>

<< The fact that we find a claustrum homolog in reptiles suggests that the claustrum is an ancient structure, likely present in the brains of the common vertebrate ancestor of reptiles and mammals, (..) While our results have not answered the question as to whether the claustrum plays a role in consciousness or higher cognitive functions, they indicate that it may play an important role in the control of brain states (such as in sleep), due to ascending input from the mid- and hindbrain, to its widespread projections to the forebrain and to its role in sharp-wave generation during slow-wave sleep, >> Gilles Laurent

Hidden away: An enigmatic mammalian brain area revealed in reptiles. Max Planck Society.  Feb 13, 2020

https://m.phys.org/news/2020-02-hidden-enigmatic-mammalian-brain-area.html

Hiroaki Norimoto, Lorenz A. Fenk, et al. A claustrum in reptiles and its role in slow-wave sleep. Nature volume 578, pages 413–418. Feb 12, 2020

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-020-1993-6

Also

keyword 'lizard' in FonT

https://flashontrack.blogspot.com/search?q=lizard