Category Archives: Transhuman News

Few people have provided more access to help in McLean County over the last four decades than Karen Zangerle.

Friday is Zangerle's last day at PATH (Providing Access To Help), the Bloomington-based crisis agency where she is retiring as executive director after working 36 of its 50 years of operation.

I certainly made my mark on this agency, Zangerle said in an interview on WGLT's Sound Ideas. Im fond of saying my DNA is embedded in the walls, but the DNA want to go home. They are tired of the walls.

Zangerle said she believes the 211 social service hotline will be her legacy.

McLean County started a pilot program in 2009 after she heard about a similar program in Atlanta, Ga. and worked with the Illinois legislature for more than a decade to adopt a similar program. PATH volunteers now take 211 calls from 49 Illinois counties. Zangerle said 211 became a vital and easy-to-remember resource, especially for people who don't access social services often.

If you are a middle manager at State Farm and your 13-year-old son runs away at 1 a.m., the family sits there and (says) What do we do? What is the next step? Zangerle asked.

Zangerle thinks 211 will eventually be available statewide, but she said PATH hasnt looked to expand north of Interstate 80, where she said social service resources are generally more widely available.

Zangerle said Illinois plans to fund a 988 suicide hotline starting next year as part of a nationwide initiative.

Zangerle said PATH also has helped get people out of homelessness by working with area shelters and the faith community, but she said mental health and substance abuse remain the biggest barriers to getting people the help they need.

We continuously struggle as we tackle different types of people and how they are experiencing homelessness, she said. I really dont think we will solve homelessness until we have rock solid treatment for mental illness and substance abuse.

She said McLean Countys mental health initiatives, including a triage center and expanded treatments at the jail have helped.

Zangerle estimates the homeless population in Bloomington-Normal is about 200. That includes those who regularly stay at shelters. She said the population varies based on the time of year as winter weather prompts some to move further south.

Zangerle said the tent encampment of about 20 people that has formed in west Bloomington where a Panda Express restaurant has been approved will eventually have to move. She said PATH has outreach workers who will talk to the residents and help them find other housing options.

"Some of them may agree to work with the program to get some things done. What eventually happens is theres going to be a group of them that finds a new place and theyll move on, she said.

Zangerle noted the coronavirus made is especially difficult for the homeless population, as shelters had to limit capacity and some were left out in the cold during the harshest days of winter, until McLean County and some religious organizations provided funding to pay for hotel stays when PATH had exhausted its shelter funding.

When we got through this winter, I said thats it, Ive made it. I have never had to experience the horror of someone dying of cold on the streets of Bloomington-Normal, she said.

Zangerle said she has seen a lot of heartache and suffering, noting her faith has helped her endure sot she can continue to find help for those who need it most.

That for me has always been the stabilizing force in dealing with tragedy and horrible situations Ive been exposed to that no human being should even have to see, she said.

PATH has named Chris Workman its new executive director. The Normal native has 30 years of experience in human services, academic and business consulting experience in Illinois and Kentucky.

Zangerle said her advice for Workman was brief: put peoples needs first.

We may (have) someone who is a pedophile who is an alcoholic who is eating up resources. If that person calls and says they dont have anywhere to go tonight, we have to ignore all of those other things, Zangerle said.

Zangerle volunteered for PATH before she worked for the non-profit. She plans to volunteer again, helping to answer off-hours calls that PATH takes about elder abuse complaints for the Illinois Department on Aging.

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PATH's 'DNA' Retires After 36 Years With 211 Hotline Her Legacy - WGLT

A stolen BMWs onboard tracking device led police to where the car was parked on a Hartford street in November, and swabbings taken from the cars steering wheel produced DNA evidence that enabled them to arrest a Hartford man in the theft last week.

Thats according to an affidavit by Glastonbury police Officer John Barrett that was the basis for the arrest Thursday of Felix Flores, 21, of Hartford.

Flores is charged with second-degree larceny and second-degree criminal trover in the Nov. 17 theft of the car from the parking lot of the Somerset Square shopping center.

Criminal trover is defined as using property without the owners permission and damaging it or reducing its value.

The cars owner told police that she paid a $250 deductible and her insurance company paid more than $4,100 for a safety check of the car after it was returned, repairs to the wheel rims, and replacing its keys, Barrett reported. She said she also paid more than $150 for new keys to her house, had to replace the cars tires earlier than she had wanted to and found that the car smelled of smoke, possibly affecting its resale value.

Flores, who was in jail on other charges when Glastonbury police charged him in the car theft last week, is being held in lieu of $201,000 bond only $1,000 of it stemming from the Glastonbury case, online state records show.

In his other cases, he is facing two felony counts of possessing narcotics with intent to sell and a probation violation charge in an old narcotics sale case. Another of his cases is largely sealed from public view, online court records show.

No lawyer representing him could be located for comment Monday.

At a time when vehicle theft and associated violence are topics of intense public discussion in Glastonbury and other towns, a close look at a case like this one gives some idea of what it takes for police to make an arrest in such a case.

Barretts affidavit recounts the following:

The theft victim, who works in a Somerset Square office, noticed something amiss after grabbing her coat from a utility closet on Nov. 17. As she took a walk around the shopping complex, she realized that her car keys werent in her pocket.

When she returned her coat to the closet, she realized for the first time that it was in disarray, with opened letters and garbage strewn around. After failing to find her keys in her purse, she looked out the window and saw that her 2015 BMW wasnt in the parking lot.

Two days later Barrett contacted her to see if BMW was tracking the car, and she said she it was. A short time later, Hartford police found the car, unoccupied and parked on Elliot Street, off Wethersfield Avenue across from Bulkeley High School.

The car was towed to the Glastonbury police station, where it was processed, including taking swabs for DNA. DNA swabs had also been taken from the door handle of the utility closet in Somerset Square.

The state Forensic Science Laboratory tested the samples and uploaded the results to a database, which produced an offender hit for Flores.

With a search warrant, Barrett took a DNA sample from Flores at the jail where he was an inmate.

The forensic lab reported that Flores was eliminated as a contributor to the DNA on the closet door but was included as a possible contributor to the steering wheel DNA, which was a mixture from at least three people, including one male. If there were three contributors, the lab concluded, it was at least 100 billion times more likely that Flores was one of them than that the sample came from three unknown people.

For updates on Glastonbury, and recent crime and courts coverage in North-Central Connecticut, follow Alex Wood on Twitter: @AlexWoodJI1,Facebook: Alex Wood, and Instagram: @AlexWoodJI.

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Car's location tracking, DNA tests led to arrest in Glastonbury theft - Journal Inquirer

TEXARKANA, Texas (KTAL/KMSS) The Texarkana-Bowie County Health Department is partnering with the state of Texas to provide free COVID-19 vaccines this Thursday, July 22.

Health experts urge anyone who has not previously had the vaccine to stop by.Three different vaccines will be available. Those 12 years and older are eligible for the Pfizer vaccine. Those 18 and older are eligible for the Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines.

Texarkana-Bowie County Health Department Administrative Manager Kelly Brush urges people not to believe the myths circulating about the vaccine.I think the biggest one we get is, its going to change my DNA. And, no its not going to change your DNA, they dont have anything to do with your DNA. Another one is, people thinking its putting a tracker in their body. Its not putting a tracker in your body,Brush said.

Local health experts said they want everyone to understand how important the vaccinations are, especially amid the surge in cases due to the Delta variant.

All the vaccines basically teach your body how to create antibodies but the mRNA (Messenger RNA) vaccines is what we hear a lot about, Oh, thats so new. Its not. The technology and science behind them have been studied for decades, and they actually have used them in previous vaccines before. So, its really not new, its just a new virus. Andthere has been a lot of research with cancer where theyve used with mRNAs to trigger the immune system to fight against specific cancer cells, Brush said.

The clinic is set to be held from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. at the health department, which is located at 902 W. 12th Street in Texarkana, Texas. There are no residency requirements.

For help with transportation,you can call the Ark-Tex Council of Governments at 1-866-575-9014.

See the article here:
Its not going to change your DNA: Texarkana health experts urge the unvaccinated to attend free clinic - ArkLaTexHomepage

Jene Desmond-Harris is online weekly to chat live with readers. Heres an edited transcript of this weeks chat.

Q. Modern problems: The letter from the IVF parents recently triggered a question I have had for a long time and have been putting off deciding on because I wont have to answer it for years. But here it is:

My youngest daughter was conceived with my sperm and a donated egg. When my daughter was 2 years old, my wife died. I have been raising her as if her biological mother died when she was 2she has no memory of her mom and is happy, healthy, and well-adjusted. She has no idea that her biological mother is probably still alive with at least one probably living daughter, who would be her half-sister. Then there are the 14 embryos we donated after she was born, who would be her full siblings if they were successful.

If there wasnt a 23 and Me business out there, the decision would be easy: Just keep it a secret and let it die with me. The issue is she may decide in the future to have her ancestry checked, and then she would be in for a big surpriseand may be angry that I didnt tell her and give her the option to meet her biological mother and siblings. And then what if I do tell her and then her biological mother doesnt want to meet her? Or doesnt get along with her? Or her biological siblings reject her?

My current plan is to talk to a therapist when she is 17 and make a plan for when she is 18 for what to do. She is currently 11 so I dont feel a need to make a decision for a while. What are your thoughts?

A: This does have a lot in common with that question and Ill suggest a similar approach: Consider letting a family therapist give you some advice or even facilitate the conversation. And dont delay and make it a big, scary secret that feels life-changing when it is revealed. If you think shes old enough to understand the basic science of human reproduction, I can imagine you saying something as simple as: When your mom and I wanted to have a baby, we needed some help and a nice woman let us use one of her eggs. Then we helped out other families by donating the embryos we had left after we had you. This doesnt change anything about our familyMom carried you and gave birth to you and loved you a lot. But in the future, if youre interested in trying to find the woman whose egg we used and any other children who came from those donated embryos (who would be biologically related to you), we can do that. Its also OK to do nothing. By framing it as not a big deal rather than You have a mother and siblings out there!, youll be making the news easier to handle and also preparing her to keep things in perspective if she does one day get in touch with these people and finds there isnt a strong connection.

Send questions for publication here. (Questions may be edited.)

Join the live chat Mondays at noon. Submit your questions and comments here before or during the discussion.

Q. Trying to support sibling sobriety: My older brother who, as far as I know, has been sober for more than a decade, has recently started drinking again. Twice this week, Ive seen him drink a beer, in full view of myself and other family members, like it was no big deal.

Ive heard him credit AAs Big Book with inspiring an epiphany in his life and every time Ive seen him offered a drink previously, he has refused. I feel strange commenting on a behavior that, were it anyone else in my life, I wouldnt think twice about. At the same time, and I know this isnt fair, I feel a little like a core thing that I know to be true about the worldthat my brother is an alcoholic who has been sober for as long as I can rememberhas shifted beneath my feet and Im pretty shaken.

Whats the protocol? Do I ask him if hed like company to go to a meeting? When he asks my partner if he can grab a beer from the fridge, do I interrupt to say, No, I dont think thats a good idea? Do I call my other sibling, with whom he has a closer relationship, and snitch? I know my brother has been really struggling of late, and hes planning to move closer to home soon to work on getting back on his feet, so do I just wait until then and hope he gets the help he needs?

A: When it comes to contemplating things like snitching and cutting off his refrigerator access, youre about 10 steps ahead. Yes, your brother has a problem with alcohol, but that doesnt mean you cant speak to him directly like you would anyone else. How about something like: I noticed youve been drinking again. I didnt want to make it weird in the moment but Im kind of worried. Do you mind talking about it? Whats going on? If hes been open about being in AA for all these years, this topic shouldnt be too touchy to discuss. And the purpose of your asking him is to understand whats happening with someone you love, not to shame him or become the sobriety police.

Its possible hes decided that he can drink moderately and be OK. But its also possible that hes relapsed (which is very common) and is out of control or moving in that direction. The people who know most about how this works and how to help him are his AA sponsor and friends. If you push him to do anything, it should be to contact these people. They speak the language of the Big Book and have possibly even been in his position before.

And the people whove been where you are before are in Al-Anon, a group for people who are worried about loved ones with drinking problems. Whatever he says about why hes drinking and how much, it feels like theres a decent chance that hes heading toward a crisis that will be hard to watch. You should attend a meeting, where I imagine youll be reminded that his relationship with alcohol is his alone, and theres very little you can do or say that will change what happens next.

Q. Too old for love? I am 86 and I may be bisexual. I would like to be gay but am I too old for anybody who would take me on? Is my age too late for friendship or other?

A: Congratulations on having this revelation about yourself and exploring the idea of living a life that would make you happier. You can be definitely (not may be) bisexual and definitely gay even if you dont find a partner. But I think maybe you can find one! Older people get into relationships all the time. In my experience, they actually seem to move pretty quicklymaybe because of a sense of having limited time left, or maybe because once you get to a certain age, you just know what you want. Why dont you start poking around on Our Time, the dating website for older adults? There are, of course, no guarantees for anyone of any age or sexual orientation when it comes to meeting someone whos a good fit, but I think youll regret it if you dont try.

Q. Tired of listening to it: I call my mom on my way to work and on my way home from work every day. We get in a good 45 minutes or so of talking each day. The problem is, she complains nonstop, mostly about my dad. Im tired of listening to it and frankly I dont think its right. While I dont disagree that he can be a total jerk, its not fair to me to have to listen to it. I dont know what to do.

A: Mom, I know Dad can be a jerk and I hate how he treats you, but I dont want to let that take away from our relationship. Can we complain about Dad for five minutes at the end of every call? It kind of brings me down and I want to hear more about how youre doing and other fun stuff, and tell you how Im doing. Hold up your end of the bargain by having plenty of other topics to discuss and steering the conversation in another direction.

Q. Just break up already: One of my friends, Anna, has been in a relationship with a man, Dave, for nearly two years now. Im sad to say that Anna and Dave are that couple who dont mind having an audience when they get into a verbal fight. It started out small, if not annoying, in the beginning, where theyd whisper-fight and drop the subject. A lot of their issues stem from feelings of jealousy, infidelity (physical and otherwise), conflicting views on life such as kids, and general incompatibility. Over time, it escalated that they not only would have shouting matches in front of strangers, theyd do it wherever they were and despite whatever would be going ongrocery stores, restaurants, streets, and even birthday parties.

Just a couple months ago, they went to the house of Annas cousin for a family reunion of sorts. They ended up having such a loud, disruptive fight that neighbors called the police. Annas cousin kicked them both out, and the two are still at odds over the embarrassing event. A lot of our friends have stopped hanging out with them because of this, and they know it, which adds to the tension to the relationship. Recently, Anna had confided in me that shes heavily tempted to be with a new man, but is hesitant to end a nearly two-year relationship over what might amount to a fling. Shes asked me my opinion, and so far Ive avoided a response. Truthfully, I think her relationship with Dave is a dead end regardless of if she gets with this new guy, but I normally make a point of not giving relationship advice. If I told her what I think but she stays with Dave, I feel like Ill become the bad guy. What do you think I should do?

A: This reminds me of a tweet I saw: My friend got dumped yesterday and we immediately had a Group video call where everybody shared how much we hated him and it was two hours of going through what garbage this man is. At one point I said NASA is still looking for his hairline. And now theyre back together.

Awkward! Dont get yourself into a situation like that. Encourage her to pursue the new guy, without ever mentioning Daves name, such as: You like him! You should listen to yourself, You never know, this could be your soulmate! and I think he sounds great! I can really see you with someone who you can have a peaceful relationship with.

Q. Re: Modern problems: I would HIGHLY encourage the letter writer to tell their daughter sooner rather than later. Eleven is not too young at alland Im sure many therapists you speak to would agree. By keeping it a secret for longer, you make it into something huge (and potentially shameful) instead of a purely logistical fact of her conception. I believe the best practice now is to tell children from birth that they are adopted/from donor sperm/eggs, whatever.

Thats not to say youve irrevocably messed up your daughter by not telling her until nowtheres no point in beating yourself up about itbut I think telling her sooner rather than later is going to make her less likely to feel betrayed or hurt that you kept it from her. And if she does show interest in meeting her biological mother and siblings, please encourage it! She knows who her mother and father are; it isnt a reflection on the life youve given her for her to show interest in her biological siblings/mother. And while the outcome could prove hurtful for many reasons, shell be better equipped to face those things knowing she has your unconditional support.

A: Yep, I wish he would have told her earlier.

Q. Re: Modern problems: The daughter mentioned in the letter does not have a mother just floating about in the universe. Theres an egg donor who helped her parents conceive her. A mother is someone who stays up all night with a sick infant; a mother soothes a crying toddler when they fall; a mother holds the hand of a child when crossing the street. The egg donor (while kind and self-less) is not her mother.

A: I agree that this is the best way to think about it. The egg donor is a woman who offered (actually, probably sold) an egg to help another woman become a mother, and thats a much better way to frame it than you have a real biological mother out there somewhere.

Q. Re: Trying to support sibling sobriety: Be careful of the line between supporting your brothers sobriety and policing it. It is a fair ball if you decide not to serve your brother alcohol in your home (and you should discuss this with your partner). It is also fair to tell him you have noticed he is drinking again. If he starts an argument or tries to justify it, dont engage, but just tell him you have noticed it so he had information. But dont push him to go to meetings if he doesnt want to, and dont push him on his drinking unless he puts himself or others in danger.

Managing his sobriety and recovery is his job, not yours. As hard as it is, your first priority is to protect yourself and your own mental health.

A: I agree with this. I think if anyone is going to know how to push (or nudge, or just support), it will be the people in his AA community. And again, Al-Anon will be the place to figure out what to do, what not to do, and how to manage the reality of not being able to control how this turns out for him.

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Q. Re: Tired of listening to it: Or.stop calling your mom twice a day, every day, and talking for 45 minutes. Obviously your mom has run out of things to talk to you about twice a day, every day, for 45 minutes. Im really not kidding.

A: Ha. I talk to my mom for about this much time every day so it didnt seem strange to me but yes, the letter writer can cut back. I do think they should try making the conversations better before making them shorter though, since the length wasnt one of their complaints.

Jene Desmond-Harris: Thanks, everyone. Well wrap it up here and get together again next week to discuss our problems and how other people should livesame time, same place. See you then!

If you missed Part 1 of this weeks chat,click hereto read it.

Discuss this column on our Facebook page!

Im a single mom to a 7-year old son and a 1-year old daughter. I want to be able to have conversations with my son about his body, girls, sex, and everything in between, but I recently grossed him out just by sayingpenis. How can I begin to approach these topics so that we can have open and honest conversations? I dont think Ill have the same issues with my daughter, who Ive already started to talk to about body autonomyhopefully,vaginawont be as gross later on.

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Help! Im Afraid of What Will Happen When My Daughter Gets a DNA Test. - Slate

Since the human genome was first mapped, scientists have discovered hundreds of genes influencing illnesses like breast cancer, heart disease and Alzheimers disease. Unfortunately, Black people, Indigenous people and other people of color are underrepresented in most genetic studies. This has resulted in a skewed and incomplete understanding of the genetics of many diseases.

We are two researchers who have been working to find genes that affect peoples risk for various diseases. Our team recently found a genetic region that appears to be protective against Alzheimers disease. To do this, we used a method called admixture mapping that uses data from people with mixed ancestry to find genetic causes of disease.

In 2005, researchers first used a groundbreaking method called a genomewide association study. Such studies comb through huge datasets of genomes and medical histories to see if people with certain diseases tend to share the same version of DNA called a genetic marker at specific spots.

Using this approach, researchers have identified many genes involved in Alzheimers disease. But this method can find genetic markers only for diseases that are common in the genomes of the study participants. If, for example, 90% of participants in an Alzheimers disease study have European ancestry and 10% have Asian ancestry, a genome-wide association study isnt likely to detect genetic risks for Alzheimers disease that are present only in individuals with Asian ancestry.

All peoples genetics reflect where their ancestors came from. But ancestry manifests as both genetic variation and social and cultural experiences. All of these factors can influence risk for certain diseases, and this can create problems. When socially caused disparities in disease prevalence appear across racial groups, the genetic markers of ancestry can be mistaken for genetic markers of disease.

African Americans, for example, are up to twice as likely as white Americans to develop Alzheimers disease. Research shows that much of this disparity is likely due to structural racism causing differences in nutrition, socioeconomic status and other social risk factors. A genome-wide association study looking for genes associated with Alzheimers might mistake genetic variations associated with African descent for genetic causes of the disease.

While researchers can use a number of statistical methods to avoid such mistakes, these methods can miss important findings because they are often unable to overcome the overall lack of diversity in genetic datasets.

Disentangling race, ancestry and health disparities can be a challenge in genome-wide association studies. Admixture mapping, on the other hand, is able to make better use of even relatively small datasets of underrepresented people. This method specifically gets its power from studying people who have mixed ancestry.

Admixture mapping relies on a quirk of human genetics you inherit DNA in chunks, not in a smooth blend. So if you have ancestors from different parts of the world, your genome is made of chunks of DNA from different ancestries. This process of chunked inheritance is called admixture.

Imagine color-coding a genome by ancestry. A person who has mixed European, Native American and African ancestry might have striped chromosomes that alternate among green, blue and red, with each color representing a certain region. A different person with similar ancestry would also have a genome of green, blue and red chunks, but the order and size of the stripes would be different.

Even two biological siblings will have locations in their genomes where their DNA comes from different ancestries. These ancestry stripes are how companies like Ancestry.com and 23andMe generate ancestry reports.

Because genome-wide association studies have to compare huge numbers of tiny individual genetic markers, it is much harder to find rare genetic markers for a disease. In contrast, admixture mapping tests whether the color of a certain ancestry chunk is associated with disease risk.

The statistics are fairly complicated, but essentially, because there are a smaller number of much larger ancestral chunks, it is easier to separate the signal from the noise. Admixture mapping is more sensitive, but it does sacrifice specificity, as it cant point to the individual genetic marker associated with disease risk.

Another important aspect of admixture mapping is that it looks at individuals with mixed ancestry. Since two people who have similar socioeconomic experiences can have different ancestry at certain parts of their genomes, admixture mapping can look at the association between this ancestry chunk and disease without mistaking social causes of disease for genetic causes.

Researchers estimate that 58% to 79% of Alzheimers disease risk is caused by genetic difference, but only about a third of these genetic differences have been discovered. Few studies have looked for genetic links to Alzheimers risk among people with mixed ancestry.

Our team applied admixture mapping to a genetic dataset of Caribbean Hispanic people who have a mix of European, Native American and African ancestry. We found a part of the genome where Native American ancestry made people less likely to have Alzheimers disease. Essentially, we found that if you have the color blue in this certain part of your genome, you are less likely to develop Alzheimers disease. We believe that with further research we can find the specific gene responsible within the blue chunk and have already identified possible candidates.

One important note is that the genetic diversity that plays a role in disease risk is not visible to the naked eye. Anyone with Native American ancestry at this particular spot in the genome not just a person who identifies as or looks Native American may have some protection against Alzheimers disease.

Our paper illustrates that gaining a more complete understanding of Alzheimers disease risk requires using methods that can make better use of the limited datasets that exist for people of non-European ancestry. There is still a lot to learn about Alzheimers disease, but every new gene linked to this disease is a step toward better understanding its causes and finding potential treatments.

See the article here:
Mixed-ancestry genetic research shows a bit of Native American DNA could reduce risk of Alzheimer's disease - The Conversation US

July 19, 2021 -- There are lots of unfounded fears about the COVID-19 vaccines floating around, and one of the most pervasive is the idea that these new shots aren't really vaccines, but that they will somehow change your genes or insert themselves into the DNA of your cells.

You may see people posting on social media about the vaccines being a kind of gene therapy, and they're partly right, but in the end this idea often misses some important details about how the vaccines work. They can't change your genes, and they don't stay in your body for more than a few days.

But plenty of people have distorted the way the vaccines work into something that could sound sinister. For example, in January, the Weston A. Price Foundation, a group that discourages vaccination, hosted a podcast where David Martin, PhD, described by FactCheck.org as a "financial analyst and self-help entrepreneur," called the vaccines gene therapy.

"a vaccine is supposed to trigger immunity. It's not supposed to trigger you to make a toxin," Martin said. "It's not a vaccination."

Except that these shots are vaccines, according to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and they don't cause you to make a toxin.

So where did this idea get started?

"Like many rumors, there's sort of an element of truth," says Beth Thielen, MD, PhD, a pediatric infectious disease specialist at the University of Minnesota Medical School.

But the truth is that the vaccines involve sound science that sounds complicated to most people not educated in the field.

The vaccines made by Pfizer and Moderna use tiny oily envelopes called lipid nanoparticles to slip a single strand of genetic material called messenger RNA (mRNA) into our cells.

The Johnson & Johnson vaccine is slightly different. It uses double-stranded DNA inserted into a common, but inert virus called an adenovirus. This DNA also contains the instructions for building the spike protein. Once inside the cell, these instructions are read and translated into mRNA.

These bits of mRNA go into the jellied liquid called cytoplasm that makes up the body of our cells.

"Where they join about 200,000 other pieces of messenger RNA that are also sitting in every cell's cytoplasm, because our cells make proteins and enzymes all the time," says Paul Offit, MD, director of the vaccine education center at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.

The mRNA chains are basically work orders that spell out the instructions for making the spike proteins that stud the outside of the coronavirus that cases COVID-19. The virus uses its spikes to dock onto our cells and infect them.

It's one of the viruses' most recognizable features. Our cells read this mRNA and use them to assemble the spikes. The spikes migrate to the outside of our cells where they are recognized and remembered by our immune system.

These spikes, by themselves, are not dangerous. They can't make anyone sick. They are essentially mug shots that help the body recognize and fight off the real perpetrator when it comes along.

The mRNA chains from the vaccines only last for a couple of days before they break down and the pieces are swept away by the body's normal waste disposal system.

Messenger RNA is genetic material, so in that sense, the vaccines are genetically based therapy.

But the FDA classifies them as vaccines, not gene therapy.

"I think people hear that and they think 'Oh my God, You're going to alter my DNA," Offit says. "That's not possible."

For the vaccines to alter a person's genes, Offit explains, the mRNA instructions would have to enter the cell's control center, the nucleus. The nucleus is walled off from the rest of the cell by its own membrane. To get past that membrane, the mRNA would have to have an enzyme called a nuclear access signal, Offit says, "which it doesn't have."

Even if it could get into the nucleus, the single strand of mRNA would have to be translated back into a double stranded DNA.

HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, can do this. It uses an enzyme like reverse transcriptase to insert itself into our chromosomes. The mRNA in the vaccines lacks this enzyme, so it can't turn back into DNA.

The DNA adenovirus used in the Johnson & Johnson vaccine does enter the nucleus of our cells, but it never integrates into our chromosomes.

Even after those two steps, there's a third firewall between the vaccines and our genes: Another enzyme, called an integrase, would be needed to stitch the new DNA into the DNA of our cells. That's also not in the vaccines.

"So the chances are zero that that can happen," Offit says.

One way to think about mRNA is to imagine if a friend wanted to make a delicious salad that you have the recipe for, Thielen says.

"You'd go to your cookbook, you'd copy the recipe on a note card and give it to them," she says. They can make the salad, but they don't have the cookbook, the original cookbook. You didn't change the cookbook, you just gave them a Post-it note or something that's temporary and that's meant to be," she says.

It's true that these are some of the first vaccines to work this way, but the technology was years in the making. The science was given a final push by billions in funding that was made available through Operation Warp Speed.

The vaccines have now been given to millions of people. They are some of the most effective in the world at preventing severe outcomes from COVID infections. So far, they are holding up well against all the viral variants.

While very rare side effects have been linked to the vaccines, so far, the FDA has determined that the benefit from taking one far outweighs these rare risks for most people.

"I've been astonished, actually,at how well it seems to be working. And so, I think it is very exciting from a vaccine development standpoint that we have new tools in our armamentarium to make new vaccines," Thielen says.

But there's still more to learn.

"I think we need to do dedicated studies of this platform to really understand how long the protection lasts and how well does it adapt to other vaccine targets like RSV. I think that remains to be seen," Thielen says.

Medscape Medical News

See the article here:
Chance That COVID-19 Vaccines Are Gene Therapy? 'Zero' - WebMD

Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Tuesday told Rajya Sabha that India will be the first country to develop a DNA-based Covid-19 vaccine even as other manufactures are steadily ramping up production.

It is a matter of great pride for us that our scientists will be the first to develop a DNA vaccine, the minister said, referring to Zydus Cadila, which has applied for emergency use authorisation of its DNA vaccine.

Mandaviya said while Serum Institute of India has begun providing 11-12 crore doses of Covishied vaccine every month, Biological E is conducting third-phase trial of its vaccine, which is expected to come in the market by September-October with 7.5 crore doses.

Responding to criticism from the Opposition that Covid deaths have been under-reported, Mandaviya said the Centre has no role in recording the figures. Why would we hide it? States register cases and record deaths. Is there a reason for them to do hide? It is not like there is a penalty for rising cases or deaths, he said.

On vaccine shortage in several states, Mandaviya said, There are some states which currently have 15-20 lakh vaccine doses and are still asking the Centre to increase the pace of vaccination.

We needed to build the infrastructureto ensure we have PPT kits, N-95 masks for our medical practitioners to fight the pandemic, he said, responding to questions raised on the Centres decision to impose a nationwide lockdown in March 2020.

On ensuring adequate medical oxygen in preparation for the next surge of Covid cases, he told the House that 1,573 oxygen plants have been planned in hospitals across the country. Of these, 316 have been commissioned so far and the rest will start operations by August-end, he added.

Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Puri criticised the Opposition for spreading vaccine hesitancy by questioning efficacy of vaccines developed in India. Are they making a case for importing vaccines, he asked.

Puri also said it was on the request of some chief ministers that states were allowed to procure vaccines, and when they could not procure, the Centre took over the task again.

BJP MP Swapan Dasgupta said the amount of relief the government has given to people was considerable. Covid is a long haul and lockdown is only a temporary measure. We have to try and restore livelihood of people, he said.

Dasgupta also criticised some states for not cooperating enough with the Centre. Health is a state subject but the state has to handle the pandemic and needs the cooperation of the Centre, he said. We need that mutual cooperation, which is not there.

Earlier, Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjuna Kharge said the governments Covid-19 death toll figure of 4-5 lakh is false and conservative, and claimed that average number of deaths cannot be less than 52.4 lakh

Kharge also accused the government of giving very little notice to people on lockdown. Like demonetisation, the announcement was made by the PM at 8 pm that no trains will run from the next day. The government has to take responsibility for the loss of livelihood and sufferings of migrant workers

Kharge also waved photographs of dead bodies buried along the banks of the Ganga river in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh while criticising the governments handling of the pandemic.

Congress leader Anand Sharma said, We must not quarrel over the numbers. We must not get into hairsplitting that I did this and you did that. It is important for us reflect on the social and economic consequences, including black-marketing of life-saving drugs. How do we ensure that when the next wave comes we are prepared to tackle these issues?

Sharma also raised the issue of mental health crisis triggered by the pandemic and the digital divide for children learning virtually.

DMKs Tiruchi Siva alleged that BJP-ruled state are getting more vaccine doses compared to Opposition states. Why is there a disparity? Let it be uniform. If you are giving doses as per proportion of population, then Tamil Nadu should also get an equal share, he said.

RJD MP Manoj Jha also raised the issue of undercounting of Covid deaths and the oxygen crisis during the second wave. There would not be a single individual in this country in this House, and outside who has not lost someone they knew, Jha said.

Trinamool MP Dr Santanu Sen criticised holding an eight-phase election in West Bengal during the pandemic and said the long time-line of polls significantly increased Covid-19 cases in the state.

AIADMK MP Thambidurai called for more awareness on vaccination and said the government must ensure clear guidelines when a person tested positive for Covid-19 can take the vaccine.

TDP member Ravindra Kumar requested the Centre to frame a policy to award compensation to families of those who died of Covid-19.

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Mansukh Mandaviya: India will be first to make DNA-based jab - The Indian Express

Roughly 70% of soldiers in the U.S. Army have received the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine. But when it comes to why others havent been vaccinated, some of the reasons theyre giving as to why have no basis in science and were not supported by research or data.

This week, three Army doctors were more than happy to debunk them.

On a new episode of the 18th Airborne Corps podcast, three Army medical experts sat down with Col. Joe Buccion, a spokesman for the unit, to discuss the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine, concerns over the new Delta variant, and ultimately to address the most common myths theyve heard about the vaccine.

Dispelling the myths and setting the record straight on misinformation is paramount as the COVID variants surge, especially among the unvaccinated population. Of progress that the U.S. has achieved thus far, Lt. Col. Owen Price, the Fort Bragg Force Health Protection Officer, remarked that were one mutation away from kind of rolling back down the hill.

I know everybody is COVID-spent, everybodys over it, he said. But we have to get to a point where theres no safe haven for the virus to go, and were only going to do that through vaccination and if we dont get there, were going to backslide.

In May, half of U.S. adults were fully vaccinated against COVID-19, but vaccine rates began falling around the same time. According to the Washington Post, the U.S. hit a peak of 3.4 million vaccine shots a day in April, but by June the country was seeing an average of fewer than 1 million shots a day despite more people being eligible.

While just over 988,000 service members in the U.S. military have been fully vaccinated as of July 14, the most recent numbers available on the Pentagons website, many service members are still opting out some, simply because they can. Some soldiers have seen it as a rare opportunity to say no to the Army, though that opportunity could soon be a thing of the past as the service reportedly prepares to make the vaccine mandatory, should it receive full approval from the Food and Drug Administration.

But the surge of the Delta variant, which is more infectious than other variants that have been identified and now makes up 83% of new COVID cases, could threaten the tenuous progress that has been made through vaccinations, which has allowed people to get back to some level of normalcy, Lt. Col. Price said.

What we havent achieved is the level of immunity that we need to continue on that way if these variants keep coming up, Price said. And I think thats the situation were running into now, with this Delta variant its much more infectious and its going to affect, primarily, that unvaccinated population and we could wind up losing that precarious foothold and taking multiple steps back to where we were, even back to November.

In November, the U.S. reported more than 4 million COVID-19 cases more than the total number of cases almost every country in the world saw throughout the entire year, according to CBS.

So why arent troops getting vaccinated? Buccino said he spoke with dozens of soldiers about their hesitancy with the vaccines, and many of their concerns are brought about by the same issue: misinformation.

One of those myths is that the vaccine can cause things like erectile dysfunction or infertility.

There is no evidence that any of the vaccines leads to erectile dysfunction, sterility, infertility, in man or woman, Dr. Sammy Choi, the chief of research at Fort Braggs Womack Army Medical Center, said on the podcast.

Price pushed back on the concerns of the vaccine impacting pregnancy, saying weve not seen that play out. And Lt. Col. Teresa Pearce, the director of public health at Fort Bragg and a preventive medicine physician, said theres no evidence that says the vaccine causes miscarriages another concern that soldiers have raised.

People tend to forget that we have miscarriages that occur just in the normal population, Pearce said. Ive had miscarriages, many women have had miscarriages. And so if you have a group of women who receive a vaccine, if they have a miscarraige, its not necessarily associated with or caused from the vaccine, it may just be part of the normal background existence of miscarriages.

Buccino said hes also heard some soldiers say that the vaccine is making the virus stronger and in turn, causing the variants. Thats not correct either, according to Choi.

If the vaccine can prevent people from getting infected, then its not going to cause replication and then mutation and variants, he said. The logic would be completely opposite.

Buccino also said hes been told soldiers have seen on Facebook that the vaccine might change DNA. As the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention notes, thats not going to happen.

According to the CDC, COVID-19 vaccines do not change or interact with your DNA in any way. Both mRNA and viral vector COVID-19 vaccines deliver instructions (genetic material) to our cells to start building protection against the virus that causes COVID-19. However, the material never enters the nucleus of the cell, which is where our DNA is kept.

Price echoed that, saying that theres simply no way its going to change your genetic makeup.

Other soldiers say that their commanders are pushing the vaccine unthinkingly, to look good to the higher command, Buccino said. Chois rebuttal essentially boiled down to: So what?

If that is the commanders intent just to get a number then the next thing I would say is well, okay, throw that aside, he said. Aside from that, is the vaccine good? We do a lot of things that we dont necessarily like the vehicle from which it came.

Choi also explained that hes found some people are holding the COVID-19 vaccine to a level of scrutiny and research that theyre not holding other medications and vaccines to.

It seems like you want assurance that there will never be a side-effect, that there will never be a breakthrough case, and number three that its lasting immunity, youll never need a booster, Choi recalled saying to his son-in-law about the vaccine. And yet if we applied that same criteria for any other vaccine, we would have never women would not get a highly-effective virus vaccine to prevent cervical cancer, human papillomavirus vaccine, HPV, we wouldnt get the chickenpox vaccine we would not do any of that.

At the end of the day, Choi, Price, and Pearce said the vaccine is safe, effective, and outweighs getting sick or getting someone else sick, and Choi added that if he could, he would meet with every hesitant soldier to explain as much.

I would say to them, okay, would you do it for humanity?

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Infertility, erectile dysfunction, and altered DNA Army experts debunk COVID vaccine myths one by one - Task & Purpose