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How their research helped world win the Covid war [Times Global]: Paving the path for some of the vaccines developed in the shortest possible time fetches Hungarian-American duo this year's Medicine Nobel

by The m in mRNA stands for messenger, sums up the principle on which these vaccines work The development of these vaccines owes to recent advancements in the field of molecular biology Instead of introducing the whole virus into the human body these vaccines work by inserting individual viral components that can stimulate the immune system These components are mainly parts of the viral genetic code usually encoding proteins found on the virus surface says the Nobel Foundation These surface proteins are what the virus normally uses to invade, latch on to the cells of a human hostThe bit of genetic code that is delivered by the viral component serves to spur the production of proteins that stimulate the formation of virusblocking antibodies, it is the antibodies that drive the bodys fight against a virusA wellknown example of a vaccine based on this approach is the one against the hepatitis B virus But producing vaccines based on whole viruses or their proteins vectorbased vaccines the type developed against Ebola also belong to this category requires extensive infrastructure, involves a resourceintensive process Which means that the scope for rapid development as was required under the novel coronavirus attack is limited mRNA vaccines are designed to overcome these hurdles But for a long time there werent many takers for itA Shot Of HopeThe DNA in human cells contains the information for making proteins, is a key building block of life But as Shurjo Sen programme director with the US National Human Genome Research Institute says it is the RNA that is the actual functional form of nucleic acids for constructing cells or responding to immune challenges Importantly mRNAs are essential as the form in which a gene gets read by the cell While scientists thought of utilising mRNA for creating vaccines there were issues to address Simply put mRNA vaccines were regarded as being unstable, difficult to deliver, also gave rise to inflammatory reactionsBut Katalin Kariko an assistant professor at the University of Pennsylvania in the US in the early 90s stayed steadfast to the idea of using mRNA for therapy even though it was a challenge to convince funders to back her research She soon found an ally in immunologist Drew Weissman He was working on dendritic cells that are key to immune surveillance, triggering vaccineinduced immune responsesThe duo found that in vitro or labdeveloped mRNA are recognised by dendritic cells as a foreign substance triggering inflammation The clue they thought likely lay at the level of bases contained in nucleic acids that is DNA, RNA They wondered if the absence of altered bases in the in vitro transcribed RNA could explain the unwanted inflammatory reaction says the Nobel Foundation They then set about coming up with different variants of mRNA after chemically altering their basesTheir experiment showed that when the bases were modified the inflammatory response almost disappeared They published their results in 2005Kariko, Weissman subsequently found that mRNA generated with base modifications increased protein production while also inhibiting inflammatory responses the two factors that had hindered the development of mRNA vaccines Thereafter mRNA research picked up pace, vaccines for Zika virus, MERSCoV were explored using this method MERSCoV2 is similar to SARSCoV2, so when the pandemic broke two mRNA vaccines the first ever were developed at lightning speed by PfizerBioNTech, Moderna These vaccines were found to induce a strong immune response Moreover mRNA vaccines have shorter manufacturing times, are considered safe because they do not contain a live virus
Published in The Times of India (Online) (03.10.2023)
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How their research helped world win the Covid war [Times Global]: Paving the path for some of the vaccines developed in the shortest possible time fetches Hungarian-American duo this year's Medicine Nobel

by In Search Of Swift SolutionsThe m in mRNA stands for messenger, sums up the principle on which these vaccines work The development of these vaccines owes to recent advancements in the field of molecular biology Instead of introducing the whole virus into the human body these vaccines work by inserting individual viral components that can stimulate the immune system These components are mainly parts of the viral genetic code usually encoding proteins found on the virus surface says the Nobel Foundation These surface proteins are what the virus normally uses to invade, latch on to the cells of a human hostThe bit of genetic code that is delivered by the viral component serves to spur the production of proteins that stimulate the formation of virusblocking antibodies, it is the antibodies that drive the bodys fight against a virusA wellknown example of a vaccine based on this approach is the one against the hepatitis B virus But producing vaccines based on whole viruses or their proteins vectorbased vaccines the type developed against Ebola also belong to this category requires extensive infrastructure, involves a resourceintensive process Which means that the scope for rapid development as was required under the novel coronavirus attack is limited mRNA vaccines are designed to overcome these hurdles But for a long time there werent many takers for itA Shot Of HopeThe DNA in human cells contains the information for making proteins, is a key building block of life But as Shurjo Sen programme director with the US National Human Genome Research Institute says it is the RNA that is the actual functional form of nucleic acids for constructing cells or responding to immune challenges Importantly mRNAs are essential as the form in which a gene gets read by the cell While scientists thought of utilising mRNA for creating vaccines there were issues to address Simply put mRNA vaccines were regarded as being unstable, difficult to deliver, also gave rise to inflammatory reactionsBut Katalin Kariko an assistant professor at the University of Pennsylvania in the US in the early 90s stayed steadfast to the idea of using mRNA for therapy even though it was a challenge to convince funders to back her research She soon found an ally in immunologist Drew Weissman He was working on dendritic cells that are key to immune surveillance, triggering vaccineinduced immune responsesThe duo found that in vitro or labdeveloped mRNA are recognised by dendritic cells as a foreign substance triggering inflammation The clue they thought likely lay at the level of bases contained in nucleic acids that is DNA, RNA They wondered if the absence of altered bases in the in vitro transcribed RNA could explain the unwanted inflammatory reaction says the Nobel Foundation They then set about coming up with different variants of mRNA after chemically altering their basesTheir experiment showed that when the bases were modified the inflammatory response almost disappeared They published their results in 2005Kariko, Weissman subsequently found that mRNA generated with base modifications increased protein production while also inhibiting inflammatory responses the two factors that had hindered the development of mRNA vaccines Thereafter mRNA research picked up pace, vaccines for Zika virus, MERSCoV were explored using this method MERSCoV2 is similar to SARSCoV2, so when the pandemic broke two mRNA vaccines the first ever were developed at lightning speed by PfizerBioNTech, Moderna These vaccines were found to induce a strong immune response Moreover mRNA vaccines have shorter manufacturing times, are considered safe because they do not contain a live virus
Published in The Times of India (Online) (03.10.2023)
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How their research helped world win the Covid war [Times Global]: Paving the path for some of the vaccines developed in the shortest possible time fetches Hungarian-American duo this year's Medicine Nobel

by In Search Of Swift SolutionsThe development of these vaccines owes to recent advancements in the field of molecular biology Instead of introducing the whole virus into the human body there are vaccines that work by inserting individual viral components that can stimulate the immune system These components are mainly parts of the viral genetic code usually encoding proteins found on the virus surface says the Nobel Foundation These surface proteins are what the virus normally uses to invade, latch on to the cells of a human host The bit of genetic code that is delivered by the viral component serves to spur the production of proteins that stimulate the formation of virusblocking antibodies, it is the antibodies that drive the bodys fight against a virusA wellknown example of a vaccine based on this approach is the one against the hepatitis B virus But producing vaccines based on whole viruses or their proteins vectorbased vaccines the type developed against Ebola also belong to this category requires extensive infrastructure, involves a resourceintensive process Which means that the scope for rapid development as was required during the novel coronavirus attack is limited mRNA vaccines are designed to overcome these hurdles The m in mRNA stands fo r messenger, sums up the principle on which these vaccines work But for a long time there werent many takers for itA Shot Of HopeThe DNA in human cells contains the information for making proteins, is a key building block of life But Shurjo Sen programme director with the US National Human Genome Research Institute says it is the RNA that is the actual functional form of nucleic acids for constructing cells or responding to immune challenges Importantly mRNAs are essential as the form in which a gene gets read by the cell While scientists thought of utilising mRNA for creating vaccines there were issues to address For one mRNA vaccines were regarded as being unstable, difficult to deliver Also they gave rise to inflammatory reactionsBut Katalin Kariko an assistant professor at the University of Pennsylvania in the US in the early 90s stayed steadfast to the idea of using mRNA for therapy even though it was a challenge to convince funders to back her research She soon found an ally in immunologist Drew Weissman He was working on dendritic cells that are key to immune surveillance, triggering vaccineinduced immune responsesThe duo found that in vitro or labdeveloped mRNA is recognised by dendritic cells a s a foreign substance triggering inflammation The clue they thought likely lay at the level of bases contained in nucleic acids that is the DNA, RNA They wondered if the absence of alte red bases in the in vitro transcribed RNA could explain the unwanted inflammatory reaction says the Nobel Foundation They then set about coming up with different variants of mRNA after chemically altering their basesTheir experiment showed that when the bases were modified the inflammatory response almost disappeared They published their results in 2005Kariko, Weissman subsequently found that mRNA generated with base modifications increased protein production while also inhibiting inflammatory responses thus addressing the two factors that had hindered the development of mRNA vaccines Thereafter mRNA research picked up pace, vaccines for Zika virus, MERSCoV were explored using this method MERSCoV2 is similar to SARSCoV2, so when the pandemic broke two mRNA vaccines the first ever were developed at lightning speed by PfizerBioNTech, Moderna These vaccines were found to induce a strong immune response Moreover mRNA vaccines have shorter manufacturing times, are considered safe because they do not contain a live virus
Published in The Times of India (Online) (03.10.2023)
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Why CAR-T cell therapy is new frontier in cancer care [Times Nation]: IIT-Bombay And Tata Memorial Centre Collaborated To Devise This Treatment Indigenously, Ensuring Its Availability At A 10th Of US Price

by What Is CART Cell Therapy Its a cell therapy in which a part of the bodys immune system T cells are primed to target, destroy cancer cells see box Scientists focused on T cells because they are genetically programmed to attack foreign particles, with bioengineering they can become more precise, potent warriors CART cells belong to a branch of oncology therapeutics called immunotherapy which is now hailed as the fifth pillar of cancer therapy after surgery chemotherapy radiation, targeted therapyWhat Is NexCAR19 Even as CART cell therapy or living drug as it is also called started showing promise in the last decade there have been concerns about its price tag Rs 3 crore4 crore in the US market Enter a collaboration between two of Indias bestknown academic institutes IIT Bombay, Tata Memo rial Centre to devise the first indigenous CART cell therapy at a tenth of the US price tag Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation granted market authorisation for NexCAR19 to ImmunoACT a company incubated by IIT Bombay in November 2023 leading to the buzzWhile the local price of around Rs 40 lakh is high for most Indians public institutes such as Tata Memorial Hospital which works under Department of Atomic Energy are likely to subsidise the cost for adults, provide it free for paediatric patients CART cells are not the first line of treatment so far, not for all blood cancer patients but doctors believe costs will reduce when demand increasesHomegrown But SafeDr Gaurav Narula professor paediatric oncology associated with the CART cell project since its launch in 2017 is in Spain now to present the findings of phase 2 of the clinical trial conducted on chil dren We have got 100 response from most of our patients with a high degree of safety None of the patients had severe reactions, those who had mild to moderate reactions could be easily managed he said With such data the paediatric variant should also be commercially available soonEven the trial among adults which led to the first permission for commercial use in November 2023 at Tata Memorial Hospital had encouraging results According to trial results presented in December 2023 at the American Society of Hematology meeting held in San Diego 67 of patients 36 out of 53 in two trials had a notable decrease in the extent of their cancer with the cancer disappearing altogether in about halfComplication rates with CART cells in Western studies are between 30, 40 while the Mumbai trials have registered low rates Our patients didnt need ICU ad missions or develop neurotoxicity reported in Western studies said Dr NarulaFuture Of CART CellsWhile Emily Whitehead first child to get CART cells is cancerfree after 12 years experts point out the success rate with this form of immunotherapy is roughly 50 Despite the high costs involved it doesnt come with a 100 guarantee much like many treatment regimens in medicine Work is on to improve this strike rate while CART cells are being explored as treatment for other cancers, conditions Across the world lab studies are being conducted to test CART cells for treatment of cancers of breast ovaries colon pancreas prostate, glioblastoma brain among others With new tech tools such as CRISPR Cas9 gene editing, artificial intelligence doctors expect wider applicability of CART cells in treatment of noncancerous heart, lung diseases
Published in The Times of India (Online) (17.02.2024)
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Why CAR-T cell therapy is new frontier in cancer care [Times Nation]: IIT-Bombay And Tata Memorial Centre Collaborated To Devise This Treatment Indigenously, Ensuring Its Availability At A 10th Of US Price

by What Is CART Cell TherapyIts a cell therapy in which a part of the bodys immune system T cells are primed to target, destroy cancer cells see box Scientists focused on T cells because they are genetically programmed to attack foreign particles, with bioengineering they can become more precise, potent warriors CART cells belong to a branch of oncology therapeutics called immunotherapy which is now hailed as the fifth pillar of cancer therapy after surgery chemotherapy radiation, targeted therapyWhat Is NexCAR19Even as CART cell therapy or living drug as it is also called started showing promise in the last decade there have been concerns about its price tag Rs 3 crore4 crore in the US market Enter a collaboration between two of Indias bestknown academic institutes IIT Bombay, Tata Memo rial Centre to devise the first indigenous CART cell therapy at a tenth of the US price tag Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation granted market authorisation for NexCAR19 to ImmunoACT a company incubated by IIT Bombay in November 2023 leading to the buzzWhile the local price of around Rs 40 lakh is high for most Indians public institutes such as Tata Memorial Hospital which works under Department of Atomic Energy are likely to subsidise the cost for adults, provide it free for paediatric patients CART cells are not the first line of treatment so far, not for all blood cancer patients but doctors believe costs will reduce when demand increasesHomegrown But SafeDr Gaurav Narula professor paediatric oncology associated with the CART cell project since its launch in 2017 is in Spain now to present the findings of phase 2 of the clinical trial conducted on chil dren We have got 100 response from most of our patients with a high degree of safety None of the patients had severe reactions, those who had mild to moderate reactions could be easily managed he said With such data the paediatric variant should also be commercially available soonEven the trial among adults which led to the first permission for commercial use in November 2023 at Tata Memorial Hospital had encouraging results According to trial results presented in December 2023 at the American Society of Hematology meeting held in San Diego 67 of patients 36 out of 53 in two trials had a notable decrease in the extent of their cancer with the cancer disappearing altogether in about halfComplication rates with CART cells in Western studies are between 30, 40 while the Mumbai trials have registered low rates Our patients didnt need ICU ad missions or develop neurotoxicity reported in Western studies said Dr NarulaFuture Of CART CellsWhile Emily Whitehead first child to get CART cells is cancerfree after 12 years experts point out the success rate with this form of immunotherapy is roughly 50 Despite the high costs involved it doesnt come with a 100 guarantee much like many treatment regimens in medicine Work is on to improve this strike rate while CART cells are being explored as treatment for other cancers, conditions Across the world lab studies are being conducted to test CART cells for treatment of cancers of breast ovaries colon pancreas prostate, glioblastoma brain among others With new tech tools such as CRISPR Cas9 gene editing, artificial intelligence doctors expect wider applicability of CART cells in treatment of noncancerous heart, lung diseases
Published in The Times of India (Online) (16.02.2024)
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