Machine Language to Predict the Language of Viral Mutation

As the world continues to battle with Covid-19 and its new strain, scientists around the globe are working hard to unravel the mystery behind viral mutations. The new strains of coronavirus reported in some countries, may obstruct the development of vaccines.

Scientists have considered the idea of using natural language to predict viral escape and analyze the type of mutation that result to viral escape. According to a report published on Science Magazine, the process involves the deployment of artificial intelligence (AI) technique on natural language processing.

Viral escape triggered scientists to develop an algorithm, initially meant for human natural language, in the identification of escape mutations with the ability to cause infection. Viral mutations which results to infection escape have precluded the development of a common antibody for prevention of influenza.

The model is based on the use of human language to predict how viruses evolve and escape the human immune system. Upon entering a human cell, the virus duplicates itself and the copies are transferred to other cells. Some of the copied viruses undergo mutation and produce and make the virus untouchable by the human immune defense.

The research conducted found out that viruses depicting viral escape mutations produced grammatically correct sequences but their semantics were different thus facilitating them to evade the immune system. Viruses which had the ability to evade the immune system remain a major impediment in the development of vaccines.

The idea of viral sequences was earlier raised by MIT computational biologist Brian Hie, who thought about the comparison between written language and viral sequence. He reasoned that every viral sequence had some sort of grammatical rules. As per his argument, mutations in violation of the grammar had to die.

Comments

How Human Noise Kills Marine Species, as revealed by Scientists

Scientists have warned that the discord of noise made by humans is harming marine species . A comprehensive assessment revealed that large noise from human activities was as harmful as pollution, overfishing and climate change . The study that was conducted by the Journal Science exposed how marine animals can hear from far distances than they can see or smell. According to a report published in the Guardian, most of the marine life uses sound to catch prey as well as attracting a mating partner. Prof Carlos Duarte of King Abdullah University in Saudi Arabia argued that: “Marine animal can only sea up to around 10 meters, smell up to around a hundred meters, but they can hear across the entire ocean basins.” The research concluded that sound “is very important in the marine ecosystems, and noise is pervasive, affecting animals at all levels .” The increasing cacophony in the marine habitat is interfering with how marine animals respond to various survival...

Carbon dioxide to Make Jet Fuel, Study Reveals

Photo Source: twitter.com Aircrafts release a lot of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere which contributes to climate change. A research that was conducted by Science News and reported on December, 22 2020 stated that there was a new iron-based catalyst that has been invented to convert carbon dioxide into jet fuel. It is only a matter of time that carbon dioxide pumped to the atmosphere by planes could be sucked and used to power the same. The air travel’s footprint in carbon emissions could be tremendously curtailed, if the carbon dioxide that is released is recycled to generate fuel. As per Science News reports, Air transport contributes to about 12 percent of the entire transportation carbon-related emissions. Unlike cars, aircrafts cannot carry bigger batteries which can be run on electricity generated from wind or solar panels. The current breakthrough in the conversion of carbon dioxide to fuel involves cheap ingredients such as iron and transformed through a single s...

Why World Tycoons Should Emulate Microsoft founder, Bill Gates, in the Battle against Climate Change

The silent biggest global pandemic is global warming. Global problem deserves global attention; and that is why world moguls and leaders should use their influence to initiate change that can positively impact the world. Microsoft founder Bill Gates has consistently advocated for environment conservation and has been a key personality in the battle against climate change . Gates keen focus has been to increasing access to clean electricity in remote parts of the world. As a key defender of the environment, he is quoted by the Guardian saying that: “The idea of adding new electricity capacity- you can’t just go build coal plants.” The Guardian reported that Gates likes using private jets because he can get affordable fuel for flight. He revealed that he has already footed the bill of carbon footprint to a group dubbed Climeworks , a firm that captures up direct air in Iceland. Gates pointed out that the future of vehicles travels lie with electric cars; but excluded the el...

Phode News Hub

Search This Blog