The Legend of Covid-19

Hi Readers!

Hope everyone is staying indoors and protecting yourself from the novel-Corona-virus. This post aimed to create some optimism amidst fear and anxiety.

Who is 2019 nCoV?

(A small foreword: There is going to be some biology ahead. So if you are not interested in knowing how the virus function feel free to skip to the AI section)

General Info

Corona virus is a type of crown-shaped virus that is transmitted from animals to humans. These viruses are made of RNA. There are four major components namely the spike, envelope, membrane and nucleocapsid.

The corona-viruses generally cause respiratory infections in humans. The previous epidemics like SARS and MERS were also caused by Corona virus. In fact some types of common cold is also caused by this virus.

Then what makes n-Cov so harmful?🤔

n-CoV

yellow colored nCoV coming out of human cells
Image Source: Wikipedia

The corona viruses that cause cold affect only the upper respiratory tract. But n-CoV affects the lower respiratory tract which might lead to other diseases like pneumonia. It is also easily communicable.

How does it infect?

The n-CoV has high affinity with the ACE-2 receptors of the lungs and uses this to gain entry into the cells.

Once the n-CoV virion attaches itself to the target human cell, the human cell cuts open the spike. The virion releases it’s RNA and forces the human cell to make copies of it. As the infection progresses, the spikes and other parts are also produced. These are then assembled. The assembled copies burst open the human cell wall and move on to affect other cells.

OMG!! It’s got quite a manufacturing process for itself. 🙄😕

Thankfully, the lipid layer falls apart when it contacts with soap and virus is killed. I guess now we understand how important a simple hand wash can be!!

How do we protect our self?

Till date no vaccine has been developed for the n-CoV. But it’s too early for us to even expect one. So, we need to adopt basic hygiene practices and also practice social-distancing (a term that has become ubiquitous the past few days).

AI who?

I have seen several people claiming that AI is powerless when faced with a real-world crisis. Many thought that AI would prevent all the pandemics and save humanity. A pandemic like the present one was incomprehensible for the human mind given the current advancements in the field of biotechnology and IT.

Before we go on to tarnish the power of AI, let’s just look at some of the ways it has been helping us today.

Blue Dot

Blue Dot is a Toronto based startup that uses ML and AI to predict the outbreak and spread of infectious diseases. It uses NLP and ML to analyze data from several thousands of sources including news articles, government press releases and reports, health data etc.

It had flagged the case of “unusual pneumonia” in Wuhan in December 2019, 9 days before WHO warned the people of an emerging virus. It had also predicted the cities to which it would spread first based on the airline ticketing data.

I don’t know how much of an impact this would have made. But if immediate action had been taken to control the spread it might not have resulted in a pandemic as it is today.

AI for scanning

Alibaba developed an AI system that can detect n-CoV from CT-scan of lungs in 20 seconds and with 96% accuracy.

Baidu has developed a Computer Vision system equipped with infra-red sensors that is able to scan and predict people’s body temperature with an error range of 0.5 degrees. This has been deployed in Beijing’s Qinghe Railway Station.

AlphaFold

One of the leading players in the field of AI, DeepMind developed AlphaFold in January for predicting the 3D structure of the protein using just it’s genetic sequence.

Image source: DeepMind.com

We know that the DNA (RNA in case of n-CoV) is responsible for producing the proteins in a cell. This protein is made up of amino acid molecules held together by chemical bonds. The proteins fold to increase their stability and hence result in 3D shapes. Scientists believe that the shape of the protein dictates it’s function.

It often takes several years to determine the structure. But DeepMind has recently released the structural predictions for six proteins associated with n-CoV. Only time will tell whether we are on the correct path, but these small advancements will greatly accelerate the process of drug discovery.

Whatever the Luddites say, AI and ML might be the two most powerful weapons that we have at our disposal against n-CoV.

What do we do?

Almost the whole world is under quarantine. Several companies have given their employees the work from home option. Schools and colleges are shut. So we have an ample amount of time at our disposal.

Remember those time when we wanted some time to do some activities that we were really passionate about? When we wanted to stop our routine work and do something different?

Image Source: erp software blog

The time is NOW!

Pick up that book you wanted to read for a long time but you couldn’t because you didn’t have the time. Learn a new language (spoken or programming). Play that instrument which you played in high school but has been sitting in your closet ever since. Learn to cook. Spend quality time with your family. These are just some suggestions I have. Let me know about other ideas in the comments section.

I am not against binge-watching your favorite sitcom or movies. You can surely do that. But don’t spend all your time on it.

Remember that the silver lining of this pandemic is the “free time” we have got. Try to spend it well. Try to hit that “refresh” button and rejuvenate yourself. The n-CoV has hit the “pause” button on the bustling lifestyle of today’s world and made us all introspect. This has shown us our weak spots and also that we are not invincible!

And most important of all be optimistic!

Image Source: magiccrate.com

Humanity has survived worse pandemics like the Spanish Flu and Small Pox. The n-CoV is not that lethal compared to it’s predecessors. We are lucky in that way. But, WE NEED TO TAKE THE NECESSARY PRECAUTIONS TO OVERCOME THIS.

Most importantly I WANT TO THANK ALL THE HEALTHCARE WORKERS, POLICE AND MILITARY PERSONNEL who are on the front lines of this battle!

Stay safe and stay indoors! Follow the instructions given by the government officials. Practice “social distancing”.

Thanks for reading! Please do subscribe for updates on future posts. Let me know your feedback in the comments section!