Crystals And Catalysts

I wasn’t planning on writing an article on the coronavirus, as there’s a lot of information out there to read, and my fellow science communicators are doing their job and more to educate everyone on the severity of COVID-19 and how to prevent it (i.e. WASH YOUR HANDS!). But from a conversation with a friend, I found a topic that I feel is important to share with everyone and that’s how the coronavirus is treated. 

Hand sanitizer is everywhere, you find it in almost every store you go to and it’s widely available in hospitals. Hand sanitizing is beneficial to protect ourselves from harmful bacteria and viruses that can make us ill. Most people carry a bottle of hand sanitizer in their bag, especially when travelling (and especially on the London underground).  I was surprised to see that there is a video , scaring people from using hand sanitizer; featured in IF******LoveScience and DNews.  Recently new research has been published which tries to oppose the use of hand sanitizer by blaming its use on increased absorption of BPA levels in the body. Bisphenol A (BPA) is a chemical that is used in a variety of consumer products, such as water bottles, dental composites and resins used to line metal food and beverage containers, and also is used in thermal paper cash register receipts. First data has emerged that BPA from thermal paper used in cash register receipts accounts for high l...

A promising cure has been found which uses an anti-cancer drug along with an anti-viral drug to treat hepatitis b, and within phase 1/2a trials and has achieved 100% success. Hepatitis-B is a chronic viral disease that is currently incurable.  Over two billion people worldwide are infected with hepatitis B and approximately 400 million have a chronic HBV infection, unimaginable numbers. The virus infects liver cells and can lead to complications including cirrhosis and liver cancer, resulting in more than 780,000 deaths annually. Hepatitis B patients in Australia are the first people who will have access to the potential treatment. The scientists from Melbourne's Walter and Eliza Hall Institute researched the combination of the anti-viral drug and the anti-cancer drug (developed by a US company-TetraLogic pharmaceuticals). Dr Marc Pellegrini and Dr Greg Ebert and their colleagues at the i...

What is the flu? Influenza or “flu” for short is a virus. Viruses contain either RNA or DNA but never both in one viral cell. They work by entering human cells via adsorption and exploiting the functions of the nucleus, in the healthy human cell, to replicate the  nucleic acid and place it inside capsules called nucleocapsids   which are then budded off and released out of the cell to go onto infect more healthy cells in the body; a vicious cycle.

Bacterial mutation can be caused by a number of factors, such as genetic mutation and genetic transfer. This mutation causes them to become resistant to antibiotics, making life harder for researchers and starting a new strain of resistant bacteria which could potentially be life threatening.

“Breaking news: Ebola virus has been declared as an international public health emergency by the World Health organization” That sentence was the first thing I saw when I logged into Facebook as I’ve started planning and writing this article. What is the Ebola virus (EBOV)? BBC Ebola Virus The Ebola virus is a very terrible disease and lethal if caught and it has a high fatality rate of 60% (WHO 01/04/2014) [1] Ebola is not an airborne virus but it can be spread via bodily fluids such as sweat and its recommended that you don’t shake hands with anyone who could potential carry the disease or has recovered and still in recuperation period.