My Revolution of PARTs

Experts say it's not likely that the highly transmissible variant - or any other variant - will lead to herd immunity. "Herd immunity is an elusive concept and doesn't apply to coronavirus," says Dr. Don Milton at the University of Maryland School of Public Health. Herd immunity is when enough of a population is immune to a virus that it's hard for the germ to spread to those who aren't protected by vaccination or a prior infection. For example, herd immunity against measles requires about 95% of a community to be immune. Early hopes of herd immunity against the coronavirus faded for several reasons. One is that antibodies developed from available vaccines or previous infection dwindle with time. While vaccines offer strong protection against severe illness, waning antibodies mean it's still possible to get infected - even for those who are boosted. Then there's the huge variation in vaccinations. In some low-income countries, less than 5% of ...

Leading cardiothoracic and vascular surgeon at AIIMS New Delhi, Dr Devagourou Velayoudam , talks to Padma Rao Sundarji for Times of Online, on the recent pig-to-human heart transplant in the United States, and the future of xenotransplantation in India. Q: Earlier this month, doctors at a US hospital transplanted a pig’s heart into a human being for the first time in history. Opinion is divided among biotechnologists and surgeons. Some are sceptical, others excited. How about you? A: I look at it both ways. On the one hand, it’s a real milestone in science. There is always a shortage of human organs. So, this achievement by the Maryland medical team is a great breakthrough in terms of science and what it can achieve. Their procedure began with genetic engineering. They genetically modified a pig. In simple terms, they had to tackle ten genes in the pig. They deleted four, modified one to prevent the pig’s heart from growing, and added six genes. They did this to decrease responses...