This researcher is using supercomputers to beat Coronavirus

Ever since the coronavirus pandemic, researchers all across the globe have been using the best available scientific resources to find a cure to this ailment. Amid those researchers is a researcher called Dan Jacobson who is using a different approach in finding a cure to Covid-19.

His trick? He is using supercomputers in his efforts to beat Coronavirus.

As per a report by Tech Radar, Jacobson, who is a Computational Systems Biologist at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) in the US, and his team believes that Covid-19 is a vascular disease and that it is centered around a protein called Bradykinin, which is responsible for the dilation of blood vessels.

To give you a quick biology lesson into Jacobson’s theory: when Covid-19 infects a human host, it causes a Bradykinin storm that triggers a series of biological events, including permeability of blood vessels and the production of hyaluronic acid. All of these events flood the lungs with a gelatin-like substance that makes it harder for the patient to breathe.

In an interview with the publication, Jacobson said that an analysis of the Bradykinin storm showed a correlation with other symptoms displayed by coronavirus patients.

“If you sail your boat over a reef and poke five holes in the bottom of your boat, one cork may not solve your problem. You’re going to want five corks,” he said explaining that finding a cure for Covid-19 involves addressing the host of symptoms.

When asked how long would it take to develop a vaccine, he said, “There’s a lot of collaboration, discussion and negotiation. There are many moving pieces, but we’re pushing hard to make that happen.”