Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee has a very large supercomputer, in fact one of the largest in the world. Earlier this summer its scientists set Summit a particularly intriguing task. Tell us what these 40,000 genes from 17,000 genetic samples reveal about the pandemic, they told the machine. After the supercomputer tapped into COVID-19’s mind it revealed more than a few snippets of information.
Amazing Discoveries When the Supercomputer Tapped into COVID-19’s Mind
Of course, we are only using the word ‘mind’ in a figurative sense. And naturally we agree we should not attach too much meaning to a mechanistic machine. That’s because even a supercomputer like Summit has its limitations. And besides it took more than a week to analyze 2.5 billion genetic combinations and come up with the following.
1… The infection generally starts when the virus enters dense clusters of ACE2 receptors in the human nose.
2… The invading virus then invades other parts of the body where these receptors are present in numbers, notably the intestines, kidneys, and heart.
3… This preference for those organs is probably behind the signature cardiac and gastro-intestinal symptoms
4… COVID-19 then hijack’s the victim’s own body systems to upgrade the density of ACE2 receptors at other weak points like the lungs. But that’s not all it discovered when the supercomputer tapped into COVID-19’s mind.
The Virus Unleashes a Deadly Bradykinin Storm
Bradykinin (BK) is a natural peptide inside human bodies, that promotes inflammation and causes small-diameter blood vessels to swell. However, our bodies have renin-angiotensin systems (RAS) that normally limit bradykinin to the level we need to regulate our blood pressure.
But COVID-19 interferes with this mechanism to cause a massive bradykinin runaway storm. The researchers believe these, and not cytokine storms are behind many COVID-19 deaths. Much food for thought emerged when the Oak Ridge supercomputer tapped into COVID-19’s mind. We shall therefore watch this story unfold with interest we found on the Elemental website.
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Preview Image: Bradykinin Disruption
