Qatar Biomedical Research Institute (QBRI), part of Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU), has published a first-of-its-kind study on population-specific transcriptomic profiles of breast tumors that includes patients from Qatar and highlights the importance of precision medicine in cancer at a population level.
The virtual Convocation ceremony also saw Palestinian graduates of universities at QF shared their views on the injustices being inflicted in the occupied territories.
Some of the youngest members of the community gave Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar (WCM-Q) students a helping hand to develop key physicianship skills in the latest instalment of the annual Cornell Stars event.
All viruses mutate. That’s normal. When cells replicate, minute changes occur. And they lead to mutation, which is a change in the genetic sequence. The new coronavirus is more prone to mutations, and that poses a challenge to COVID-19 vaccine-makers.
Why does the SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, mutate easily? Researchers say the coronavirus has an unusually large RNA. Its RNA polymerase (the enzyme responsible for copying a DNA sequence into an RNA sequence) is error-prone, and hence frequent mutations occur during infections.
There are at least four significant variants in circulation; then, there are sub-types. Some of them are the UK variant (B.1.11.7), the South African variant (B.1.351), the Brazil strains (P1 and P2), and the original Indian variant (B.1.6.17), which has at least two sub-types. They could be more variants and sub-types: all these reflect the challenge of developing vaccines.
COVID-19: How effective are the vaccines against coronavirus variants gulfnews.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from gulfnews.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.