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There is no RNA cloning machinery in our cells. The RNA is instead copied from the DNA in the nucleus. Viruses like the coronavirus actually bring their own RNA
by est31 7y ago
There is no RNA cloning machinery in our cells. The RNA is instead copied from the DNA in the nucleus. Viruses like the coronavirus actually bring their own RNA cloning machinery that's assembled by the cell. Remdesivir only blocks the RNA cloning proteins of the virus.
- rocqua 7y agoDoesn't that mean that Remdesivir would essentially defeat _all_ RNA viruses? Or is the effectiveness dependent on the exact RNA cloning mechanism used by the virus?
- rwmj 7y agoYes, it was originally invented to treat ebola, but it's thought to have general antiviral properties against RNA viruses.
- lisk1 7y agoThere are a lot more RNA virus specifically targeting antivirals surprised that most of them are not yet tested.
- malwarebytess 7y agosounds like we should get on it
- rwmj 7y agoAccording to this radio programme[1] I was listening to at the weekend, scientists have been warning about the potential of coronaviruses to cause a pandemic for a long time, and saying we should work on general antivirals for them. Obviously that didn't happen. [1] https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000gvd1 https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000gvd1
- koheripbal 7y agoDidn't it? The one we're talking about was developed to fight the last two Coronaviruses.
- vikramkr 7y agoYep. This is the same drug they tried to deploy against Ebola, and that's why they think itll be useful for such a wildly different drug virus here as well