#Tumblr/Vaccines

[incognitopolls]

We ask your questions so you don’t have to! Submit your questions to have them posted anonymously as polls.

[anonbeadraws]

Mumps, Ceasles and Rubella??? Get your vaccines kids 💉💉 com info in the source

[superdogbiter]

Put in the tags how you felt if you did get side effects

For example all the times i got my vaccines the injection site was really sore and hurt to the touch for 2 days but my brother got knocked flat by the vaccine"

[relaxedstyles]

[literaryvein-reblogs]

Hello! First of all, thank you for the wonderful content! It's a real joy, and an enrichment, food for both the brain and the heart! I was wondering if through your treasures, you could find some writing notes/words/concepts/vocabulary relating to genetic engineering? Like...creating a virus, and a vaccine for it, modifying the virus so it has certain specific effects.... Thank you in advance!

Writing Notes: Virus & Vaccine

References How Viruses Work; Replication Cycle; Mutation, Variants, Strains, Genetically Engineering Viruses; Writing Tips; Creating your Fictional Virus & Vaccine

Virus - an infectious microbe consisting of a segment of nucleic acid (either DNA or RNA) surrounded by a protein coat.

It is a tiny lifeform that is a collection of genes inside a protective shell. Viruses can invade body cells where they multiply, causing illnesses.

It cannot replicate alone; instead, it must infect cells and use components of the host cell to make copies of itself. Often, a virus ends up killing the host cell in the process, causing damage to the host organism.

Well-known examples of viruses causing human disease include AIDS, COVID-19, measles and smallpox. Examples of viruses:

Viruses are even smaller than bacteria and can invade living cells—including bacteria. They may interfere with the host genes, and when they move from host to host, they may take host genes with them.

Bacteriophages (also known as phages)—viruses that infect and kill bacteria.

Size differential between virus and bacterium

Viruses are measured in nanometers (nm).

They lack the cellular structure of bacteria, being just particles of protein and genetic material.

How Viruses Work

Viruses use an organism’s cells to survive and reproduce.

They travel from one organism to another.

Viruses can make themselves into a particle called a virion.

This allows the virus to survive temporarily outside of a host organism. When it enters the host, it attaches to a cell. A virus then takes over the cell’s reproductive mechanisms for its own use and creates more virions.

The virions destroy the cell as they burst out of it to infect more cells.

Viral shedding - when an infected person releases the virus into the environment by coughing, speaking, touching a surface, or shedding skin.

Viruses also can be shed through blood, feces, or bodily fluids.

Virus Replication Cycle

While the replication cycle of viruses can vary from virus to virus, there is a general pattern that can be described, consisting of 5 steps:

Attachment – the virion attaches to the correct host cell.

Penetration or Viral Entry – the virus or viral nucleic acid gains entrance into the cell.

Synthesis – the viral proteins and nucleic acid copies are manufactured by the cells’ machinery.

Assembly – viruses are produced from the viral components.

Release – newly formed virions are released from the cell.

Mutations, Variants, and Strains

Not all mutations cause variants and strains. Below are definitions that explain how mutations, variants, and strains differ.

Mutation - errors in the replication of the virus’s genetic code; can be beneficial to the virus, deleterious to the virus, or neutral

Variants - viruses with these mutations are called variants; the Delta and Omicron variants are examples of coronavirus mutations that cause different symptoms from the original infection

Strains - variants that have different physical properties are called strains; these strains may have different behaviors or mechanisms for infection or reproduction

Genetically Engineering Viruses

Using reverse genetics, the sequence of a viral genome can be identified, including that of its different strains and variants.

This enables scientists to identify sequences of the virus that enable it to bind to a receptor, as well as those regions that cause it to be so virulent.

Vaccine - a special preparation of substances that stimulate an immune response, used for inoculation

Vaccines & Fighting Viruses with Viruses

Common pathogenic viruses can be genetically modified to make them less pathogenic, such that their virulent properties are diminished but can still be recognized by the immune system to produce a robust immune response against. They are described as live attenuated.

This is the basis of many successful vaccines and is a better alternative than traditional vaccine development which typically includes heat-mediated disabling of viruses that tend to be poorer in terms of immunogenicity.

Viruses can also be genetically modified to ‘fight viruses’ by boosting immune cells to make more effective antibodies, especially where vaccines fail. Where vaccines fail, it is often due to the impaired antibody production by B-cells, even though antibodies can be raised against such viruses – including HIV, EBV, RSV & cold-viruses.

Related Articles: Modified virus used to kill cancer cells ⚜ Genetic Engineering ⚜ Engineering Bacterial Viruses ⚜ Benefits of Viruses

A Few Writing Tips

As more writers look to incorporate infectious diseases into their work, there are quite a few things writers should keep in mind:

Don’t anthropomorphize. Really easy to do, but scientifically wrong. Viruses don’t want to kill you; bacteria don’t want to infect you; parasites don’t want to make your blood curdle. None of these things are big enough to be sentient to want to do anything. They just do it (or don’t do it).

Personal protective equipment. This includes wearing gloves, lab coats, safety glasses, and tying your hair back if it’s long. It is the same as Edna Mode’s “no capes.” Flowing hair looks cool all the way to the explosive ball of flames that engulfs someone’s head.

Viruses are small. You can’t see viruses down a normal microscope—they need a special microscope called an electron microscope. These are highly specialized and take a long time to make the preparations to be able to see the virus. Normally viruses are detected by inference—measuring part of them using an assay that can amplify tiny amounts of material, for example PCR.

Viruses don’t really cause zombie apocalypses. 

Vaccines work. But they take time. The best vaccine in the world will still only prevent infections two weeks after it is given. Drugs are quicker, but still take some time. But the good news is an infection is not going to kill you (or turn you into a zombie) quickly, so they both have time to work.

Scientists use viruses as a vector to introduce healthy genes into a patient’s cells:

Your Fictional Virus & Vaccine

When creating your own fictional virus, research further on the topic and consider choosing a specific one as your basis/inspiration.

Here's one resource. For some of them, you'll need a subscription to access, but those that are available give you a good overview of the virus, as well as treatment options.

You can do the same for creating your fictional vaccine:

Here's one resource. And here's one on vaccine developments.

Sources: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 ⚜ Writing Notes & References

Lastly, here's an interesting article on how science fiction can be a valuable tool to communicate widely around pandemic, whilst also acting as a creative space in which to anticipate how we may handle similar future events.

Thanks so much for your kind words, you're so lovely! Hope this helps with your writing. Would love to read your work if it does :)

[rabbits-of-negative-euphoria]

when I say this is a problem, this is what I mean. this is the woman in question:

please, be healthy. but DON’T let internet bros dictate to you what’s healthy in a woman

[icantalk710]

Two weeks later and it somehow did not occur to me to post the new haircut--i still get my powers restored right 🥺

[nr1-logo-design-inspiration]

Cute "cat + dog" logo for a petshop 🐶🐈🐾🧡

Get your unique & creative logo! Your brand visual identity is as much as important as marketing.

[biocheminpics]

As a rule, I try not to actively make fun of people dying, even if I don't feel they deserve mourning.

But this image. It's so concise it's poetic. It's so encompassing it's beautiful. It's everything. I've been staring at it for hours.

Whenever someone says, "I did my own research," while talking about GMOs, Nuclear power, vaccines, or another hot-button science topic I want you to remember this image. Because it is the pinnacle of hubris in the face of the unrestricted knowledge we've been blessed with.

[tylershmyler26]

WE DON'T LIVE IN A POST COVID WORLD 🌎

[yukipri]

Surviving after getting my updated Covid booster yesterday (and flu shot!).

My first time getting Moderna (past shots all Pfizer), and I felt like crap this morning, but after a good long nap I'm already feeling much better! If it just fades like this, it'll probably be the lightest reaction I've ever had to a Covid vaccine.

I also signed up for the Mpox vaccine at CVS, but when I got there, for some reason they said it wasn't available. Heard this happened to a few other folks too. Wonder why it was available on their site?

Either way, still feeling a bit drowsy and achey, but with my boys keeping me company I'll be better in no time! Get vaccinated folks!

Cats tag: #YukiPriASLKittens

[incognitopolls]

This is asking about all the childhood vaccines– chicken pox, polio, HPV, etc. You can check the (current) recommended vaccine schedules in the US here if you're not sure.

If you received the vaccines that were available at the time but have not received others that were developed later, vote "yes."

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We ask your questions so you don’t have to! Submit your questions to have them posted anonymously as polls.

[prettyboy-remi]

How can you say no to those eyes?

[angelart67]

I HAVE A FEELING FAUCI & HIS GROUP OF GOONS, DAYS ARE NUMBERED... 😇🎨

MY ARTWORK IS FREE & SHARABLE 😇🎨

[goldkirk]

All the years of my life I never had negative side effects from vaccines, aside from totally reasonable soreness (and in the case of tetanus, more intense soreness for several days) and yet specifically the COVID vaccine hits me like varying levels of a truck crash. I am so amazed at how this goes. Nothing else ever makes me feel actually sick after g vaccinations but COVID ones absolutely whack me. The worst time I was lying on the floor crying with ice packs over my joints while I ran a fever overnight. I’m so glad this time it’s just a huge amount of shoulder pain and tightness and the overall flu feeling and spine joint aches, not all the joints in my body yelling or me getting conked out by a fever on the kitchen floor. Meanwhile my flu shot spot isn’t even sore 😂

[mightyray]

Finally getting around to doing art, I did through a series of polls I made on a big discord server. Digimon, Crash and Spyro ended up in a three-way tie for which franchise I should pick some obscure characters from. Luminamon here I just picked for Digimon because they're a cutie patooie and I love them very much!