Researchers
hope their new research will settle debate over the origins of Ata, a
naturally mummified infant found in the Chilean desert.
By Erika Check Hayden
Published 28 Mar 2018, 19:03 BST
Ata, the six-inch mummy found in Chile's Atacama desert.
Photograph by Emery Smith
Ata
is just six inches tall, with a conical-shaped head and unusually hard
bones for her size. Some have claimed that she’s an alien. But a new
study published in the journal Genome Research
not only continues to disprove the alien theory, but also reveals a
scientific explanation for her allegedly extraterrestrial appearance.
The debate started in 2003 when the naturally mummified remains of
Ata were discovered near a ghost town in Chile’s Atacama Desert. A
Spanish businessman, Ramón Navia-Osorio, purchased the mummy and in 2012
allowed a doctor named Steven Greer to use x-ray and computed
tomography (CT) imaging to analyz=se her skeleton.
Greer is the founder of The Disclosure Project,
which is “working to fully disclose the facts about UFOs,
extraterrestrial intelligence, and classified advanced energy and
propulsion systems,” according to its Web site.
Ata is only as long as a human fetus. But a radiologist who analysed
the images said that Ata’s bones were about as mature as those of a
human six-year-old.
At the time, Greer also provided samples of Ata’s bone marrow to immunologist Garry Nolan at Stanford University in Palo Alto, Calif. Nolan’s team sequenced Ata’s DNA and concluded that her genetic material was from a human being, not an alien. But he couldn’t explain how such a small person could exhibit her unusual physical appearance.
Ata is only as long as a human fetus, but her bones are about as mature as those of a six-year-old.
Photograph by Emery Smith
“Once we understood that it was human, the next step was to understand how something could come to look like this,” Nolan says.
So Nolan worked with genetic researchers at Stanford and with computational biologist Atul Butte’s
team at the University of California, San Francisco to analyse Ata’s
genome. According to their new study, mutations are present in seven of
Ata’s genes that are all involved in human growth. Nolan now thinks that
this combination of mutations caused Ata’s severe skeletal
abnormalities, including her unusually rapid bone growth. He says that
Ata is most likely a human fetus who was either stillborn or died soon
after birth.
But those who believe that Ata is extraterrestrial aren’t changing their minds, regardless of the new scientific revelations.
“We don’t know what it is, but it most certainly is not a deformed human,” says Greer, who is aware of the new research.
Scientists, however, say that in light of the new analysis, it’s time to bury the Ata controversy.
ZyCoV-D is the first DNA vaccine for people to be approved anywhere in the world.Credit: Zydus Cadila
India has approved a new COVID-19 vaccine that uses circular
strands of DNA to prime the immune system against the virus SARS-CoV-2.
Researchers have welcomed news of the first DNA vaccine for people to
receive approval anywhere in the world, and say many other DNA vaccines
might soon be hot on its heels.
ZyCoV-D, which is administered
into the skin without an injection, has been found to be 67% protective
against symptomatic COVID-19 in clinical trials, and will probably start
to be administered in India this month. Although the efficacy is not
particularly high compared to that of many other COVID-19 vaccines, the
fact that it is a DNA vaccine is significant, say researchers.
It
is proof of the principle that DNA vaccines work and can help in
controlling the pandemic, says Peter Richmond, a paediatric immunologist
at the University of Western Australia in Perth. “This is a really
important step forward in the fight to defeat COVID-19 globally, because
it demonstrates that we have another class of vaccines that we can
use.”
Close to a dozen DNA vaccines against COVID-19 are in
clinical trials globally, and at least as many again are in earlier
stages of development. DNA vaccines are also being developed for many
other diseases.
“If DNA vaccines prove to be successful, this is
really the future of vaccinology” because they are easy to manufacture,
says Shahid Jameel, a virologist at Ashoka University in Sonipat, India.
Fast-tracked development
The
urgency of combating COVID-19 has fast-tracked the development of
vaccines that use genetic technology, such as messenger RNA and DNA
vaccines, says David Weiner, director of the Vaccine & Immunotherapy
Center at the Wistar Institute in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
RNA
vaccines were quicker to show strong immune responses in clinical
trials; they have now been delivered to hundreds of millions of people
around the world. But DNA vaccines have a number of benefits, because
they are easy to produce and the finished products are more stable than
mRNA vaccines, which typically require storage at very low temperatures.
ZyCoV-D
was developed by Indian pharmaceutical firm Zydus Cadila, headquartered
in Ahmedabad. On 20 August, India’s drug regulator authorized the vaccine
for people aged 12 and older. The efficacy figure of 67% came from
trials involving more than 28,000 participants, which saw 21 symptomatic
cases of COVID-19 in the vaccinated group and 60 among people who
received a placebo.
ZyCoV-D contains circular strands of DNA known
as plasmids, which encode the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2, together
with a promoter sequence for turning the gene on. Once the plasmids
enter the nuclei of cells, they are converted into mRNA, which travels
to the main body of the cell, the cytoplasm, and is translated into the
spike protein itself. The body’s immune system then mounts a response
against the protein, and produces tailored immune cells that can clear
future infections. Plasmids typically degrade within weeks to months,
but the immunity remains.
Both DNA and mRNA vaccines have been
under development since the 1990s, says Weiner. The challenge for DNA
vaccines is that they need to make it all the way to the cell nucleus,
unlike mRNA vaccines, which just need to get to the cytoplasm, says
Jameel. So, for a long time, DNA vaccines struggled to induce potent
immune responses in clinical trials, which is why they had been approved
for use as vaccines only in animals, such as horses, until now.
Injection-free vaccine
To
solve this problem, ZyCoV-D is deposited under the skin, as opposed to
deep in muscle tissue. The area under the skin is rich in immune cells
that gobble up foreign objects, such as vaccine particles, and process
them. “This helps capture the DNA far more efficiently than in the
muscle,” Jameel says. Unusually, the vaccine is delivered using a
needle-free device pressed against the skin, which creates a fine,
high-pressure stream of fluid that punctures the surface and is less
painful than an injection.
But despite being more potent than
previous DNA vaccines, ZyCoV-D requires a minimum of three doses to
achieve its initial efficacy. This is likely to add to the logistical
challenge of administering the vaccine during the current pandemic, says
Jameel.
Although ZyCoV-D’s efficacy seems to be lower than the
90% or higher achieved by some mRNA vaccines, the figures are not
comparable, says Jameel. The ZyCoV-D trials in India earlier this year
were conducted while the Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 was the dominant
variant in circulation, whereas earlier mRNA vaccine trials were
conducted when less transmissible variants were circulating. “The
efficacy is essentially against the Delta variant, so that is pretty
good,” he says.
Some researchers have criticized a lack of
transparency in the approval process, because no late-stage trial
results have yet been published. Zydus Cadila says the trial is still
under way and it will submit the full analysis for publication shortly.
The company says the first doses will start to be administered in India
in September and it plans to produce up to 50 million doses by early
next year.
DNA vaccines in clinical trials
Many DNA vaccines against COVID-19 are currently undergoing clinical trials around the world.
Vaccine
Developer
Location
Route
Stage of trial
ZyCoV-D
Zydus Cadila
India
Skin
Approved for emergency use
INO-4800
Inovio and partners
United States
Skin
Phase II/III
AG0302-COVID19
AnGes, Osaka University, Takara Bio
Japan
Muscle
Phase II/III
GX-19N
Genexine
South Korea
Muscle
Phase I/II
GLS-5310
GeneOne Life Science
South Korea
Skin
Phase I/II
COVID-eVax
Takis, Rottapharm Biotech
Italy
Muscle
Phase I/II
AG0301-COVID19
AnGes, OSaka University, Takara Bio
Japan
Muscle
Phase I/II
Covigenix VAX-001
Entos Pharmaceuticals
Canada
Muscle
Phase I
CORVax12
OncoSec, Providence Cancer Institute
United States
Skin
Phase I
bacTRL-Spike
Symvivo
Canada
Oral
Phase I
COVIGEN
BioNet, Technovalia, University of Sydney
Thailand, Australia
Skin or muscle
Phase I
Vaccine pipeline
Several other DNA vaccines are being
developed against COVID-19, using a variety of antigens and delivery
mechanisms (see ‘DNA vaccines in clinical trials’). Two have entered
late-stage trials: one by Japanese company AnGes, based in Osaka; the
other, which Weiner helped to develop, by Inovio Pharmaceuticals in
Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania. Inovio is injected under the skin and
uses a device that hits the skin with short electric pulses to form
pores in the cells that the vaccine can slip through.
More than
half a dozen DNA vaccines for COVID-19 are in early-stage trials,
including one by the South Korean biotech company GeneOne Life Science
in Seoul, and another that Richmond is involved in, developed by the
Thai firm BioNet in Bangkok. This vaccine is undergoing a phase I trial
in Australia.
But Richmond expects many more DNA vaccines to
emerge, targeting diseases for which there are currently no vaccines —
from cytomegalovirus, which can be passed on to babies during pregnancy,
to respiratory syncytial virus. DNA vaccines are also being trialled or
developed for influenza, human papillomavirus, HIV and Zika.
DNA
vaccines can store lots of information, which means they can encode
large, complex proteins or even multiple proteins. Weiner says that
gives them promise as anti-cancer vaccines, a possibility he is
exploring in his own research.
“It’s a very exciting time for genetic technologies. They have finally gotten a chance to show what they can do,” he says.
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Govt had trashed WHO report pointing 57% doctors in India are fake. Health ministry now says it's true The World Health Organization had informed in its report of 2016 that 57.3% of doctors in India are in fact quacks -- they operate without a medical degree. The then Union Health Minister JP Nadda was quick in dissing the report as erroneous, but now Union Health Ministry is admitting it to be true. And, it’s not surprising that most of them are found in rural pockets of the country
A shanty beside the road, bottles of pills upon a small desk and a banner of Mr Doctor festooned above gives a fair picture of rural health services in India. The clinic is a sure indication of its owner's degrees and abilities. The government too has admitted that out of the total number of allopathic doctors in India, 57.3% are quacks and so practice without a degree.
A Bengali dawakhana (clinic) operating in Zalim Nagar, Behraich keeps medicines of all sorts. Its owner, a self-proclaimed doctor, told Gaon Connection over phone: "I treat minor ailments and give only those medicines which do not affect the patient adversely. I have to shell out a fixed monthly amount to the health department people in order to operate my clinic. I may be called a quack, but it is also a fact that without people like me many will perish for lack of medical care. The reality of government hospitals and doctors is open to all."
The World Health Organization in its 2016 report had informed that about 57.3% of the doctors practicing in India are quacks and have not undergone any medical education. Erstwhile Union Health Minister JP Nadda had put down the report as erroneous, but now the Health Ministry is admitting it to be true.
One may be able to explain the deluge of quack in the country especially its rural region. Requesting anonymity one such doctor revealed: "I was a science student till 12th. Due to economic reasons I could not finish my education and took up a job in a medical store in town. Slowly I gained the knowledge of various medicines and learnt to use a syringe. After sometime I opened up a medical store in the village, here people come to me in routine illness. They get cheap treatment and I my daily earnings of 4-5 hundred rupees. I even do farming when time permits."
Quacks such as these can easily be found in every village and town because of our ailing government health services system. As per National Rural Health Mission (NRHM), Uttar Pradesh has only 3,692 primary health centres (PHCs) as against the required number of 5,172. The condition of the existing PHCs is another matter of concern.
Indian Medical Association (IMA) Lucknow's president Dr GPSingh told Gaon Connection: "Many lives are lost at the hands of quacks and fake doctors. It is been often observed that people prefer being treated by quacks as it saves them time and money." He added, "few people work as compounders with doctors for a couple of years and thereafter set up their own clinics with no degree and experience of a doctor. Such person may not even know how to give injections. The government policy and public both are to be blamed for mushrooming of such malpractices."
As per a report of India Spend, Uttar Pradesh had witnessed a fall in the number of PHCs by 8% in past 15 years while its population has increased by 25%. From past 25 years till 2015 small sub centres (first point of contact with public) have not seen an increase of more than 2%. As per Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, India has 1,23,655 health sub centres, 25,308 primary health centres, 5,396 community health centres, 779 district hospitals and 1,108 sub divisional hospitals. Neelesh Misra
Delhi High Court's senior advocate and working for Right to Public Health, Ashok Agarwal,said: "India has neither the adequate number of hospitals nor doctors. There is a huge gap in the quality of healthcare facility as well as its availability. The gap exists not only within states, but also between rural and urbanregions. Due to unavailability of government doctors, public is forced to seek medical help from the fake ones as the only alternative."
Working in the field of health services an NGO Jan Swasthya Abhiyan's National Coordinator-Sulakshna Nandi told Gaon Connection over phone, "Our country's public health system has totally gone kaput.The country's primary health is itself ailing especially in rural areas. No MBBS doctor wants to go to a village so a large portion of Indian population is left at the mercy of quacks. Sometimes misdiagnosis even takes away life of hapless people whohave but little choice. The government needs to first pull up its primary health care services."
As per report issued by the Union Ministry of Health's Central Bureau of Health Intelligence, in India there is only 1 doctor per 11082 citizens whereas it should be a doctor per thousand as per set standards. This ratio is 11 times less than the set standard parameters. Bihar presents even scarier scenario with 1 doctor per 28391 citizens. Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh too face a grim situation.
Often in desperation and in lure of cheap treatment people, resorting to doctors without degree, put their lives to risk. "I suffered from piles. Despite showing to the doctors I could not find a relief. Then one of my relatives told me about a doctor in town who claimed guaranteed treatment. When I approached him his clinic boldly flashed his so called 'MBBS' degree," said Manoj Mishra, 38 years from Gorakhpur.
He added: "Initially he put me on some medication for two months but to little effect. He then broached the topic of operation. My condition aggravated after the operation-the operated spot became infected and started oozing pus. With my condition turning critical I was taken to a big hospital in Delhi for treatment where it was told that the operation was not done properly leading to infection. Had there been any further delay the spot may even have turned cancerous."
At the same time a quack puts the blame on the system, "The country has several fake institutes handing out innumerable fake medical degrees each year. Any untoward incident happens, the government penalizes us and embarks on a tirade against us, but no one acts against those fictitious institutions. It is because they have vested interests."
The Delhi High Court's advocate, Ashok Agarwal,said: "We have strict laws against quacks. If an untrained or unqualified person treats a patient, he can be severely penalized for fraud under Section 419,420 besides Indian Medical Council Act's Section 15 (3). This Act provides for upto 2 years of imprisonment. For holding a fake degree, one could be prosecuted under Section 468, 47.
The Times of India
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