Cloner of Covid genes has big plans

Presented by Kidney Care Access Coalition:: The ideas and innovators shaping health care

Oct 02, 2023 View in browser   By Erin Schumaker, Daniel Payne, Carmen Paun and Evan Peng Presented by Kidney Care Access Coalition PROBLEM SOLVERS Krogan | Research!America Molecular biologist Nevan Krogan is racking up accolades for his research on future pandemic threats, including spearheading an international research collaboration that mapped how SARS-CoV-2 hijacks and rewires cells. His work led to antiviral drugs that are in clinical trials and a flood of research funding, including $67.5 million from the National Institutes of Health and $9 million from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. The director of the Quantitative Biosciences Institute at the University of California, San Francisco, Krogan won the first Discovery Innovation Health prize last month from the science advocacy group Research!America. Erin spoke with Krogan to learn where his research collaborations are headed next. This interview was edited for length and clarity. Tell me more about the Quantitative Biosciences Institute and its focus on bringing scientists together.  In January 2020, we were the first group to clone out all of the SARS-CoV-2 genes. And then we tweeted, “Hey, we have them. Happy to send it to whoever wants them.” We sent out these pieces of DNA to over 400 labs in over 40 countries in a couple of weeks. What did this pandemic-era collaboration teach you?   We learned how different technologies fit together in ways we didn’t even know. Different disciplines, too: We had biochemists and chemists and structural biologists working together. They'd never done that before. Did that lead to any research insights? The problem with science is that we’re too siloed. We don’t see these connections. You have the virology institute, then you have a cancer institute. But if you can employ these kinds of unbiased approaches, you can start to see overlap. The same types of genes being mutated in cancer are hijacked by HIV. The same genes being mutated in autism are hijacked by Zika. In that case, what's next for big discoveries?  We’ve learned a lot during the pandemic and moved very quickly in large part because we’ve all been collaborating. The question is, can we keep the infrastructure and the spirit alive? Why can't we move this fast on breast cancer and Alzheimer’s and heart disease and Parkinson’s? We can do this, and we will. This is a silver lining of the pandemic.   A message from Kidney Care Access Coalition: Dialysis patients and their families are being harmed. Learn more from the Kidney Care Access Coalition.   WELCOME TO FUTURE PULSE Stow, Mass. | Caitlyn Oates This is where we explore the ideas and innovators shaping health care. A new kind of sacrament: Chaplains are taking interest in psychedelics to help their flocks as research points to their potential mental health benefits. Share any thoughts, news, tips and feedback with Carmen Paun at cpaun@politico.com, Daniel Payne at dpayne@politico.com, Evan Peng at epeng@politico.com or Erin Schumaker at eschumaker@politico.com. Send tips securely through SecureDrop, Signal, Telegram or WhatsApp. Today on our Pulse Check podcast, host Ben Leonard talks with Robert King, who reports on how the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation, created in 2010 to test ways to save Medicare money, has increased federal spending instead of reducing it. Listen to today’s Pulse Check podcast PANDEMIC People of both parties tried hydroxychloroquine as a Covid remedy. | AP Photo Republicans are no more likely than Democrats to use unproven Covid treatments like hydroxychloroquine or ivermectin, according to new research in JAMA Health Forum. That defies conventional wisdom, since then-President Donald Trump made headlines during the pandemic for promoting the malaria drug hydroxychloroquine to treat Covid despite a lack of evidence it worked. Ivermectin, which fights parasites in horses, also caught on with conservative commentators as a possible Covid remedy. Even so: The study, from researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard, Northeastern, Northwestern and other schools, surveyed more than 13,000 adults and found those who have lower trust in health professionals and institutions, higher trust in social media and Trump, and believe in conspiracy theories were more likely to report using the unproven treatments. Why it matters: Government health officials have admitted they lost much of the public’s trust during the pandemic as they struggled to understand how Covid spread, whom it threatened most and which treatments were effective at remedying it. Institutions such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are on a mission to get the public’s trust back. Noted: The study found Democrats were more likely to receive treatments backed by evidence, such as vaccines or antivirals.   A message from Kidney Care Access Coalition:     GO INSIDE THE CAPITOL DOME: From the outset, POLITICO has been your eyes and ears on Capitol Hill, providing the most thorough Congress coverage — from political characters and emerging leaders to leadership squabbles and policy nuggets during committee markups and hearings. We're stepping up our game to ensure you’re fully informed on every key detail inside the Capitol Dome, all day, every day. Start your day with Playbook AM, refuel at midday with our Playbook PM halftime report and enrich your evening discussions with Huddle. Plus, stay updated with real-time buzz all day through our brand new Inside Congress Live feature. Learn more and subscribe here.     WORLD VIEW A Kenyan child receives the Mosquirix vaccine earlier this year. | AFP via Getty Images Demand for the world’s first malaria vaccine far exceeds supply, but help is on the way. The World Health Organization today recommended a competing shot that it believes will dramatically expand supply and drive down prices. What is it? The new shot is called R21/Matrix-M. Developed by the University of Oxford, the new vaccine reduced symptomatic cases of malaria by 75 percent in areas with highly seasonal malaria transmission during the year following a three-dose vaccination series, the WHO said Monday. Why it matters: Nearly half of the world’s population remains at risk of malaria, said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. Nearly 250 million people had malaria in 2021, and nearly 620,000 died, most of them children under 5 in sub-Saharan Africa, Tedros said. But there’s limited supply of the first vaccine to win the WHO’s endorsement, Mosquirix from drugmaker GSK. At least 100 million doses of R21 are expected to be available yearly in the next two years, compared to only 18 million Moquirix doses, said Kate O’Brien, WHO director for immunization, vaccines and biologicals. The price per dose of the new vaccine will also be less than $4, said Adar Poonawalla, the CEO of the Serum Institute of India, which will make the shot. That’s less than half of the nearly $10 per dose Mosquirix costs now. GSK said it would review its pricing. What’s next? The WHO is expected to prequalify R21 in the next few months, a formal regulatory endorsement which would then allow Gavi, the vaccine alliance backed by wealthy nations, to procure shots for the low-income countries it supports.   A message from Kidney Care Access Coalition: Employer health plans can now discriminate against patients with kidney failure. Prevent that tragedy.  Congress: Restore what’s right – protect dialysis patients and their families. Learn more from the Kidney Care Access Coalition.     DOWNLOAD THE POLITICO APP: Stay in the know with the POLITICO mobile app, featuring timely political news, insights and analysis from the best journalists in the business. The sleek and navigable design offers a convenient way to access POLITICO's scoops and groundbreaking reporting. Don’t miss out on the app you can rely on for the news you need. DOWNLOAD FOR iOS – DOWNLOAD FOR ANDROID.       Follow us on Twitter Carmen Paun @carmenpaun Daniel Payne @_daniel_payne Ruth Reader @RuthReader Erin Schumaker @erinlschumaker Evan Peng @thepngfile   Follow us

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