May 7, 2020
1:30 – 5:00 pm
On-line Zoom Meeting (Link will be provided later.)
As you are all aware, the world is dealing with a very serious health pandemic due to the global spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, popularly known as the COVID-19 virus. There is much to learn about the virus and the related pandemic. High mortality rates are occurring in metropolitan and rural areas, while cases and often death are being observed in nearly every country in the world. Mitigation efforts are focusing on social distancing with the consequences the public service and other industries are essentially shutdown. These governmental decisions have led to high levels of world-wide unemployment among those working in those industries. The consequences are that many are experiencing economic hardships which has prompted governmental financial assistance programs at levels never seen before.
As science professionals, it is your responsibility to understand, not just your specialty, but related science topics that affect our society. This makes you a scientifically informed citizen who can provide valuable knowledge to those in your social circle who are not familiar with the science underlying major social problems such as a viral pandemic.
This semester’s Current Topic in Genomics course will cover multiple areas related to the COVID-19 with goal of guiding you to a better understanding of the pandemic.
General Introduction to the COVID-19 Topic
YouTube Video
General
Structure/Function Paper
Nextstrain Home Page
Nextstrain COVID-19 Page to study
(Latest Global Analysis Page)
Click on Unrooted to see major groups, then click on individual
dots to see where the variant samples were collected.
Angiotensin
System Paper
Vaccine/Drug
Pipeline Review (as of April 9, 2020)
Genomic Sequencing of COVID-19 (Ryan)
COVID-19
genome sequence (Nature article)
COVID-19
genome sequence (New England Journal of Medicine article)
Transcriptomic and Proteomics of COVID-19 (Katherine)
Transcriptomics
of the COVID-19 virus
Proteomics
of the COVID-19/ACE2 receptor
Variant Discovery (Jitin)
Phylogeny
of COVID-19 variants
Introduction
of the COVID-19 virus into New York USA
Epidemiology (Tabassum)
COVID-19
Epidemiology and Cardiac Issues
ACE2
enzyme and COVID-19 interactions
Vaccine and Drug Development (Mariam)
M-protease
drug treatment
Spike
protein blocking potential for vaccine
Each of you will be responsible for reading ALL articles.
Look for your name in parentheses for one of the topics above. You will be responsible for that topic and papers found for that topic. During the class session, each of you will be responsible for providing a DETAILED summary of the set articles for which you are the primary reviewer. You will need to find additional outside knowledge on the entire topic from other trusted sources. Your review of the two manuscripts should be 25minutes long. During your oral review, you will present to the group a Powerpoint presentation via the Screen Sharing option available in Zoom. Following that presentation, all students will be expected to participate in a group discussion by asking general or detailed questions on the topic.
If you have any questions, please contact me.