I value new ideas and different approaches to problems highly and I’ve found a new example. IBM, a massive and multifaceted company, has announced a new way to fight viral infections. Its new in the sense that it doesn’t follow the thought process that spurs on other companies and actually sounds somewhat backwards. Instead of targeting a specific site of a virus, like the industry norm, IBM went bigger and broader. The new technique is a macro-molecule that binds the virus and changes the pH to reduce likelihood of infection. In addition the new drug releases manose which is a sugar that binds and interferes with immune cells to compete with the virus. The article is brief and doesn’t go in depth but with some quick digging I found the paper that was published in Macromolecules. I enjoyed the refreshing approach to the same problem that many people are tying to solve and the results look promising.
As a current college student studying topics relevant topics its reassuring to see new science being practiced because I would like to have a job after school. However, it is more reassuring as a future scientist that we as a community can still find new ways to look at a problem. In my last article I praised and Anthropologist from Washington University in St. Louis for the different thought process behind her experiment. I try to spread the idea of taking a new perspective on science because to me it makes sense for people to think differently and those differences can help to get a better picture on the overall problem. Some people are worried that the U.S. school systems are stifling creativity and forcing everyone to think the same and it is a valid worry. Hopefully we learn from these scientists and try to embrace the different perspectives we all have to solve the common problems.
It almost sounds too good to be true, like the old-time elixirs that promised to cure anything. I think you explain yourself well, though, when you say you are specifically looking for novel approaches to problems.
Visuals would really help this post have appeal.
IBM’s techniques sound very interesting and different! I wonder if the lowered pH could have a negative consequence on the body? It’s neat to see new methods being tested.
That’s a really cool topic to cover! I really liked the links– it’s definitely something I want to read more about. How’d you find out about it?
Jeremy, I like your post. I imagine this study you described is still in the beginning stages of R&D, but I hope as trials advance and the study moves from in vitro to in vivo we see the same results (even more so if the study goes beyond mouse models). I appreciate and share your excitement for a future in a scientific community where discovery is propelled by creative thinking and investigation. Good blog 🙂