This article provides an overview of virus mutations, the current variants from the UK and South Africa, how the immune system works on pathogen proteins, and whether all this has implications on the efficacy of the current vaccines.

Mutations

Mutations are a fact of life for all living beings. Viruses, due to many reasons (generation rate in hours, infecting millions of cells, ...), have a very fast mutation rate. That is just what goes on.

SARS-CoV-2, the Coronavirus that causes COVID-19 and is responsible for the 2020 pandemic, is known to enter cells via the ACE2 receptor (see this video on the Renin-Angiotensin system).

In addition to ACE2, there are other receptors that either facilitate entry into cells (making the virus more infectious) or increase its pathogenicity (causing more severe symptoms).

Principles of scientific rational thinking:

Question Authority

No idea is true just because some authority says it is true. That includes you, and includes me.

Think for Yourself and Question Yourself

Don't believe something just because you want it to be true. Belief alone is not a criterion for truth.

Test ideas by evidence from observation and experiments

If a favorite idea fails a well designed test, it is not true. Get over it.

Follow the evidence wherever it leads

If something is proven wrong, then just accept that it is wrong.

And, if you have no evidence, just reserve judgement. You don't have to take a position for or against an idea.

You could be wrong

We are humans, and we may not have all the facts, so we are sometimes wrong. Accept that, and move to more observation and experimentation.

Two recent articles from Al-Jazeera show the misinformation that is widespread about Swine Flu.

The first was an article lamenting how some Arab countries has imported pork meat, including Egypt, Bahrain, and the UAE. The article implies a connection between consuming pork, and catching swine flu. An avalanche of equally uninformed comments from visitors as response to the article. Many of the comments are focusing on the Islamic ban on consuming pork.

The other article is about Egypt's parliament considering discontinuing pig farms, with the approval of the Coptic Orthodox Church. At issue are the jobs affected by that, including the garbage collectors and recyclers providing feed for the pigs.

Over the years, I have written a lot about internet scams and pseudoscience. This happens mainly because of the frustration I experience seeing gullible people being taken advantage of by criminals who work across international borders to avoid the long arm of the law.