Author: Biotech Express

The Indian company Bharat Biotech (BB) on 3rd July 2021, released a press release about the final analysis for COVAXIN efficacy as part of phase 3 clinical trials after publishing preprint data on medRxiv. Here in this article we are comparing Phase 3 results of world’s 3 most popular COVID vaccines that are in vaccination drives around the world. 2 out of 3 got huge funding from international organizations for R&D and manufacturing and already have won Emergency Use Approval from WHO and FDA but Covaxin has to wait despite its high effectiveness and safety profile because it is from…

G. Baskar*, B. Sangeetha Department of Biotechnology, St. Joseph’s College of Engineering, Chennai – 600119. *Corresponding author email: basg2004@gmail.com Download PDF COVAXIN® is India’s indigenous COVID-19 vaccine developed by Bharat Biotech Company in association with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) – National Institute of Virology (NIV). The vaccine is developed via Whole-Virion Inactivated Vero Cell technology. Inactivated vaccines fail to replicate and hence they are improbable to revert and root pathological effects. They comprise dead virus, inept of infecting people but still able to inculcate the immune system to escalate a defensive reaction counter to an infection. COVAXIN®…

Millions of fully vaccinated people in India and Africa are confused to land Europe under the EU’s new vaccine passport(Digital Green Certificate) scheme. That’s despite the fact that they all have taken a vaccine that, on the face of it, is already authorized in the EU, as well as by the UK and the WHO. The EU backed up by UK is allowing one brand of the AstraZeneca jab, named Vaxzevria, but its identical, Indian-made version Covishield manufactured under license by India’s Serum Institute, is not one of the vaccines listed for the EU’s new digital travel pass. It means…

Nabanita Roy Chattopadhyay and Tathagata Choudhuri* Department of Biotechnology, Visva-Bharati, Santiniketan. *E-mail: tathagata.choudhuri@visva-bharati.ac.in, Mobile: +919861724726. COVID-19 pandemic, the biggest global issue nowadays, is universally agreed to be won by effective vaccination only, as no conclusive drug and/or treatment strategy is available till date. In comparison to the developed countries like the United Kingdom and the United States of America, the rate of vaccination in India is lower and the percentage of vaccinated persons are much lower. Despite the Central Government’s awareness campaigns and vaccination offers via CoWIN site, this lower rate of vaccination is heightening the risk of the…

The World Health Organization defines vaccine hesitancy as a “delay in acceptance or refusal of safe vaccines despite availability of vaccine services. Vaccine hesitancy has identified as a leading global health threat which has increased in the times of COVID-19. A survey in Israel indicated that the percentage of people who intended to obtain a COVID-19 vaccine was 78% among physicians, 61% among nurses, and 75% in the general population. Low acceptance rates were also observed among Hong Kong nurses in two studies, and in late 2020, only 36% of U.S. HCWs said they were willing to take the vaccine…

by Kamal Pratap Singh Experts from the medical fraternity of India have disapproved Ramdev’s comments about the inefficacy of allopathic medicines in fighting COVID-19. Neither Baba Ramdev nor IMA chief have described which medicine has been the reason of disrespect & deaths. If we talk about of allopathic medicine then Yes they do have failed miserably, not only jeopardized lives as well as the precious money. For COVID-19 Remedisivir, HCQ and several other drugs were granted EUA by FDA/WHO/DCGI and other regulatory agencies which were failed subsequently. Of course there are other allopathic drugs too that are working. As analyzed…

by Rupam Kapoor Department of Botany, University of Delhi, Delhi-110007, India Download PDF Summary At present, agriculture is challenged with meeting the global food demands for the growing population, while maintaining environmental quality and reducing the input of chemical fertilizers and pesticides. In this context, the article gives insights on the beneficial soil microorganisms “arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi” that play key roles in sustainable agriculture and promote plant nutrition and produce safe and high-quality food. Introduction Microbes are ubiquitous tiny organisms that are too small to be seen with the unaided eye. Both plants and animals are closely linked with…

On June 22, 2021, the Kenya National Biosafety Authority (NBA) approved the environmental release of genetically modified (GM) cassava event 4046, resistant to cassava brown streak disease (CBSD) developed by the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization (KALRO). The NBA Board approved the application as stated in the decision document dated June 16, 2021, following  the necessary review in accordance with the country’s Biosafety Act.KALRO scientists have been developing CBSD-resistant cassava varieties using event 4046 under regulated confined field trial conditions authorized by NBA. The approval paves way for conducting national performance trials of these varieties before registration and release…

A study that touted phototherapy as a way to combat the COVID-19 pandemic has been retracted after Elisabeth Bik noted a litany of concerns about the article, from duplications in the figures to the authors’ failure to disclose conflicts of interest. The article, “Methylene blue photochemical treatment as a reliable SARS-CoV-2 plasma virus inactivation method for blood safety and convalescent plasma therapy for COVID-19,” appeared in mid-April in BMC Infectious Diseases, a Springer Nature title. The authors listed affiliations with various institutions in China, including a company called Boxin (Beijing) Biotechnology Development LTD, which helped fund the study — more…

Researchers from India and Canada documented the trends linked to genetically modified (GM) foods, policies, and consumer acceptance after analyzing hundreds of publications in the past 20 years. Their analyses led to the conclusion that consumer perception is affected by factors such as government decisions, how benefits are communicated, and the media. A total of 543 journal articles from 1981 to 2021 were bibliographically analyzed using the Web of Science database and BibExcel and VOSviewer visualization software tools to utilize the topic basis search of phrases related to GM food preference and perception. The objective was to map the trends…