Smokers are being told to quit. But the cure of the Coronavirus pandemic could be hidden inside the very tobacco leaves that cause cancer.
Highlights! The Cure For Coronavirus Could Be Inside A Cigarette
- The tryst of tobacco with outbreaks like Ebola and Coronavirus
- How tobacco-based flu vaccines are made?
- Why tobacco-based vaccine would be perfect for a global pandemic like Coronavirus COVID-19?
- The contestants in the Coronavirus Nobel Prize race
The world is in jeopardy due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The currently ‘cureless’ virus is making governments around the world fast-track research and development efforts. On Tuesday 17th of March 2020, the first human testing for Coronavirus vaccines began in the USA. While state-of-the-art biotechnology labs are racing with each other to find a cure, an unlikely contestant has emerged in the tobacco industry. The cure for coronavirus could be inside a cigarette!
For a virus vaccine, the minimum turnaround time is 10 years. But with the world in the grip of the novel strand of coronavirus in the biggest pandemic outbreak of the 21st century, scientists are already eyeing the Nobel Prize out there up for grabs.
From Ebola To Corona – The Tobacco Tryst
A biopharmaceutical company Kentucky BioProcessing LLC, owned by Reynolds American Inc., is looking for the cure in tobacco leaves. In an attempt to find the cure, tobacco plants are infected with a genetically modified coronavirus. The experiment will help scientist to check if tobacco could produce antibodies for a possible vaccine.
During the Ebola virus epidemic that killed more than 11,000 people in Africa, Kentucky BioProcessing LLP quickly turned around with a derived component of tobacco for ZMapp, a combination therapy. The therapy fell short. However, ZMapp was one of the first experimental Ebola treatments to become available.
Tobacco-based Flu Vaccine
Humans know the medicinal properties of tobacco since the ancient ages. Today, medicine uses genetically modified tobacco in auto-immune and also inflammatory diseases, including diabetes. Likewise, Alzheimer’s patients greatly benefit from nicotine therapy. The nicotine receptors in the human brain also contribute to normal cognitive functions increasing patients’ alertness. Tobacco leaves were used previously to relax spasms and when used externally it works as an antiseptic.
Back in 2012, Pentagon-funded pharmaceutical company, Medicago was successful in making 10 million doses of a tobacco-based flu vaccine.
Though Kentucky BioProcessing LLP’s work is in its initial stage the company has contacted the Trump administration’s health department and has said it could provide a sample soon. British American Tobacco owns Reynolds America Inc. Back in 2014, the company bought Kentucky BioProcessing while looking to diversify the use of tobacco plants apart from making cigarettes.
Looking For A Cure – The Other Experiments
The impending doom is compelling doctors around the world to look in all directions for a possible cure. According to scientists in Australia, treatment drugs for HIV and malaria might be able to help tackle Covid-19.
In the US, The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases has officially started the clinical trial by administrating an experimental vaccine on a healthy person. Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has also partnered with Mastercard and Welcome Trust to do its own research for a cure.
Another American multinational Johnson and Johnson have announced a partnership with HHS’s Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority for development of coronavirus. There’s a pressing need of finding a cure for the novel coronavirus. Moreover, with every passing minute more and more lives are at stake.
If a cure for coronavirus could actually come out of tobacco leaves then given the easy growth of the plant, vaccine makers can quickly scale up production.