Delta Variant
The Covid news is all about the Delta Variant these days, which is about 2.5x more transmissable than the original coronavirus that brought the world to its knees last year.
This variant will leave a lot of sick and dead in its wake, and those hit hard will be roughly 100% unvaccinated. And, at least in America, that is roughly 100% their choice, so it will be hard to feign sympathy when these folks get sick and/or die from this totally expected and highly preventable disease.
If someone hasn't gotten Covid or a vaccine and is operating normally in society, they pretty much will be getting this Delta variant. Post-acquisition, It doesn't seem to be any worse than the original Covid, but you may recall that one wasn't exactly a pleasure cruise. Best of luck to them.
Dr. Fauci has come out and suggested there may soon be two Americas: regions
divided by whether vaccination is more or less common. Does anyone really need to be told that at this point? That's just the regular old America.
Vaccination
On the topic of vaccination, researchers are investigating whether mixing and matching vaccines can produce a stronger immune response than sticking with two of the same. Early results are suggesting that mixing does just that. AstraZeneca before Pfizer, never been wiser...
Panama Disease
If you're really old, you're probably not subscribing to a biotech newsletter, but if so, you may recall bananas of your youth tasting different than modern ones. You are not crazy. Until the 1950's the bananas around the world were of the Gros Michel variety. Problem was they were a monoculture and once a lethal disease started making the rounds, it was only a matter of time before they all succumbed. That disease was known as "Panama Wilt".
We now live in a world where virtually all bananas are a monoculture of genetically identical cavendish bananas. It's only a matter of time before the next bananapocalypse hits. Scientists are racing to discover genes in wild bananas that may render a cavendish-wild hybrid immune to various pathogens. The problem with seedless fruits is you can't hybridize them easily like traditional crops. Gene editing may be the only way. CRISPR? SOFTR?
In the meantime, try some of those little red bananas - they're pretty good. Or if you think you might be hungry in three weeks, go buy a plantain.
Reign Freedom
Earlier this year, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis attempted to please his political base by banning private companies from asking their customers if they're vaccinated. That order was mostly intended to target the cruise industry, who had been doing just that to put their customers at ease.
So it looked like that was that...except for the fact that some people outside of Florida have a say in who gets off the ships. Calls have begun in Antigua & Barbuda to ban unvaccinated passengers from disembarking. If that catches on in the Caribbean, it's doubtful many people would board a cruise without being able to get off. Then again...
NFT: Crypto Brooklyn Bridge
While the ongoing non-fungible token scam has moderated a bit, there is no sign of it fully letting up. Serious people are writing about how NFTs may be a way to profit from genomics in the future.
As with anything, these NFTs are worth whatever people will pay for them, but considering they require energy to run the blockchains on which they reside, this is the economic equivalent of digging holes and filling them - a total waste.
On that note, we are pleased to offer an NFT of this week's newsletter starting at a bid of $10,000. There will never be another NFT like this (until next week). Act now!
