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How Did Life Begin?

Science is overflowing with insane theories that are yet to be proven, such as “How do ants & Garden exist?“. Do science have the ability to persuade.? Earthly life began all at once, with no incremental measures.

What’s the idea?

Life on earth did not arise slowly, one building block carefully stacked on top of the other, but rather quickly clumped together into one wonderful mash of molecules with everything about already in the right place: spheres that kept the outside world outside with a layer of fat, with on the inside chain-shaped building blocks that together could keep a chemical reaction going; a primitive cell, so to speak. At least that is the most likely scenario, according to scientists such as John Sutherland and David Deamer. Both have come into the pen in recent years to promote the all-in-one theory.

What’s so wild about it?

It is common in science to understand something by breaking it down into small pieces. For more than a century, biologists have been struggling to reconstruct how even one step towards something living could take place.

And that turns out to be difficult enough, says professor of systems chemistry Sijbren Otto, who is tinkering in the lab on ways in which life could have originated. Something alive must have taken about three steps. One person, for example, thinks that an energy reaction had to be started first, a primitive metabolism. The other thinks again that precursors of DNA came together first. The chance of having one step succeed in a laboratory is very small, so the idea that all three took place roughly at the same time soon becomes very difficult to imagine. ‘

Why could it be right?

Sutherland and Deamer themselves have struggled for years with mimicking individual steps in the lab and now think that all steps are easier to achieve if all the ingredients of life co-existed in one place at the same time. They could thus reinforce each other.

And yes: there are clues to be found. For example, Deamer suspects that muddy volcano pools are ideal for the all-in-one theory. He has already shown that small primitive cells with a greasy shell develop relatively easily there, with building material chains on the inside, according to Deamer in the journal Astrobiology .

Sutherland thinks that meteorite craters may have been the ideal nursery, where small streams allowed crucial building materials to clump together, he writes in Angewandte Chemie . The first ingredients can come from such a meteorite itself: for example, the space rock Murchison contains both DNA and protein building blocks.

What contradicts the theory?

Otto is tempering expectations. ‘I don’t know if we can ever say, of any theory, this is how it must have been. There is simply too little surviving from the time when life originated to prove or disprove one theory. ‘

Otto also sees a fundamental problem with the all-in-one theories. If the first life was immediately in a cell with a layer of fat around it, it might cut itself off too much from the outside world. ‘To survive, the first life had to be flexible and be able to exchange building blocks and genetic material quickly. Then such an outer layer limits too much. ‘

Science behind Organic Pest Control

Insects, especially harmful insects, are a matter of course on every farm or garden. Some bugs are useful as they chase the bad bugs and deliver valuable pollination for plants. On the other hand, other pests pose a threat. Pests can damage the appearance of fruits and vegetables and make these products difficult or impossible to sell. Worse, some pest damage can kill a crop instantly.

Traditional farmers spray toxic pesticides in order to get rid of harmful pests. Organic farmers, however, use alternative strategies to reduce and control pests without the use of synthetic inputs. They are aware of the harmful effects of using toxic pesticides. Learning the science behind organic farming has been the goal of Ant & Garden pest control companies. This way, they can be able to come up with organic but effective means to control pest infestation.

The scientific strategies for pest control

The first line of defense is prevention. Healthy soil produces strong plants which are resistant to pest infestation. Farmers can stimulate populations of beneficial insects and natural predators like ladybugs. Other approaches include crop rotation and choice of pest-resistant plant varieties.

When insects become a serious problem, organic farmers can use pheromones to interrupt pest mating cycles. They can also use mechanical controls such as trapping. If all other means are exhausted and a farmer is faced with a potentially significant loss, targeted sprays of pesticides that are organic approved can be used. Widespread sprays of non-specific insect killers are always the last resort.

Scientific view: The effects of chemical pest control

Chemical pesticides pollute our air and water.Ant & Garden In addition, they kill good bugs and insects, and they destroy biodiversity in ways that affect ecosystems across the farm. Organic pest management is a holistic approach. This has to be acknowledged by every farmer across the globe. Organic farmers implement a lot of strategies, including those that have been described above. This way, they help to reduce the use and impact of chemical pesticides and promote an agricultural system that works in harmony with nature. The result is lower costs, stronger plants, healthier wildlife, and a cleaner environment for everyone.

Vaccine production

Modern vaccines can do quite a lot. Instead of the former one, they today usually protect against several diseases or several stereotypes (subgroups of microorganisms that differ in their antigenic properties.) of a pathogen. Ever-increasing cleaning procedures ensure that side effects can be reduced. “Vaccination is one of the most important and effective preventive measures available in medicine. Modern vaccines are well tolerated and adverse reactions to medicines are only observed in rare cases,” says Robert Koch Institute (RKI).

The idea behind a vaccination is actually quite simple: it is supposed to help the body to defend itself. On the other hand, implementing these projects properly and safely is far from easy: “Long lead times are not uncommon in the production of vaccines,” says Elsie Soto, responsible for vaccines at the pharmaceutical company Pfizer. Producing a conjugate vaccine that works against 13 different serotypes to prevent infection with pneumococcal is a challenge, despite state-of-the-art technology and science: “It’s like making 13 different vaccines. The manufacturing process is divided into 581 individual steps.”

 

The production of vaccines can be roughly traced in five steps:

  • The first thing to do is to produce an antigen to trigger the immune response. For this purpose, proteins or the DNA of a pathogen (viruses or bacteria) must be grown. This happens in cell cultures, in bioreactors or, as in the case of most flu vaccines, in chicken eggs.
  • Next, the antigen must be isolated, that is, separated from the cells or proteins in which it has grown. The aim is to “harvest” as much antigen as possible.
  • The antigen must then be cleaned. This is done in several processes – depending on the size of the proteins, their binding properties and their biological activity.
  • More components are now added. These can be adjuvants to enhance the action of the antigen, or stabilizers to prolong the effective duration of the vaccine. In the case of combination vaccines, additional components are added.
  • Finally, the vaccines are bottled and packaged with the utmost care.

 

Quality control: Nearly 700 tests

Vaccines are subject to special quality controls that run through the entire production process. “We conduct 678 tests for our conjugate vaccine alone before it is released. Quality and safety is our top priority,” says Elsie Soto.

There are repeated reports of supply bottlenecks in vaccines. The reasons for this can be many – from the failure of a production plant to contaminants that can delay or even prevent the approval of a batch of vaccines. Due to the long lead times, it is usually not possible to procure replacements at short notice. The example of flu vaccines clearly shows this: the total production time is about half a year. The season is usually almost over until a new vaccine is available in significant quantities.

Sometimes, however, it is simply due to the growing demand worldwide – partly because more and more people worldwide have access to vaccines. Actually good news – but also a real challenge for the people and companies responsible for the production of vaccines. It takes time to build up new production capacities. “Depending on the size of the capacity expansion, you have to take four to five years to plan and approve a plant, to acquire the machinery and to hire and train qualified workers,” says Elsie Soto. “A vaccine plant on the green meadow takes a good three years to stand. And the machines for this are not available off the shelf either. The lead times can take up to 20 months.”

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