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Alexei Tkachenko

Model suggests how ancient RNA may have gained self-cutting ability essential for life

March 27, 2024

Scientists have long pondered the beginnings of life on Earth. One theory is that RNA, which is ubiquitous across all domains of life, played a central role in early life. Similar to DNA, RNA possesses the ability to store genetic information. However, to initiate life's processes, early RNA must have also possessed the capability to self-replicate and catalyze biochemical reactions independently, without the assistance of specialized enzymes.


March 27, 2024


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New model accurately describes COVID-19 waves and plateaus

December 14, 2021

The COVID-19 pandemic has gone on much longer than many predicted in its earliest months. The world has closely watched its progression, with infection rates measured out on graphs in large waves that sometimes taper to extended plateaus, rather than disappearing as traditional epidemiological models would have suggested they should. Meanwhile, scientists have been working to better understand the factors governing the wave and plateau dynamics of the spread of COVID-19, to be able to better forecast future outbreaks in this pandemic and future epidemics.


December 14, 2021


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COVID-19 peaks reflect time-dependent social activity, not herd immunity

April 14, 2021

Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) have developed a new mathematical model for predicting how epidemics such as COVID-19 spread. This model not only accounts for individuals’ varying biological susceptibility to infection but also their levels of social activity, which naturally change over time. Using their model, the team showed that a temporary state of collective immunity—which they termed “transient collective immunity”—emerged during the early, fast-paced stages of the epidemic.


April 14, 2021


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