Daily Archives: March 5, 2020

What is digital food? Heres everything you need to know

The food industry has been undergoing monumental changes in the past few decadesnew technologies were implemented, even into the way we cook, produce and buy food. Climate change pushed more and more people to watch out for how much meat they consume, which then made becoming a vegetarian or vegan extremely trendy. This created a growing need for plant-based meats and non-dairy products.

Along with these shifts, a new term appeared in the culinary world: digital food. Its here, and it doesnt look like its going to vanish anytime soon, so you better get used to it. But what exactly is digital food, and what changes will it inspire in the ever-changing industry that is the food sector?

First of all, lets start by clarifying something: digital food and new technologies being used in the daily operations of food companies are two different things. New technologies meant that manufacturing processes were upgraded and started producing more food at a faster pace. But digital food is something else entirely. With social media came the recent boom in online food-based media, which completely changed the way we look at food online and seek out new recipes, restaurants and reviews.

We began craving new flavours from different countries, but it went even further than that. From sharing images of food on Instagram to augmented reality (AR) filters that shape our faces into a peach or a tomato or any food you can think of, it seems that the term digital food still has many meanings and, therefore, that there is no general consensus on its definition. Why is it not clearer? Because digital food is so recent that it is still in constant change. In other words, digital food is the future but no one can tell what the future holds.

Forget about the Instagram face, the new trend involves face filters that either allow you to look like your favourite food or make photo-realistic 3D food models appear on your camera. Not only can you look like your favourite kind of bubble tea, but you can also help reduce food waste by playing with food digitally. Because, lets be honest, who hasnt tried the Greggs face filter that lets you know which Greggs product you are?

Screen Shot spoke to Clay Weishaar, also known as @wrld.space on Instagram, the AR artist specialising in food filters, about our new obsession with food, especially on social media, and why his designs mainly focus on digital food, Food culture has always been a big subject on Instagram. So has fashion. This has really inspired me to explore the idea of food as fashion. I loved the idea of people wearing their favourite food. With augmented reality technology we have the ability to do this.

This can explain the kind of feedback that his Instagram filters received: I am a huge foodie myself. Combining food, fashion and technology was a sweet spot for me. I think the reason my filters have almost 2 billion impressions is that food is something people identify with. Its a universal subject, and it is what brings people and cultures together.

Some big food chains have already seen the potential in digital food. For example, Dominos created a Snapchat filter that would let users see an AR pizza and offer them the possibility of ordering the pizza online, straight from their Snapchat app. Using AR, brands could show us exactly what a specific meal would look like, making it easier for potential customers to make up their minds on what theyd like to order.

Five years ago, people were writing about food online to complain about the trend of people sharing pictures of their meals on Instagram. Now, people are looking, liking and sharing pictures of fake fooddigital food.

Among the few who can already see the potential of digital food is Jessica Herrington, who created the Instagram account Fresh Hot Delicious, a completely digital restaurant specialising in digital desserts. She described the concept in OneZero, saying, Each dessert exists as a freely available AR filter on Instagram. To simulate a real-world restaurant, the desserts sell out when the AR filters reach a specific number of views. Users can play with the desserts for free until they are sold out and become deactivated. In this way, the digital restaurant gives a life span to previously permanent digital objects.

Experiencing digital food through AR is an accessible and innovative alternative to engage with an audience. Food brands are trying to sell more than a productthey need to sell an experience, and digital food could help them build a connection with potential customers. The future of the food sector is digital, and weve only witnessed a few of the many ways we will consume digital food. As unusual it may seem to many for now, digital food will offer us a new approach to traditional eating experiences, and I dont know about you, but all this made me hungry.

What is digital food? Heres everything you need to know

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GMO brought us the Impossible Burger but what does it actually mean? - Screen Shot

With the coronavirus now spreading rapidly in Italy, recent concerns that various spring races most notably this Saturday's Strade Bianche, next week's Tirreno-Adriatico and Milan-San Remo (March 21) could be affected have now become very real, and their cancellation extremely likely, with the Italian government calling for a halt to all sporting and public events for the next month. Additionally, a number of cycling teams have revealed their own concerns in the past 24 hours about racing in Italy and at Paris-Nice in France and many have already pulled out of the races.

The Italian races now seem most likely to be rescheduled for a later date, although RCS Sport the organiser of Strade Bianche, Tirreno-Adriatico and Milan-San Remo hopes that their spring events might be able to be rescheduled, with further announcements expected following meetings on Thursday.

But what exactly is the Covid-19 coronavirus? Cyclingnews dug into the facts, as reported by theCenters for Disease Controland Prevention and other sites, in order to be able to explain more about the virus, who it affects and why it is important to control its spread.

Bottom line? Practising good personal hygiene and helping prevent the spread of the virus is the absolute best way to protect yourself, your loved ones, your neighbours and your community, and the world at large.

Covid-19 is the disease caused by a new type of coronavirus. The group is named after the viruses' appearance, with each virion surrounded by bunches of spiky proteins that look like a halo, or the corona of the sun, under a microscope. The virus that causes Covid-19 is actually named SARS-CoV-2.

Coronaviruses are common in animals, and in rare cases can pass to humans from direct contact. It is not yet known which animal was the source of SARS-CoV-2, although it is suspected it may have come from bats. Other types of coronaviruses that have jumped from animals to humans include Ebola, MERS (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome) and SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome). SARS-CoV-2 emerged from the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market in Wuhan, China.

Myth: The virus came from a genetic-research facility. Scientists have sequenced the entire genome of the virus and found no evidence that it was the result of genetic engineering, which would leave hallmark sequences behind.

The problem with SARS-CoV-2 is that it is new, so humans likely don't have immunity to it. Immunity from previous infection or vaccination can hamper the ability of a virus to spread, which is why vaccinations like the ones for polio, measles and diptheria are so effective at stopping the spread of the diseases they cause.

Viruses vary in their transmission rate the rate depends on a number of factors including when and how long a person is infectious, how the virus is transmitted, and how long it can stick around in the air or on surfaces. Scientists have been furiously studying SARS-CoV-2 to determine how it's passed along in order to predict how it will spread.

So far, scientists agree that Covid-19 is spread much like the flu or the common cold, by infected people coughing out tiny droplets of virus-laden moisture that can land on people within a few feet or be left on surfaces that others can pick up on their hands. People then become infected when they touch their eyes or mouth, or inhale the droplets.

As a result, good personal hygiene hand-washing, and not touching your eyes, nose or mouth is important. Most professional cyclists already practise this in order to try not get sick during the season.

Because there is no vaccination yet for SARS-CoV-2, it is important to slow the spread using other methods, like isolating sick patients and quarantining people who might have come into contact with infected people. To be safe, these quarantines are kept in place for two weeks to make sure anyone who is infected with the virus can be identified once they begin to show symptoms. Quarantines can keep the virus from spreading outside the community.

To measure how infectious a disease is, epidemiologists calculate the R0 (R-nought) or number of people an infected person is likely to infect. Some viruses like chickenpox or measles are highly contagious because they are carried on smaller vapour particles and can linger in the air much longer. There is little evidence at this point that Covid-19 is as infectious as that. One person with the measles can infect 12-18 people, while one person with Covid-19 typically infects two to three.

But the R0 isn't static; people can bring the infection rates down. According toScientific American, the SARS outbreak went from about three to 0.4 after people took preventative measures. Once the R0 goes below one, the virus will die out.

The best way to stop a virus is immunity, which is why scientists are working quickly to find a vaccination, but until then, the best steps to slow the spread are quarantines, such as those being imposed in regions where infections have been confirmed like China, South Korea and Italy, and good personal hygiene.

It's important to take this seriously if you have travelled to an area with active contagion. One woman in South Korea refused to take a test for coronavirus and is thought to have infected more than 30 people at her church.

The outbreak in Italy has now likely caused the cancellation of Milan-San Remo, Strade Bianche and Tirreno-Adriatico, and potentially even the Giro d'Italia (May 9-May 31) if the virus continues to spread, with RCS Sport's Mauro Vegni initially tellingCyclingnewsof his concern for his races at last week's UAE Tour, and saying on Wednesday that he now hopes thatStrade Bianche, Tirreno-Adriatico andMilan-San Remo, if/when declared cancelled, could be rescheduled for June or September.

The main symptoms of Covid-19 are fever, a cough and aching muscles. More severe cases can develop into difficulty breathing and pneumonia, while the most critical cases require hospitalisation. In Wuhan, the death rate has been higher than in other cities because the hospitals there became overwhelmed with patients.

If you've been to an area where Covid-19 is present, keep an eye on your temperature and quarantine yourself if you spike a fever, and be sure to cover your mouth when coughing, and wash your hands to reduce the chances of spreading it to those close to you.

Myth: Healthy people need to wear masks to keep from getting the virus. The masks are actually most effective for sick people to keep them from spreading the germs with their coughs. Masks require precise fitting and training to ensure that air doesn't get around them to your nose and mouth, so it's likely they won't protect you from getting sick if you're healthy.

The chances are in favour of you surviving the outbreak. Recent statistics show that 81 per cent only have mild symptoms from the virus. The reason health officials are so concerned is because of the potential of this virus to spread from human to human in a population without immunity to it. Healthy young people have the least to fear it's the elderly and other vulnerable groups that are most at risk.

The chances of dying from a virus is known as 'case fatality rate', or CFR. For the flu, the CFR is typically less than 0.5 per cent. The estimated CFR for Covid-19 is more than 2 per cent from numbers taken in China. That's why it is important to take this outbreak seriously.

Myth: The flu vaccine offers protection against SARS-CoV-2. No, it doesn't. But not getting the flu will help free up medical resources for people who get Covid-19.

The most recent study estimated the death rate of Covid-19 to be 2.3% of those infected in China. It's less deadly than MERS (34.4%) or SARS (9.6%), but more transmissible. But the measurement is still a rough estimate because there may be more people infected without symptoms or with mild symptoms that were not counted.

Unlike the 1918 flu also known as Spanish flu which struck healthy young adults and children, Covid-19 appears to be more deadly for the elderly and those with pre-existing medical conditions, such as cancer or cardiovascular disease. There have been no deaths of those aged nine or under, but the CFR for people 80 and older in China was 14.8%.

The disease becomes critical when the body's immune system goes into overdrive, producing chemicals called cytokines that signal to the immune system to produce more white blood cells to fight the pathogen. These immune cells then congregate at the site of infection the lungs and cause inflammation and fluid build-up as they try to battle the virus. In some patients, the body goes overboard producing cytokines, resulting in a 'cytokine storm' that can lead to organ failure, sepsis and death.

No. Be encouraged by the fact that 81 per cent of the cases are mild, and that one per cent of people infected don't show any symptoms at all.

Also be encouraged by the fact that scientists are working faster on this virus, and sharing their data more widely, than at any other time, using cutting-edge technology to learn how it works and how to fight it. There are already efforts under way to create a vaccine for Covid-19, and trials for various drugs to treat severe and critical cases.

The key is to buy time for science to come up with a vaccine to prevent the spread of the virus and to find effective treatments for the severe cases. It took less than a year for the SARS virus to be fully contained, and while Covid-19 has infected more people, there's still time to stop it in its tracks.

The biggest risk to professional cycling is travel restrictions because of quarantines. The summer will be unpredictable, however, with officials speculating that if the virus is not contained by May, this summer's Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan, could be cancelled.

But don't worry there's always e-racing...

See the rest here:
What is the Covid-19 coronavirus and how might it continue to affect professional cycling? - Cyclingnews.com

Stermina Therapeutics

This is another mRNA vaccine project, based at Shanghai East Hospital of Tongji University. The CEO of Stermina told Chinese state media at the end of January that manufacturing has already begun, and doses could be ready for human testing sometime in March.

Imperial College London

A team of British scientists are currently testing their own DNA-based vaccine in mice at labs in Imperial College London. The researchers are looking for funding partners to advance the candidate into human testing later this year.

Several other companies are also developing protein-based vaccines. These include:

GlaxoSmithKline (GSK)

One of the worlds leading vaccine manufacturers, GSK is lending its technology to a Chinese firm called Clover Biopharmaceuticals to work on a coronavirus vaccine. Through the partnership, Clover will be producing viral proteins, and GSK will be providing its proprietary effectiveness-boosting compounds, known as adjuvants. Neither company has provided a testing timeline.

Novavax

Novavax got a jump on the competition from its previous work developing vaccines against SARS and MERS. The Maryland-based company announced in February that it had generated several candidates comprised of recombinant protein nanoparticles derived from the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein. Company representatives said they expect to complete animal testing soon and move to the first phase of human trials by the end of spring 2020.

Altimmune

Unlike its competitors, this Maryland-based company is developing a vaccine that gets sprayed into patients noses, not injected into their arms. Best known for its nasal-spray flu vaccine, Altimmune announced in February that it had completed the design and prototyping of a vaccine against Covid-19 and is now advancing it toward animal testing and manufacturing for human trials.

Vaxart

This Bay Area biotech is the only one so far developing an oral vaccine against Covid-19. In January, the company announced plans to generate candidates based on the published genome of SARS-CoV-2, but no further timelines have been released.

Expres2ion

This Denmark-based biotech firm is leading a European consortium of vaccine developers to tackle Covid-19. It uses insect cells from fruit flies to produce viral antigens. The company aims to test its candidate vaccine in animal models later this year.

Generex Biotechnology

Four companies in China have contracted with Florida-based Generex to develop a vaccine using the companys proprietary immune-activating technology. Company representatives say it could have a candidate ready for human trials as early as June.

Vaxil Bio

This Israeli immunotherapy company normally specializes in cancer. But last month representatives announced they had discovered a combination of proteins they believe will be an effective vaccine against Covid-19. The company plans to start manufacturing doses for initial testing and looking for partners to scale up further if that goes well.

iBio

This Texas-based biotech company uses modified relatives of the tobacco plant to grow viral proteins for vaccines. The company is partnering with a Chinese vaccine maker to put its FastPharming platform to work on a Covid-19 vaccine. Company officials expect to have a candidate ready for animal testing later this summer.

Baylor College of Medicine / New York Blood Center

Peter Hotezs group is pushing for funding to test their SARS vaccine against the Covid-19. He says they already have about 20,000 doses ready to be deployed for clinical trials. These researchers are simultaneously working on developing a new vaccine from scratch, based on the binding receptor domain of the new virus, SARS-Cov-2, but that will take several years to develop.

University of Queensland

A team of Australian researchers, with funding from CEPI, have developed a vaccine candidate they say is ready to move forward into human testing. It relies on a molecular clamp technology invented in the lab of molecular virologist Keith Chappell, which helps stabilize viral proteins so they have the same shape theyd have on the surface of the virus. The group is now intending to ramp up production for clinical trials.

Go here to see the original:
Is There a Coronavirus Vaccine? Here's Everything You Need to Know - WIRED

Exponential change doesnt come from incremental improvements, according to Michael Gagne, founder and CXO (chief experience officer), ARTeSYN Biosolutions. This truth seems especially relevant in bioprocessing, where companies are frustrated with existing supply chains, which are full of pain points and resistant to being improved link by link. Companies need a comprehensive solution. To eliminate multiple pain points all at once, companies need Bioprocessing 4.0.

Gagne states that the pains driven approach to moving to a facility of the future does away with the biggest obstacle to exponential progress: complacency in supplier selection or product design. End users or original equipment manufacturers, he argues, require a push to reject these inefficiencies and respond with urgency when given a chance to collaborate on something that fits their needs and promises to advance their interests. Suppliers, he continues, should emphasize cooperation with end users, and not competition with their peers, when working toward a pains-driven solution.

Many manufacturers are stuck in trying to simply optimize what they are doing, rather than take the leap and make a paradigm shift to a facility of the future, Gagne continues. The right mindset is the key to really make this transition. That and a deep understanding of the major problems plaguing biomanufacturing today. If traditional facilities are so great, why do they inspire so little confidence among the biomanufacturers who are pioneering cell and gene therapies? Why is the next-generation facilitythe facility of the futurebecoming a standard instead of remaining an anomaly in biomanufacturing? The traditional approach has flaws that have pretty much become a natural part of biomanufacturing, but that need not be so.

Typical flaws, or pain points, are instances of downtime. According to Gagne, downtime can be caused by parts washing, cleaning validation, leakage, high hold-up volumes, kinking in single-use (SU) tubing, and human error. He adds that all these sources of downtime can be eliminated at once, provided biomanufacturers embrace an exponential approach.

We have already seen an exponential approach to the facility of the future design enabling a 10-fold reduction in the cost of setting up and running a bioprocessing facility for a global manufacturer, asserts Gagne. Thats because we didnt try to squeeze more out of the manufacturers existing solutions. Instead, we chose the more challenging route of searching for the most forward-looking single-use technology. Even with the issues accompanying single-use technology, its the far better option.

If you listen to the market and where its headed, anything short of a cutting-edge leap wont suffice, he continues. Confronting the rising wave of cell and gene therapies as a viable clinical option will require a substantial shift in the industrys approach to everything from facilities to hardware to software design. It will push end users to reconsider their reliance on decades-old technology and challenge their perception of how far single-use technology has advanced today and how to make it work for them.

More here:
Response to a 'Pains Driven' Approach to Facilities of the Future - Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News

A CORONAVIRUS vaccine won't be ready for another year - and will miss the 'first wave' of the bug, Britain's top doctor has warned.

Professor Chris Whitty said it would be "lucky" to get a booster for Covid-19 in 2020, though existing drugs could play a role.

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And the Chief Medical Officer added that even if we did get a vaccine for the deadly bug it would "not get us out of a hole now."

He said: "I think ... a year would be lucky to get this - so we will not have a vaccine available for the first wave if we have a first wave."

Despite this, Prof Whitty said other existing treatments may work in high-risk groups although they would not be "perfect".

Prof Whitty made the revelation while being grilled by MPs by the House of Commons Health and Social Care Committee on Covid-19.

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Health Secretary Matt Hancock also admitted that a vaccine to treat the deadly bug was months away.

It comes after scientists at a genetic engineering company in Texas last month claimed they had finished developing the first coronavirus vaccine.

However, they admitted it could still be two years before the vaccine is available to use as it now needs to be tested in animal experiments before human trials can begin.

Chinese doctors are also stepping up their efforts to develop a vaccine as soon as possible.

Health chiefs are relying on the summer to mitigate an outbreak in Britain, and hope that Chinese efforts will delay the spread until the weather warms up.

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They hope that coronavirus will behave like flu, which spreads far more slowly during the summer, buying time to develop a vaccine in case it returns next winter.

"Sunlight kills viruses quickly. Sars pretty much died in July and August [2003] and it's quite plausible we'll see that here," Professor Paul Hunter, of the University of East Anglia, said.

"In summer schools are closed and people are also out of doors more. If you're walking around in the sunshine you are much less likely to spread infection than if you're cramped up together to keep warm indoors."

The number of cases of Covid-19 in the UK has surged to 90 today - with three new cases confirmed in Scotland.

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Health bosses say the best way to protect yourself is to wash your hands with soap and water for the time it takes to sing Happy Birthday twice.

Happy Birthday takes about 20 seconds to sing twice and is said to be the perfect number to clean your hands to thoroughly.

You should also not touch your eyes, nose or mouth with unwashed hands and avoid close contact with people who are sick.

Cleaning and disinfecting objects and surfaces which you may have touched is also important.

Dr Daniel Atkinson, clinical lead atTreated.com, said: "Hygiene is incredibly important to ward off any viruses.

What to do if you're worried you've got coronavirus

The new coronavirus is continuing to sweep its way across the globe with Britain seeing more cases in people who aren't linked to outbreaks overseas.

Symptoms of Covid-19 can include:

In most cases, you won't know whether you have a coronavirus or a different cold-causing virus.

But if a coronavirus infection spreads to the lower respiratory tract, it can cause pneumonia, especially in older people, people with heart disease or people with weakened immune systems.

It is incredibly contagious and is spread through contact with anything the virus is on as well as infected breath, coughs or sneezes.

The best way to prevent catching any form of coronavirus is to practice good hygiene.

If you have cold-like symptoms, you can help protect others by staying home when you are sick and avoiding contact with others.

You should also cover your mouth and nose with a tissue when you cough and sneeze then throw it away and wash your hands.

Cleaning and disinfecting objects and surfaces which you may have touched is also important.

Meanwhile, leading symptom-checking provider to the NHSDoctorlinkhas been updated to help identify patients' risk of having coronavirus.

Source: NHS

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"Make sure to wash your hands thoroughly - for at least 20 seconds - and cover your mouth and nose when you cough or sneeze.

"If you can, avoid contact with sick people and avoid shaking hands with anyone displaying flu-like symptoms."

Globally, there are currently over 96,000 cases of coronavirus and more than 3,000 deaths from the bug worldwide.

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Coronavirus vaccine wont be ready for another year and will miss first wave of bug, top doc warns - The Irish Sun