Around 10 years ago, some-where on the campus of the Hogwarts-like St Xavier’s College in Mumbai, a graduate student of microbiology and biochemistry, told his friends that he wanted to become that guy who gets called in when there is an outbreak. Those words proved prophetic as Dr Arinjay Banerjee, 29, is today part of a team of researchers in Canada that is trying to find a cure for Covid-19.
Kolkata-born Banerjee, along with Dr Samira Mubareka and Dr Robert Kozak of Sunnybrook Research Institute and the University of Toronto, isolated SARSCoV-2, the virus behind the current pandemic. “Having completed my PhD on bats and MERS coronavirus [at the University of Saskatchewan], I had the necessary expertise to culture this virus,”said Banerjee, a Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada-funded postdoctoral research fellow at the McMaster University in Ontario. “Dr Mubareka, who is an infectious diseases physician and researcher, spoke with me and we decided to try and isolate the virus from clinical specimens [from patients]. Dr Kozak [clinical microbiologist] also enabled us as part of the team and eventually confirmed the presence of the virus using his diagnostic tests after we had cultured it. It was a tremendous team effort.”
Esta historia es de la edición March 29, 2020 de THE WEEK.
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A golden girl
One of India's most formidable beauties passed away earlier this month. The odd thing is she would absolutely hate this obituary; she hated being written about and avoided publicity for all of her nine decades. Indira Aswani was 93 when she died. But anyone who encountered her, even briefly, was in such awe of her grace and poise, and one could not but remember her forever.
The interest in wine is growing delightfully in India
The renowned British wine writer and television presenter Jancis Robinson, 74, recently came to Delhi and Mumbai to reacquaint herself with India's wine industry. This was the Robinson's fourth visit to India; the last one was seven years ago. On this trip, Robinson and her husband, restaurateur Nicholas Lander, were hosted by the Taj Hotels and Sonal Holland, India's only Master of Wine.
United in the states
Indian-Americans coming together under the Democratic umbrella could get Harris over the line in key battlegrounds
COVER DRIVE
Usage-driven motor insurance policies offer several benefits
GDP as the only measure of progress is illogical
Dasho Karma Ura, one of the world's leading happiness experts, has guided Bhutan's unique gross national happiness (GNH) project. He uses empirical data to show that money cannot buy happiness in all circumstances, rather it is family and health that have the strongest positive effect on happiness. Excerpts from an interview:
India is not a controlling big brother
Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay considers India a benevolent elder sibling as the \"big brotherly attitude\" is happily missing from bilateral ties. He thinks the relationship shared by the two countries has become a model of friendship not just for the region, but for the entire world. \"India's attitude is definitely not of a big brother who is controlling and does not allow the little brother to blossom and grow,\" says Tobgay in an exclusive interview with THE WEEK.
Comrade with no foes
Lal Salaam, Comrade Yechury-you were quite a guy!
Pinning down saffron
In her first political bout, Vinesh Phogat rides on the anti-BJP sentiment across Haryana
MAKE IN MANIPUR
Home-made rockets and weapons from across the border are escalating the conflict
SAHEB LOSES STEAM
Coalition dynamics and poor electoral prospects continue to diminish Ajit Pawar's political stock