In this South Asian country, it is easy to find similar shrines dedicated to Covid-19 and other plagues. “Goddess Corona is the only hope” Since the outbreak of the pandemic, India has recorded more than 27 million cases and more than 322,000 deaths from Covid-19. The latest outbreak that began in March has left the country’s health system in crisis because of a lack of hospital beds and oxygen. In states like Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Assam, women gather near temples or under sacred trees to worship the corona virus, which is realized in the form of a goddess known as “Corona Maa”. . They sit around in a circle and perform rituals, offering milk, coconuts, flowers and sweets to the deity. Some chanted prayers to appease the goddess’ wrath. Bimla Kumari, a resident of Patna, the capital of Bihar state, said: “We are worshiping ‘Corona Maa’ so that our family members remain safe from the virus. The goddess’s wrath will be appeased with offerings, for she is an angry goddess, not a benevolent goddess. The hospitals are overcrowded and the government doesn’t care. So the goddess is our only hope.” After worshiping “Corona Maa” under a banyan tree with his friends, Kumari said “luckily, everyone gathered here today is healthy”. Monks perform a prayer ritual before the god “Corona Devi” at Kamatchipuri Adhinam temple in Coimbatore city to ask for blessings and help people overcome the Covid-19 pandemic. Photo: AFP. In India, there is a long tradition that in times of disaster, people turn to faith to alleviate suffering. The worshipers of Sheetla Mata – the goddess of smallpox – believed that she would protect them from the disease by killing the demons believed to cause it. Goddess Sheetla Mata is said to be the reincarnation of the Hindu goddess Durga. A 300-year-old temple in Gurgaon, near New Delhi, is dedicated to this goddess Sheetla Mata. In addition, some other temples specialize in praying for healing. These places worship male deities, for example Vaitheeswaran temple in the town of Mayiladuthurai in the state of Tamil Nadu. Here, devotees pray before the incarnation of Lord Shiva. Mahadeva Temple in Kerala state is where devotees come to cure epilepsy and chronic asthma. In the Tumkur district of neighboring Karnataka state, cancer patients regularly visit the Areyuru Vaidhyanatheshwara temple. They believe that this temple can cure them without treatment with modern medicine. The Pataleshwar Temple in the city of Muradabad, Uttar Pradesh – now closed due to the pandemic – is often a popular destination for people with skin diseases. Many pilgrims come here to ask for blessings by bringing brooms as offerings or sweeping the floors of the temple. Broom shops near temples are usually very expensive on weekends. After offering, most brooms are returned to the seller and continue to be sold to the next person. Elsewhere in the state of Uttar Pradesh, a hand pump at the Jagnewa Hanuman temple pumps up water that many believe has healing powers. Believers believe that a saint touched the pump and infused it with healing powers. They take water in a glass bottle and pour it over the patient’s body in the belief that they will be cured. Anant Kumar, a local, said: ‘My daughter’s chronic asthma – a disease that modern medicine could not cure for many years – disappeared within a month after she took it. water is taken from this manual pump”. Monks worship idols of god Shiva and goddess Parvati at a temple in Prayagraj city, India. Photo: AP. Cultural traditions or superstition? Millions of Indians place their trust in such “healing” temples. Meanwhile, many people are still skeptical about this and think that this is superstition. Harsh Bhagnani, an engineer in Mumbai, said: “Healing temples are just as effective as a placebo for fanatics. Curative therapies should be rooted in modern science and medicine.” Some opponents of these temples argue that the reason people flock here is because the health care system in India is not focused on investment. According to the results of the Human Development Report 2020 of the United Nations Development Program, India ranks 155 out of 167 countries in terms of the number of hospital beds available to meet people’s needs. The country-specific rate is 5 hospital beds and 8.6 doctors per 10,000 population. However, for RP Mitra, a professor of anthropology at Delhi University, these religious rituals are deeply rooted in the Indian subconscious. Indian hospitals are overwhelmed by the second wave of Covid-19, with shortages of hospital beds and medical oxygen. Photo: Reuters. “These temples are a fulcrum, helping believers in times of insecurity, fear, and suffering caused by deadly diseases. The temples can be seen as a supernatural complex.” Professor Mitra analyzed. He said religious people may still want to receive divine blessings and still have faith in modern medicine, as the two are not necessarily mutually exclusive. “Whether it’s traditional Chinese medicine or ancient therapies practiced across countries like Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal or India, religious beliefs have always been incorporated into traditional medicine,” he said. said more. Countries rush to send medical supplies to India Before the request for support from India, some countries rushed to send medical equipment, including ventilators and oxygen generators, to support the South Asian country in fighting the Covid-19 pandemic.

How to get rid of Miss Vi? To get out of pandemics like Co Vi, it is now clear that it is not possible to rely solely on social distancing measures and aggressively tracing the virus. Closures and tracing are very important measures, and the Vietnamese government has excelled in the early stages of fighting the epidemic with these measures alone. But in an open world, the border door can’t close no matter how hard it is, tracking the ghost of Co Vi successfully this time but still wondering when it will come back. But if you keep busy with “national resistance”, “defensive counterattack”, you will be hungry all the time. Relying on medical treatment is even worse, because firstly, there is no medicine to guarantee that 100% of people infected with Co Vi will survive; the second (and more important) is that when there is an outbreak, the health system simply collapses, you have very little chance of being hospitalized, and if you do get into the hospital, there will be no more oxygen to breathe. . Some of my friends whispered to each other (=Phew) measures to eradicate Co Vi such as drinking hot water, eating garlic, steaming with leaves, or simply… fiercely drinking! If you apply it to yourself, it won’t hurt anyone other than your spouse, children, or grandchildren, but I beg you not to incite Phai to do the same, because that is verbal karma. Miss Vi is “contagious or dead” and our way out Co Vi’s principle of existence (and many other infectious viruses) is “infect or die”. Viruses are not cells, so they cannot reproduce outside of the body, and when outside the body, Co Vi does not last long. When the majority of the population is immune, the probability of transmitting Co Vi decreases, even those who are not immune are protected, the epidemic will be basically extinguished. This is the phenomenon of “herd immunity”, which has long been observed and concluded by scientists with many previous pandemics. Herd immunity can occur during natural epidemics. After about 70% of the population has been infected with Co Vi, about 1-5% will die, the rest will become immune. Assuming Vietnam followed this model, it would have to sacrifice about a million people. Certainly most of us disagree with this measure. There is another way that does not require such sacrifices to achieve herd immunity, which is to vaccinate the majority of the population. Immune cells can be “trained” to recognize Co Vi by the S protein molecule on its surface. When real Co Vi invades, immune cells secrete antibodies that “lock hands” with these S proteins. Co Vi’s protein S mimics the body’s ACE (angiotensin-converting enzyme) molecular structure to adhere to cell surfaces. If protein S is surrounded by antibodies, then Co Vi also “botay.com”. Not everyone wants a vaccine But in the world there is a part of people who think they will not get vaccinated. Some even think that this is a conspiracy of certain forces to invest a lot of money to profit on the sacrifice of their fellow human beings. Others will not go for injections because they find it annoying, or afraid of spending money. Attitude to vaccination is a personal choice, but is greatly influenced by social relations, by the community to which the individual belongs. Here, I would like to introduce two social issues that have a great influence on the attitude to accept vaccination, which have been analyzed quite meticulously by sociologists. 1. Religion and vaccines (Main reference: Pelcic et al 2016. Religious exception for vaccination or religious excuses for avoiding vaccination Croat Med J 56(5):516-521) Religious beliefs have a huge influence on vaccination acceptance attitudes. All major religions have favorable attitudes towards vaccination. The first precept of Buddhism is abstaining from killing, so Buddhists accept vaccinations to keep themselves and others healthy. On the other hand, Buddhism considers all species to be non-killing beings, and believes that humans can also be reincarnated into other beings. Thus killing animals for vaccine research may be contrary to Buddha’s teachings. The Catholic Church does not prohibit vaccination. Historically, Catholic and Anglican missionaries (Catholics in England and some former British colonies) have inoculated with smallpox in North America. Today’s development of biomedical research leads to an issue that may contradict Catholic doctrine, which is that some vaccines are produced on cultured cell lines of fetal origin, specifically Meruvax. , Rudivax and MR-VAX (Rubella prophylaxis), A-VAQTA and HAVRIX (hepatitis A), Varivax (chickenpox), and Polivax (smallpox). But when there are no other vaccines to choose from, parishioners are still encouraged to vaccinate to protect young children and the community, especially pregnant women. In Islam, food is divided into two categories, halal is allowed, and haram is not. Pork is haram, so pharmaceuticals that use gelatin (a glue made from animal skin including pig skin) should not be used. However, the Koran also speaks of “law of necessity”, in case the believer does not have a halal to choose from, forcing the use of haram will not be considered a sin. Immunizations are meant to protect life, as “izalat aldharar” (prevention of harm), and “maslahat al ummah” (for the public good). So even if a certain vaccine is related to pigs, it is still possible to apply “forced law when necessary”. Some religions or religious sects may be anti-vaccination. Protestantism does not have a central system, so local churches have very different attitudes on vaccination. Some Protestant priests do not raise the issue of vaccinations in their sermons because they think this is a generally accepted attitude of the whole society. Others leave it to the laity to interpret and choose their attitude towards vaccines. Still others have publicly condemned vaccines, arguing that vaccination is an intervention against God’s will (interfering with Divine Providence). 2. Belief in science and attitudes towards vaccines Key references: Sturgis et al. Trust in science, social consensus and vaccine confidence. Nature Human Behaviour May 17, 2021. This is a study published last week by three authors Patrick Sturgis, Ian Brunton-Smith and Jonathan Jackson from the London School of Economics and Politics (LSE), the University of Surrey (UK) and the University of Sydney Law School (Australia). . https://www.nature.com/articles/s41562-021-01115-7.pdf. The authors analyze data obtained from the Wellcome Global Monitor (Gallup Institute) survey, conducted since 2018 (before the Covid-19 pandemic), about people’s trust in science and the attitude to accept vaccines in Vietnam. 144 countries. The average number of participants in each country was 1000, with China, India and Russia alone being sampled 2000 people from each country. In this poll, the global average result is that more than four-fifths of the population believe in science, the highest in North America, Western Europe, Australia and New Zealand, the lowest in South America, Eastern Europe and Africa. Chau. The percentage of men who believe in science is higher than that of women. Scientific trust is also higher among the educated and high-income population. In countries where the gap between rich and poor is low, there is often high scientific trust. Regarding the attitude of accepting vaccines, about 92% of the global population think that vaccination of children is necessary, 78% think that vaccines are safe, and 84% think that vaccines are effective. This attitude also varies markedly across countries. Again, this is the result of an investigation from 2018, that is, about vaccines in general, not just the vaccine against Co Vi. Next, the authors analyzed the correlation between trust in science and vaccine acceptance attitude. A major part of the results can be illustrated by Figure 1, where countries are divided into five groups according to the assessment of science trust and vaccine acceptance from high to low (left to right). In the highest group, the consensus between scientific belief and vaccine acceptance attitude is highest (blue graph has the steepest slope). This correlation decreases, in the lowest group, the graph is horizontal, which means that there is almost no consensus between scientific beliefs and vaccine acceptance attitudes. Illustration: The relationship between scientific beliefs and vaccine acceptance attitudes. Credit: Nature Human Behaviour 2021. Someone may counter that “I know Mr. A is very rich and Mr. B is highly educated, but neither of them accept vaccines”. Please answer that the above research results are based on the science of statistical probability. That is, the results are only true for the majority, not necessarily for individuals. And statistical probability also tells us that when we deduce from a few particular observations to apply to the majority, the probability of right/wrong can be only 50/50.

Security guards stand guard outside the Wuhan Institute of Virology (China)Source: South China Morning Post Recently, Mr. Chris Said, a data scientist, a member of the House of Representatives of Malta, posted on Twitter a list of viruses that have accidentally escaped from laboratories so far. According to him, SARS-CoV-1, the virus that caused the outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) in 29 countries around the world in 2003, had leaked from several Asian laboratories. The first time SARS-1 “escaped” was in August 2003 at the National University of Singapore. The second time happened in December 2003 in Taiwan (China). The results of the investigation showed that a SARS scientist in Taiwan handled the leaked biological waste without wearing gloves, masks or gowns. In April 2004, SARS-1 escaped from the National Institute of Virology of China. The H1N1 bird flu virus first appeared in the world in 1918, causing a global pandemic. In 1977, the virus “re-emerged” and many believe it was the result of a leak from a laboratory. That lab is said to be working on a way to produce a live attenuated vaccine in response to the threat of a global flu pandemic. Martin Furmanski, a researcher at the Scientific Working Group on Biological and Chemical Weapons (USA), wrote in a 2014 report that authorities do not want to disclose the laboratory origin of H1N1 because worried about affecting virus research cooperation between countries. “Virilologists and public health officials quickly realized that the most likely source (of H1N1) was a lab leak, but they agreed not to make this public,” Furmanski wrote. Foot-and-mouth disease emerged in the UK in 2007, about 4km from a biosafety level 4 laboratory in the Pirbright area. The results of the investigation showed that the construction vehicles were carrying sludge contaminated with the virus from a faulty sewage line in Pirbright, Italian newspaper The Print reported on May 31. Smallpox virus leaked from two prestigious smallpox laboratories in the UK. The first occurred in 1972 at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. The second case was recorded in 1978 at the Birmingham Medical School. Continuing to investigate the origin of COVID-19 In recent days, world opinion has heated up again about the origin of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes the global pandemic COVID-19. On May 13, a group of 18 scientists published in the journal Science (Science) of the United States, calling for a more thorough investigation of the origin of SARS-CoV-2. They believe that the hypotheses about the accidental release of the virus from the laboratory and natural transmission are both possible in reality. Earlier, in March, a team of experts sent by the World Health Organization (WHO) to China concluded that the hypothesis of a laboratory leak was “extremely unlikely” in reality. However, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that the team’s assessment of whether SARS-CoV-2 could emerge in the community after a laboratory incident was “not broad enough” and request further investigation. Even America’s top medical expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, who once denied the lab leak theory, now says he doesn’t believe the virus evolved naturally. US President Joe Biden has ordered the US intelligence community to investigate the origins of COVID-19, after new surveillance results showed there was a possibility of a pandemic after SARS-CoV-2 leaked from the laboratory. experience in China, American newspaper The Wall Street Journal reported on May 27. The White House came under pressure to investigate on its own after China told the WHO that its part of the investigation had been completed, and efforts to trace the source of the virus should turn to other countries. President Biden wants the US intelligence community to produce a report on the origin of COVID-19 within 90 days. He said that US intelligence focuses on two scenarios, SARS-CoV-2 comes from human contact with an infected animal or from a laboratory incident. Earlier, a US intelligence report wrote that three researchers at China’s Wuhan Institute of Virology became so sick in November 2019 that they had to be hospitalized. In December 2019, China reported its first cases of COVID-19. “This questions the credibility of the claim by veteran researcher Shi Zhengli of the Wuhan Institute of Virology that there is no transmission of SARS-CoV-2 or SARS-related viruses among staff and students. of the Wuhan Institute of Virology”, American newspaper USA Today May 24, citing documents from the US State Department. However, the intelligence report on 3 Chinese researchers seriously ill The Wall Street Journal The mention is not conclusive evidence that SARS-CoV-2 leaked from the lab, and the intelligence community still doesn’t know for sure what illness they have, CNN reported.

Researchers wear protective gear at the Wuhan Institute of Virology. Photo: Xinhua US President Joe Biden announced last week that the US intelligence community had questioned two possible origins of the COVID-19 pandemic: “Human contact with infected animals or a laboratory incident. “. He ordered a new investigation “to bring us closer to a final conclusion”. According to Bloomberg, no matter where the investigation leads, the history of laboratory safety shows that leakage of pathogens has happened, sometimes with deadly consequences. Smallpox virus leak By the late 1970s, smallpox had been eradicated from the wild, but research on the disease continues in several laboratories around the world, including one in Birmingham (UK). where a virulent strain of smallpox virus is handled. In the summer of 1978, a medical photographer working there named Janet Parker became ill. When pustules spread on her body, the local doctor diagnosed it as a severe case of smallpox. Victim Janet Parker in the smallpox virus leak from the laboratory. It was the third leak of the smallpox virus in that decade from a UK laboratory. The British government has drastically stopped the outbreak by urgently isolating hundreds of people and vaccinating many others. Thanks to those efforts, only one other person became infected, and that was Parker’s mother. However, the female photographer experienced a painful, lonely death in quarantine, and is believed to be the last known fatal victim of smallpox. But there are other victims of the incident. At that time the press mentioned the director of the laboratory in Birmingham, a smallpox virus expert named Henry Bedson. Although there was no evidence, the media still blamed him for the incident. Quarantined at home and in despair, Bedson slit his own throat and died shortly thereafter. The British government has organized a thorough investigation into the outbreak. An investigation found Mr Bedson may not have followed adequate safety procedures and speculated that Parker contracted smallpox from a virus that leaked into the gas pipeline. Technicians at a laboratory in Rockville, Maryland (USA), where smallpox vaccine is produced. A lawsuit later dismissed this explanation, and raised the disturbing possibility that Parker herself had entered one of the workspaces without proper protection. To this day, the debate over the Parker incident remains unresolved. Anthrax spores from the lab When laboratories let pathogens leak in a secret environment, it is much harder to confirm the source of the outbreak. A case in point is the anthrax outbreak in Sverdlovsk, a rather isolated city in the former Soviet Union. In 1979, rumors of anthrax killing dozens, even thousands, began to spread to the West. Later that year, Soviet newspapers confirmed some reports, noting that more than 100 people had contracted anthrax after eating contaminated meat, and over 60 had died. It was a tragedy, but perhaps unavoidable because anthrax is readily apparent in local animal populations. However, US intelligence officials are not convinced by that. Satellite images show disinfecting truck-like objects around the city, with a significant focus of activity on a mysterious military facility known as Complex 19. CIA analysts have reported hypothesized that the Soviet Union leaked a weaponized form of anthrax. The Soviets reacted indignantly to this allegation. In 1980, Russia’s official news agency Itar Tass published a rebuttal titled “A Seed of Deception,” accusing the US of making false statements to gain geopolitical advantage. Sverdlovsk was once one of the military secret cities of the Soviet era. Then, under the administration of President Ronald Reagan, the CIA sought to better handle what happened. They asked Matthew Meselson, a distinguished geneticist at Harvard who worked on the bioweapons ban program, to directly assess the evidence. Mr. Meselson was not convinced by the US intelligence findings. In the 1980s, he rejected another theory that the Soviet Union used some kind of fungal weapon in Laos – and he initially held the same view on the anthrax case, endorsing the main explanation. information from the Soviet Union, with one important caveat: Without a thorough investigation in Sverdlovsk, it would be impossible to know for certain what happened. Essentially, Mr. Meselson supported the explanation that the meat was tainted, judging it to be “completely reasonable and consistent” based on what was known about anthrax. He also arranged meetings with Soviet scientists to add credence to this interpretation, with slides of pathology samples taken from the victims. The US intelligence community, however, remains skeptical. And in this case, the intelligence agencies, not the scientists, turned out to be right. After the breakup of the Soviet Union, Meselson and other researchers finally had access to pathological samples taken from the victims’ lungs, which showed they had died from inhaling anthrax spores. Subsequent revelations added to the picture of what happened. Turns out Complex 19 is a biological weapons facility. Here they produce anthrax spores. According to the Laboratory Director of Complex 19 at the time, a filter connected to the spore dryer was clogged. This still happens often. The military officer in charge left a message for his replacement on the next shift but did not enter the logbook as is customary. When it came to the next shift, the replacement team looked at the notebook, saw nothing, and restarted the purifier. A series of anthrax spores quickly spread throughout the vicinity. Mr. Meselson eventually pieced together all the data and published a paper in the journal Science, which combined wind data with interviews, pathological samples and other evidence to describe the outbreak. Coal killed more than 60 people. That was in 1994, 15 years after the incident. Mysterious flu virus leak In addition, there is another incident that took place in the Soviet Union that is still a mystery. In the same decade that witnessed the leaks of smallpox in Britain and anthrax in the Soviet Union, there was also an unusual strain of flu at the time, called H1N1. Laboratory virus leaks have had deadly consequences. Photo: Atlantis In 1977, an H1N1 outbreak broke out on the border between China and the Soviet Union. The epidemic eventually spread worldwide that year, causing an unusual proportion of young patients. The mortality rate from epidemics is relatively low compared to some strains of influenza. But that’s not the problem. The worrying aspect of the epidemic is that this particular strain of H1N1 has not been present since 1950, when it was superseded by other strains of influenza. The appearance of that kind of “back in time” was confusing. Some researchers speculate that the virus may have “escaped” from a laboratory in the Soviet Union or China, but both countries deny this theory. However, the matter remains a puzzle for virologists. Many theories have been born and come to explain the so-called “frozen evolution”, among which the most prominent is the hypothesis that the virus spread to humans from a laboratory, possibly testing a vaccine to neutralize the disease. swine flu. A scientist involved in the development of a vaccine. Photo: Reuters The exact origin of COVID-19 may not be known All of the above incidents occurred in the 1970s. Laboratory safety was expected to have improved since then, but that has not always been the case. After the SARS outbreak in 2003, laboratories around the world began studying the virus. Since that time, there have been no less than 6 laboratory leaks of SARS. The first occurred at the National University of Singapore, where a student contracted the virus from a sample of the virus. This was followed by an incident in Taiwan/China, where a researcher contracted the virus, possibly during the disinfection of waste products from the laboratory. After that, several leaks happened at the National Institute of Virology of China. In one incident, a researcher infected her mother with the virus, and she died of SARS. In all cases, human negligence, mainly exacerbated by inadequate safety protocols, was the cause of the pathogen leakage. History has supported the theories being put forward that the current COVID-19 pandemic may not have a natural origin, but we are not in a position to rush into judgment. When it comes to lab leaks, the investigation and review process often takes a long time, and sometimes the answers remain unsatisfactory and incomplete. In the case of the COVID pandemic, we must prepare for the possibility that the world may never know the exact origins of a pandemic that has claimed millions of lives.

And then, Salk appeared as a savior with a vaccine that he tested directly on himself and family members. Just two years after Salk’s vaccine became widely available, the number of polio cases has dropped to just one in ten. Salk may have made a fortune from his invention but instead, he donated it to humanity, because in his opinion it is the intellectual property of the common people, like the sun, no one has exclusive rights to own the sun. . Rolling Stone magazine painting depicts pharmaceutical companies as a large vulture profiting from COVID-19. Comparing vaccines to the sun is a linguistic error on Salk’s part, because the sun is a product of the universe (or god), and vaccines are not. In the 18th century, the doctor Edward Jenner made a boy immune to smallpox by taking fluid from the wound of a woman who had had cowpox (a cowpox disease) and injected him, from That was the first time a vaccine was created. While injecting wound fluid from one person into another does not qualify Jenner for any patents, most vaccines today are much more complicated and require a team of experts to spend months, even even years of research and testing. In other words, vaccines are a human invention. However, Salk’s comparison only implies his belief that, in essence, the purpose of science is to serve humanity unconditionally. Salk’s story deserves a repeat at a time when the Biden government has a desire to remove intellectual property rights over vaccines so that poor countries can also access this knowledge and save lives. its citizens. But, many European countries objected. Even the leaders of giant pharmaceutical corporations also objected. They say the move will stifle and destroy the motivation to improve vaccines for businesses and scientists working for them. And they are absolutely correct. Profit is a reward for those who deserve it. Frederick Winslow Taylor, known as the father of scientific management, at the beginning of the 20th century put forward a theory that greatly influenced production systems around the world. Its basic is: money is the motivator. Although there have been many theories with ideas that go against it, after all, it is not Cuba Gooding, Jr. got a supporting role in the movie “Jerry McGuire” thanks to a scene in the phone shouting to the male lead Tom Cruise: “Show me my money!” or what? We all love that line and it’s classic because it’s so real, so raw, so true. Money and profits are very important. Drug companies cannot be told to sacrifice their profits when, as the New York Times puts it, “pharmaceutical corporations are addicted to huge profits”. Calculating from 2000-2018, the world’s 35 largest pharmaceutical corporations alone generated $11.5 trillion in revenue and a net profit of $8.6 trillion. The pharmaceutical industry’s net profit margin is higher than any other industry. And it’s been like that since the mid-1950s. In “Pharmaceuticals: Greed, Lies, and Poisoning America,” author and investigative journalist Gerald Posner recounts the stories of the early days of some of the biggest pharmaceutical giants and how they built their empire. As a story happened in 1990, German company Bayer released a “divine” pain reliever aspirin with a name inspired by “hero” in German. They promote it as a treatment for a dozen diseases: colds, coughs, asthma, epilepsy, stomach cancer, multiple sclerosis, bipolar disorder. They also claim that it is safe for children. Are you curious to know what kind of medicine that cures all diseases is no different from the drugs advertised by quacks on Facebook? Please, that drug is… heroin. Or another story during World War II, when the advent of antibiotics helped pharmaceutical companies to get rid of the reputation of specializing in producing addictive drugs to become pioneers in saving lives, these companies immediately applied for a patent for a series of antibiotics that could be used for many health problems and created a frenzy for doctors to prescribe antibiotics for 90% of the cases when patients came to see them, even though they did not practice them. the need for antibiotics to cure the disease. The disastrous consequences of the antibiotic craze are now starting to become more pronounced. But, that’s okay, for the pharmaceutical companies, it’s important that they make a profit. Profit may not be Salk’s driving force, but it is the driving force of pharmaceutical companies. But today’s world is also much more complicated than before, it is difficult for single individuals to create a specific power because the world is operated by corporations with centipedes growing all over the globe. We can’t tell tigers not to eat meat, that’s their nature and we can’t ask big pharmaceutical companies to be as “humane” as Salk. Illustration of “polio soldier” Jonas Salk on the cover of Time magazine. Pharmaceutical companies also argue that removing patents with COVID-19 vaccines will set a bad precedent and cause many other inventions to be removed in the future. But, they never questioned the fact that, constantly applying for patents also makes everything patentable, even the human genes – which are inherently natural – become obsolete. become someone’s intellectual property. In 2012, a case caused a stir when the biotech company Myriad Genetics was sued for holding a patent for two genes related to ovarian and breast cancer, BRCA1 and BRCA2. They weren’t the only ones at the time who possessed the gene. About 20% of the human genome was then owned by a corporation or a scientist. The petitioner argued that Myriad could not possess genes just as one could not own gold. But, Myriad compared the gene to a baseball bat, although it has natural materials, but cutting out which gene segment is a scientific choice. After many long years, finally Myriad lost the patent but let’s imagine for many years, the gene in our body belongs to someone’s intellectual property, which is very absurd but still blatantly exists. . And after all, does removing some research patents hurt scientists’ motivation to do research? Roentgen refused to apply for a patent for X-rays and what was his reason? His excuse was that it would limit the progress of this discovery! And instead of damaging the motivation for research, his later successors in the field of radioactivity were Marie Curie and Pierre Curie, who were honored not only for their discovery of radium, nor for them. not only because they found radium at the expense of their health, but also because they found radium. Traded his health but gave it away to the world for nothing. You could say Roentgen was already a millionaire by inheriting the family fortune so he didn’t need more money but Marie Curie was different, she was later unable to buy 1 gram of radium, the element she discovered herself. But she never regretted it. Marie Curie said: “Radium is not meant to enrich anyone. Radium is an element and it belongs to man.” Roentgen or Marie Curie are still single individuals. We have the right to hope in the noble hearts of single individuals, but we should not hope in the kindness of tigers, should not hope in the noble hearts of corporations.

Panoramic views of Roosevelt Island and the Cornell Tech neighborhood, including the Graduate Hotel in New York City. (Source: CNN) The Graduate Roosevelt Island Hotel – a complex of 224 rooms – will open to welcome guests on June 1. Located at the entrance to Cornell Tech’s innovative new campus, the 18-story tower will be the 29th campus of the Graduate brand and the first in New York. “To be able to open up a hotel in New York City that has its origins in a large university campus like Cornell, the door,” said David Rochefort, President of Graduate Hotels, and alumni of Cornell University. New York City’s entry to technology is truly a unique opportunity for us ”. The Cornell Tech area – which first opened in 2017 – opened up a new chapter for Roosevelt Island, which was once known as a prison complex, a smallpox hospital and a mad asylum. Those few glorious historical days still leave traces on this island. But have now been replaced with modern buildings popping up at Cornell Tech. The Graduate hotel chain breaks the past and present, at the same time changes the world’s view of the island’s history, and towards a more modern future. Entering the hotel, visitors will be overwhelmed by the unique design of the lobby, described as the combination of contemporary elements that interfere with education. President Rochefort also shared: “We like the idea that the hotel lobby will be as reminiscent of the past as possible. So one of the things we did was install a long row of textbook models over the entire backdrop of the hallway. Unique hall design intersects modernity and education of Graduate hotel on Roosevelt Island, New York. (Source: CNN) The highlight that makes the hotel space more joyful than ever is the work of a giant boy wearing glasses pilot holding a light bulb on the front desk. This is a famous sculpture by artist Hebru Brantley depicting Flyboy. The hotel’s key card is designed to resemble Cornell University’s entrance card to complete a style inspired by the long history of this prestigious school. According to the description, the building’s architecture optimizes views of Manhattan Island and the Queens area so visitors can fully enjoy New York City. This is the genius idea of ​​top design firms like Snøhetta and Stonehill Taylor. Interior of the Graduate Roosevelt Island hotel room. (Source: CNN) Deep into the residential area, the Graduate Hotel is accented with striped motifs and lighting fixtures inspired by a Cornell University science project. The most creative of all is the design of a spotlight that can perform Morse code after this school’s famous song. The place that stands out as a crown of the Graduate Hotel is the futuristic modern-style rooftop bar. The event space here will have a panoramic view and the menu is made by the most famous restaurants in New York City – Med Abrous and Marc Rose -. Visitors can visit Roosevelt Island by F boat, NYC Ferry, car or the iconic red cable car. The Roosevelt Island Cable Car is an aerial cable car in New York City that spans the East River and connects Roosevelt Island with Manhattan’s upper east. The first airborne route in North America, opened in 1976 and since then, more than 26 million passengers have traveled by this vehicle. Unique cable car design for traveling between downtown New York and Roosevelt Island. (Source: CNN) The cable car consists of two capsule-shaped compartments that run back and forth on two parallel cable lines. This is one of the few forms of high volume transportation in New York City that is not operated by the Urban Transportation Authority. The Covid-19 pandemic demonstrated a boon for the isolated real estate of Roosevelt Island as many families recently moved to this secluded area to stay away from the pandemic. The Graduate Hotel on Roosevelt Island is nothing more than a “building with a magical vibe, and visitors will immediately fall in love as soon as they step into the lobby”.