The future of vaccines may look more like eating a salad than getting a shot in the arm. UC Riverside scientists are studying whether they can turn edible plants like lettuce into mRNA vaccine factories.

Messenger RNA or mRNA technology, used in COVID-19 vaccines, works by teaching our cells to recognize and protect us against infectious diseases.

One of the challenges with this new technology is that it must be kept cold to maintain stability during transport and storage. If this new project is successful, plant-based mRNA vaccines — which can be eaten — could overcome this challenge with the ability to be stored at room temperature.

The project’s goals, made possible by a $500,000 grant from the National Science Foundation, are threefold: showing that DNA containing the mRNA vaccines can be successfully delivered into the part of plant cells where it will replicate, demonstrating the plants can produce enough mRNA to rival a traditional shot, and finally, determining the right dosage.

“Ideally, a single plant would produce enough mRNA to vaccinate a single person,” said Juan Pablo Giraldo, an associate professor in UCR’s Department of Botany and Plant Sciences who is leading the research, done in collaboration with scientists from UC San Diego and Carnegie Mellon University.

“We are testing this approach with spinach and lettuce and have long-term goals of people growing it in their own gardens,” Giraldo said. “Farmers could also eventually grow entire fields of it.”

https://news.ucr.edu/articles/2021/09/16/grow-and-eat-your-own-vaccines

December 1st, 2021

Global Q3-2021 TV unit shipments declined 14.7% from the same period in 2020, and are expected to drop further in Q4-2021 in most regions of the world as the lingering effects of supply chain disruptions continue into the Holidays, according to data recently issued by market research firm TrendForce.

The firm’s latest full-year TV shipment forecasts show global unit shipment volume down year-over-year by more than 10% for the full year and down 12% for the second half of 2021.

According to TrendForce data, quarterly TV shipments in Q3-2021 came in at 52.51 million units, down 14.7% from last year, when pandemic related lock downs and government stimulus measures boosted demand beyond normally predictable levels.

It is interesting how carefully it is all arranged.

From today, telecom operators are obliged to provide free connection to socially significant sites. So far, the law means "State services", sites of state bodies and local governments, as well as social networks ("VKontakte", "Odnoklassniki", "Moi Mir"), services of "Yandex", sites of Russian Railways, some banks, TV channels and the media, largest online shops, forums, museums and libraries. The detailed list includes about 800 sites.

Users do not have to pay for traffic when connecting to these sites, this includes mobile networks.

In case of a zero balance, the subscriber will also be able to access the resources.

List includes around 90% of sites that normal people are using everyday, and note that it does not have any western sites.