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Comment by respinal | Hacker News Reader

Yes, but not better per se. I would say more adaptive or controllable (which is probably very hard to do). Nature/biology has been doing that by trial and error for years, but it takes time and it is not very efficient.

I am more interested in #2 as this could significantly improve and make robust detection/sensing systems, since viruses constantly mutate changing the binding affinities of detection/sensing systems. My background is in bioanalytical chemistry, so as soon as I read about the commonality of viral spike proteins among viruses that idea crossed my mind.

Definitely, the human body is a complex system. So if you block the viral spike protein of a virus (e.g., SARS-CoV-2), that could have some adverse effects in some people? Interesting.

Thank you for your comments! Very helpful!

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Thank you also for the discussion.

Controlling a cell population in the body is yet another great challenge!

Maybe it could be more feasible if there were two sub-systems:

1. A new virus detector, it doesn't have to be based on B cells, an implantable device could perhaps fill that role at least as a first step.

2. A platform can produce a personalized vaccine. I made a toy version of this a few years ago for peptide vaccines [0].

2.1. On the software side there are minor challenges.

2.2. On the legal aspect of a personalized vaccine, its transport and administration, it is much more complicated, those are real challenges.

[0] https://padiracinnovation.org/en/peptide_PoC/

You are welcome!

For #1, I totally agree, used B cells as an example, and also implantable devices/sensors could bring more challenges (foreign body response, encapsulation, a big issue for implantable sensors). I am thinking more of a new virus detector that can be used in vitro or outside that can automatically adapt to viral changes (mutations). Let's call it "molecular morphing" virus detector, if you will (https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Principles-of-the-molecu...).

For #2, sweet! Thanks for sharing! The new virus detection platform could be used to create personalized vaccines, yes.

For #2.1, oh. Software can definitively do things faster like try million iterations until they find the "perfect match" or strong bond (from my previous comments) for viral spike proteins.

For #2.2, also agree, I am more interested in the detection/screening side of things for diseases in general.

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