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I3A researcher Jorge Júlvez is part of a research project in which they try to identify vulnerabilities of covid-19 to facilitate the development of drugs.
A group of researchers is trying to capture in a mathematical model the behavior of different human cells and that of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, the cause of the pandemic we are currently experiencing, whose objective is to study the structure of the model, identify possible vulnerabilities and predict treatments.
It is a project in which Jorge Júlvez and Álex Oarga, researchers from the I3A (Institute of Engineering Research of Aragon), at the University of Zaragoza, participate and which is directed by researcher Bridget Bannerman, from the Department of Biochemistry at the University of Cambridge, Unizar reports in a press release.
Júlvez, who is part of the DiSCo Group, R&D in Distributed Computing, explains that in this project to advance knowledge of SARS-CoV-2, his work focuses on the development of this mathematical model, which allows for an analysis structural and dynamic, "with which we can formulate hypotheses and perform simulations very quickly and compare it with the previous SARS-CoV virus."
The work in progress focuses on the study of the metabolic network of cells, the analysis of the reactions that form said network, and the evaluation of the impact that the entry of the virus has on their behavior, "they are mathematical models that serve to analyze , evaluate and predict the behavior of the system formed by the cell and the virus,” says Júlvez.
Regarding the project, he points out that they are trying to create a mathematical model that includes reactions of the human cells that the coronavirus needs to reproduce and, therefore, they study different types of cells to check how the entry of SARS-CoV-2 affects them. , and know how their behavior changes.
The research is in an exploratory phase, so remember that we must be "very cautious because the predictions of this mathematical model have to be verified in the laboratory." But, they know that by knowing the way in which cells and the virus interact, some reactions could be neutralized to prevent the reproduction of the virus in the cell and act without damaging it.
To date, a dozen reactions have been identified that could serve as targets for drug development and the aim is to extend the model to estimate the effect of possible treatments.
