LAB IN THE BOX🦠🔬🧪

Hi Folks!! Follow our blog on  Instagram . BECAUSE IT IS SHAPE-SHIFTING Most vaccines induce our body to make antibodies to fight different pathogens, but HIV disguises itself so that  even if we make antibodies, the virus changes to escape them.  Early vaccine candidates targeted the envelope protein that encapsulates the virus genome. When we found that antibodies against the envelope protein didn't work, then we thought, maybe we could target different parts of the virus that induce T cells, which kill infected cells. However because the virus integrates itself into the host genome, the T cells didn't recognize the viruses as separate from hosts.  LIMITATIONS OF CURRENT TECHNOLOGY Because the virus itself integrates into host DNA, it limits the vaccine platforms we can use. We traditionally have used live attenuated vaccines for different viral diseases like measles, mumps, and rubella, but we can't use that for HIV because of the concern that live attenuated virus could

Hi Folks!! Follow our blog on Instagram  LAB IN THE BOX Proxima Centauri b: A Super-Earth Neighbor and the Quest for Habitability Proxima Centauri b, orbiting the star Proxima Centauri, stands as one of the most intriguing exoplanetary discoveries of recent times. Its proximity to Earth, a mere four light-years away, positions it as a prime candidate for further investigation into the possibility of life beyond our solar system. The planet, discovered in 2016, is categorized as a **super-Earth**, meaning it is slightly more massive than our home planet—about 1.27 times Earth's mass. However, the challenges to its habitability are as fascinating as its proximity. Orbital Characteristics and Proximity to Proxima Centauri Proxima b orbits Proxima Centauri , a red dwarf star of the M-type, much smaller and cooler than our Sun. Despite this, Proxima b is extremely close to its star, orbiting at just **0.0485 AU** (around 7.25 million kilometers)—a fraction of the Earth-Sun distance. It