(Louisa Jones) 207722_18
April 24, 2020
Driveway vigil lights the way Married veterans Mary and Ron Brandy, and their neighbours, will Light Up The Dawn from their driveway for Anzac Day tomorrow, as they remember those who made the ultimate sacriice. The couple relect on their service in Rwanda and Iraq on page 10. ■ Anzac Day feature: Pages 18-21
Local link in vaccine push By Luke Voogt A Jan Juc scientist is helping to supply vital COVID-19 products to researchers in the race to develop a vaccine. As marketing manager of a Melbourne-based science company, Sarah Fardy helps get coronavirus supplies to scientists on the front line of the ight against the pandemic. he former lab researcher liaises with institutes across the country, including Geelong’s Australian Animal Health Laboratory (AAHL). “Every lab that’s running is switching to COVID-19 research and that’s where we come
in,” she said. “We act as a supermarket for laboratories … where everybody has PhDs and technically advises on products that researchers need.” Dr Fardy previously worked at the AAHL in immunology and has her “inger on the pulse” of the pandemic. “I actually get to see way more now that I’m outside the lab than when I was at the bench,” she said. Dr Fardy’s employer, Jomar Life Research, sells recombinant copies of the COVID-19 spike protein artiicially-produced in another cell system.
“It’s the little bit that sticks out and gives the coronavirus it’s crown shape,” she explained. he company also produces copies of the receptor in human cells that is vulnerable to COVID-19. “[he spike protein] sticks to our bodies in the ACE-2 receptor [which] we have loads of in our mouths,” Dr Fardy explained. he artiicially-produced products allow scientists to safely simulate COVID-19 infections, she said. he company also sells blood tests that detect coronavirus antibodies, difering from nasal swabs that health authorities use to detect the
virus itself, Dr Fardy explained. “It won’t tell you whether you’re an active case but it will tell you if you’ve developed an antibody response to the virus,” she said. “At the moment they’re being used in studies to look at the antibody levels being generated by vaccine candidates.” While the tests are currently for research use, they could help identify people who need the nasal swab test, Dr Fardy explained. hey could also potentially identify, in combination with a negative swab test, people able to return to work ater developing immunity to the coronavirus, she said.
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