From Foundation Board Member Prakash Nagarkatti: "What does 'survival of the fittest' mean in the coronavirus pandemic? Look to the immune system”

Excerpt from Dr. Nagarkatti’s article in The Conversation:

Charles Darwin popularized the concept of survival of the fittest as a mechanism underlying the natural selection that drives the evolution of life. Organisms with genes better suited to the environment are selected for survival and pass them to the next generation.

Thus, when a new infection that the world has never seen before erupts, the process of natural selection starts all over again.

In the context of the coronavirus pandemic, who is the “fittest”?

This is a challenging question. But as immunology researchers at the University of South Carolina, we can say one thing is clear: With no effective treatment options, survival against the coronavirus infection depends completely on the patient’s immune response.

We have been working on how the immune response is a double-edged sword – on one hand helping the host to fight infections, while on the other hand causing significant damage in the form of autoimmune diseases.

Read Dr. Nagarkatti’s full article here.