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Coronavirus may have a silver lining, according to astudy by a scientist at Dalhousie University. Dr. Shashi Gujar, with the department of pathology at Dal, along with colleagues in the United States, Denmark, France, Germany, and India, is studying if the immune response against SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, could be repurposed to fight cancer using the immune system, a news release on the Dalhousie University website stated. ARE YOU PROTECTED FROM CORONAVIRUS IF YOUVE BATTLED THE COMMON COLD?The bodys immune system detects foreign viruses and bacteria as threats but it does not do this to cancer, the release stated. Dr. Gujarexplored if viruses like coronavirus can play a role as the next generation of cancer immunotherapy, according to his published report in the journal OncoImmunologyWeve figured out how to trick your coronavirus-specific T cells to think that your cancer is infected by the virus, Dr. Gujar said in the release. The key is to do this without using the virus or actually causing the real infection. The release explained that when a person contracts SARS-CoV-2, the immune system recognizes the virus and T cells activate and act in a specific manner to kill only cells harboring the virus, the release explained. CORONAVIRUS: COULD YOUR BODY ALREADY HAVE CELLS THAT RECOGNIZE AND FIGHT IT?Vaccines currently being tested worldwidehave demonstrated a similar ability to trigger these coronavirus-specific T cells, the report stated. Experts have explained to Fox Newsthat T cells have memory cells that are retained in the body after a person fights an infection. The immune system remembers what it learned about how to protect the body against that disease,” the CDC website states. The memory cells will act as an alarm and help the immune system identify and produce antibodies to attack the foreign virus or other germs if it enters the body again, according to the federal health
