As the Ebola virus continues to ravage parts of West Africa and two American health care workers begin to receive specialized care, we have to wonder: Are hospitals in the U.S. well-equipped to contain any further spread at home?
Thomas Frieden, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, assured Americans in September that the country’s hospitals could control and curb any threat. But after two nurses contracted the virus while helping to treat the first person diagnosed with Ebola in the U.S., who died in Dallas last week, criticism is piling on and answers to this question and more are in high demand.
See The Tobacco Leaves That Could Cure Ebola
Tobacco plants are grown for six weeks in the Medicago greenhouse in Quebec City so their leaves are large enough to serve as a factory for making antibodies. The plants are not modified or genetically altered in any way during this time.Mathieu Belanger—ReutersResearchers at Icon Genetics in Germany prepare the DNA coding for antibodies that can neutralize Ebola. These genes are inserted into a soil bacterium that easily infects the tobacco plant cells. Once in the cells, the gene is treated like any other plant gene and the plant starts churning out the antibodies.Sean Gallup—Getty ImagesTo infect the leaves with the antibody-containing bacteria, the plants are submerged in a water solution of the loaded bacteria. Plant cells have plenty of empty spaces filled with air, so a vacuum removes the air and the water, along with the bacteria and antibody genes, flow in.Mathieu Belanger—ReutersThe leaf at the bottom has not been treated. The leaf on top is now an antibody-making factory. The plant's normal machinery starts making the antibody as if it is a plant protein.Mathieu Belanger—ReutersResearchers at Icon Genetics grind the leaves down to filter out the antibodies.Sean Gallup—Getty ImagesUltraviolet light reveals the clusters of cells that are busy making antibodies. One kg of leaves produces about 5g of antibodies, which is about a third of the dose required to treat an Ebola patient.Sean Gallup—Getty Images
