“The saddest aspect of life right now is that Science gathers knowledge faster than society gathers wisdom.”

The above statement of Issac Asimov, one of the prolific science fiction writers, aptly sums up the current state of affairs with COVID 19, which is no less than any sci-fi works published before. The only difference is, this is for real…

I am sure many of us have seen the stereotypical scientist, who is always portrayed as an eccentric character, forever experimenting against nature. Comic book characters to super heroes have all explored the concept of how scientists can go crazy and wreak havoc. We have grown up with more than a healthy dose of regional and international movies on these lines. No wonder, there have been all sorts of rumors about the origins of the SARS COV2 virus [Refer to the ‘COVID 19: Origin & the struggle to defeat evolution’ article in CONOCIMIENTO, ISSUE 2 & ‘All it takes is one bad day’ video by OASIS, IISER Berhampur]

Is Science capable of creating such catastrophic events? Science by itself cannot. In this current pandemic situation, science is what has come to the rescue. Be it faster diagnosis, rapid testing kits, models to predict the next move, have all been possible, thanks to Science. There have been studies to understand the mechanism of infection [Refer to the ‘second article of the Warfare Series in CONOCIMIENTO, ISSUE 2’ for more details], the susceptibility of individuals to the infection [Refer to the ‘Susceptibility of COVID 19 article in CONOCIMIENTO, ISSUE 2’ for more details], clinical trials of repurposed drugs, novel diagnostic methods [Refer to the ‘Diagnosis & Therapeutics article in CONOCIMIENTO, ISSUE 1’ for more details] and the list keeps growing. By an approximate estimate, since January, there have been more than 30,000 articles published on COVID 19 and SARS CoV2 research alone (Fig.1).

As soon as the number of infections started rising, the political bigwigs realized that this is a situation which can be tackled only with the support of science and medicine. Some of the countries planned their strategy only after researchers presented models predicting the best time to introduce restrictions. The success of these strategies is being questioned time and again. However, have we forgotten that biological systems are non-linear.

Many countries have increased their research funding for any aspect of COVID related research in the hope that we are one step ahead of the virus. This is also true in India, wherein the major research organizations reached out to the scientists and non-scientists to come up with innovative ideas for diagnostics, therapeutics, basic research to understand and combat the infection. It almost feels like the research activity has been fastforwarded. The only limiting factor seems to be time. Learning from the experience of other countries, there has been progressive scaling up of manufacturing of protective equipment, rapid diagnostic kits, medical equipment.

‘From importing about 50,000 PPE kits annually to putting in place a system to domestically manufacture about 200,000 kits in a day, India has ramped up its capacity to deliver on the need for medical equipment in the past two months’ – an excerpt from the Ministry of Pharmaceuticals, Govt. of India.

And most importantly the starting materials for potential therapeutics and vaccine candidates are also being explored. But, somewhere along this exponential growth of infrastructure, we seem to have missed out on the drastic divide that exists in our society. The divide of the haves and the have nots. So, looks like the scientists have done their job, but the society does not seem to be benefiting yet.

Amidst all this excitement surrounding the scientific and medical infrastructure/ resources development, there has also been a silent revolution where Scientists and Science students of the country have taken up the challenge of communicating the facts behind the corona virus infection. Covid gyan, IndSci Covid are some of the best examples of such initiatives. Science and technology go hand in hand, and technological advance has what has made the transition of class room teaching to online teaching, possible in this situation. It is not surprising for a single household jostling for online space because of the parents’ work from home versus the childrens’ online classes. When everyone seemed to be settling in to a routine, the restrictions have been relaxed.

Where do we go from here? Many countries have now started easing out the restrictions, with the thought that the SARS CoV2 is here to stay and we have to learn to live with it. But, one needs to remember that this is not the time to become complacent but to practice the routine that we have all been adapting to for the past few months. Stay healthy, practice social distancing, Wash hands frequently, maintain personal hygiene and most importantly,

Do not forget that Superheroes also need masks….