I have little to comment on this article but feel it worthy of general attention:
Earlier this summer, the Summit supercomputer at Oak Ridge National Lab in Tennessee set about crunching data on more than 40,000 genes from 17,000 genetic samples in an effort to better understand Covid-19. Summit is the second-fastest computer in the world, but the process — which involved analyzing 2.5 billion genetic combinations — still took more than a week.
When Summit was done, researchers analyzed the results. It was, in the words of Dr. Daniel Jacobson, lead researcher and chief scientist for computational systems biology at Oak Ridge, a “eureka moment.” The computer had revealed a new theory about how Covid-19 impacts the body: the bradykinin hypothesis. The hypothesis provides a model that explains many aspects of Covid-19, including some of its most bizarre symptoms. It also suggests 10-plus potential treatments, many of which are already FDA approved. Jacobson’s group published their results in a paper in the journal eLife in early July.
elemental.medium.com/…
Short version: The virus exploits ACE2 receptors to enter cells. (inferred: To favor itself, it down-regulates ACE, which causes cells to express more ACE2 receptors since they are getting less-than-normal ACE detection.) The virus exploits the excess ACE2 receptors to enter more cells.
ACE normally degrades bradykinin, so the down-regulation of ACE by the virus causes an excess of bradykinin which crashes blood pressure, causes capillaries to leak fluids and cells into tissues, and may be the mechanism for much of the other mayhem that has been observed in covid cases.