SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk recently crossed the border again and published a new coronavirus research paper in the international academic journal Nature Communications.

Eric Nilles, the corresponding author of the paper, an assistant professor at Harvard Medical School, and a clinician at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, told a reporter from News (www.thepaper.cn) that this study It is found that there are significant individual differences in the immune response between individuals infected with the new coronavirus. Some individuals have a broad immune response, while others do not.

“This may affect the durability of the immune response, the risk of reinfection, and the severity of reinfection. Our data shows that the titer or level of antibodies provides Key insights into the activity and response levels of other parts of the immune system.”

This study is titled “Discrete SARS-CoV-2 antibody titers track with functional humoral stability” ( “Discrete Novel Coronavirus Antibody Titer Tracking and Functional Humoral Immune Stability”). It was published in the academic journal Nature Communications on February 15. Through long-term monitoring and research in the community, the project aims to determine the relationship between antibody titers and functional antibody activity.

There are 30 authors in the paper, and Musk is one of the co-authors. Anil S. Menon, the medical director of his Space Exploration Technologies Corp (SpaceX), is one of the corresponding authors of the paper. The other corresponding authors are from the MIT Department of Bioengineering, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard and the MIT Lagon Medical Institute.

Eric Nilles told the reporter of News (www.thepaper.cn) that Musk provided important input for planning this research, and he provided feedback on the research methods. Review and approve the manuscript of the paper. “In general, he and the others on the research team are very engaged and show real enthusiasm for the science behind the research.”

Musk many times Speaking on the new crown epidemic in public. In September 2020, he said in an interview that he and his familyHe will not be vaccinated against the new crown, because the new crown poses no threat to him and his children. On November 18, 2020, Musk was confirmed to be infected with the new crown virus after visiting Sweden. His attitude towards vaccines subsequently changed. By February 1, 2021, Musk said he was not a person who opposed vaccination against the new crown, and supported everyone to vaccination.

Musk also disagrees with the implementation of blockade measures to prevent and control the epidemic. In June 2020, he ignored the requirements of the local government and restarted the Fremont factory in California. Although he has stated that employees can stay at home voluntarily, according to reports, two Tesla employees have chosen to take unpaid leave but received dismissal notices accusing them of “failure to return to work.” The “Nature-Communication” paper mentioned that although There is evidence that the antibody response of people infected with the new coronavirus persists, but re-infection cases have also begun to appear. This means that humoral immunity is in doubt about the protection of the new coronavirus, a highly infectious pathogen.

To start the experiment, the research team recruited 4,300 volunteers from SpaceX, led by Musk. Volunteers will be followed up in April 2020, and the follow-up will include new coronavirus antibody tests and symptoms. Through seroepidemiological research, the team determined 120 positive patients. It is worth noting that 73 of them (61%) have no symptoms related to COVID-19 (including loss of smell, loss of taste, cough, fever, and chills, etc.). The antibody titers produced by these patients ranged from 1ng/ml to 11μg/ml (1g=1000mg, 1mg=1000μg, 1μg=1000ng).

The paper stated that cases confirmed by PCR nucleic acid testing seem to have higher antibody titers, most likely because individuals with COVID-19-related symptoms are more likely to be tested . In addition, in symptomatic or asymptomatic infection cases, it is easy to find highly specific antibodies to the new coronavirus. In volunteers with positive serum antibodies, the research team conducted a longitudinal antibody analysis with an average sampling interval of 39.7 days. They performed at least one additional follow-up test on 48 antibody-positive patients Among them, 44 people (91.6%) remained sero-positive, and 4 people lost the antibody response. By observing the antibody titer curve of 48 volunteers, the research team found that the evidence for uniform decay of antibody titer is limited.

They observed that at least 83% (10/12) of individuals in the high-titer group had specific T cells against the new coronavirus, while only 10% in the low-titer group ( 1/10) There are specific T cells in individuals.

T cells are white blood cells that specifically recognize viruses and are an important part of the immune system. Natural contact or infection The memory T cell response produced by the new coronavirus may be an important immune component that prevents the severe disease caused by the new coronary pneumonia.

The study stated that the above findings indicate that the new coronavirus-specific T cell It is not detectable in all people infected with the new coronavirus, and it cannot be selectively enhanced in individuals with weak humoral immune responses.

The study observed that antibody drops There is an on-off relationship between degree and function. In this relationship, an activity threshold defined by the antibody level is required to trigger a strong humoral and cellular immune response.

The corresponding author of the paper, Eric Nilles, explained to the reporter of News (www.thepaper.cn) that the threshold here refers to the level of antibody titer that can cause a wide range of immune responses (including neutralization and T cell responses).

He said that this is a laboratory-based immune response study. In order to know exactly how the above findings affect the body’s immunity to the new coronavirus, they are studying the immune status of re-infected cases .