Low-sugar vaccination — a recent development in next-generation vaccines — would be safer and more effective than current vaccines, former Academia Sinica president Wong Chi-huey (翁啟惠) said in an interview.
Wong made the statement in a news release ahead of a parallel event to be held by nonprofit charity the STUF United Fund at the 76th World Health Assembly meetings in Geneva, Switzerland, tomorrow.
Wong’s “pioneering work in glycoscience — the study of complex sugars and their role in physiology and disease biology, have already gained international recognition,” STUF chief supervisor Danny Chen (陳啟耕) said.
Photo from the STUF United Fund’s Facebook page
Driven by the need to constantly update COVID-19 vaccines as new variants of SARS-CoV-2 emerge, Wong said his work is focused on creating a “universal vaccine,” and he believes new research on carbohydrates and glycoproteins would benefit that work.
Wong’s lab is dedicated to the development of tools that explain the role that glycosylation plays in the human body, Chen said, adding that Wong’s research has shown how complex sugars affect everything from cancer progression to neurodegenerative disorders.
In the press release, STUF cited research from Wong’s lab that found that SARS-CoV-2 depends on a host-made sugar coat on the spike protein to facilitate infection and evade host immune response.
That process could be manipulated by a vaccine, which would work on all variants of the virus, it said.
Separately, the press release said that Taiwan’s containment of COVID-19 throughout the pandemic could “serve as a gold standard in using science and collective action to reduce needless death and suffering” during a pandemic.
It cited Premier Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁), who will also attend the event, as saying that Taiwan’s successful handling of the pandemic was due to transparent and open policies that built public trust in the Central Epidemic Command Center.
“A nation is only capable of controlling a pandemic when all members of its society are wholly engaged in its containment, through full compliance with the guidance and regulations,” the premier was cited as saying.
Registered in Flushing, New York, the STUF United Fund is focused on humanitarian aid, disaster relief, culture and education, public health and environmental protection.
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) was sentenced to six months in prison, commutable to a fine, by the New Taipei District Court today for contravening the Personal Data Protection Act (個人資料保護法) in a case linked to an alleged draft-dodging scheme. Wang allegedly paid NT$3.6 million (US$114,380) to an illegal group to help him evade mandatory military service through falsified medical documents, prosecutors said. He transferred the funds to Chen Chih-ming (陳志明), the alleged mastermind of a draft-evasion ring, although he lost contact with him as he was already in detention on fraud charges, they said. Chen is accused of helping a
SECURITY: Starlink owner Elon Musk has taken pro-Beijing positions, and allowing pro-China companies to control Taiwan’s critical infrastructure is risky, a legislator said Starlink was reluctant to offer services in Taiwan because of the nation’s extremely high penetration rates in 4G and 5G services, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said yesterday. The ministry made the comments at a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee, which reviewed amendments to Article 36 of the Telecommunications Management Act (電信管理法). Article 36 bans foreigners from holding more than 49 percent of shares in public telecommunications networks, while shares foreigners directly and indirectly hold are also capped at 60 percent of the total, unless specified otherwise by law. The amendments, sponsored by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Ko
NON-RED SUPPLY: Boosting the nation’s drone industry is becoming increasingly urgent as China’s UAV dominance could become an issue in a crisis, an analyst said Taiwan’s drone exports to Europe grew 41.7-fold from 2024 to last year, with demand from Ukraine’s fight against Russian aggression the most likely driver of growth, a study showed. The Institute for Democracy, Society and Emerging Technology (DSET) in a statement on Wednesday said it found that many of Taiwan’s uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV) sales were from Poland and the Czech Republic. These countries likely transferred the drones to Ukraine to aid it in its fight against the Russian invasion that started in 2022, it said. Despite the gains, Taiwan is not the dominant drone exporter to these markets, ranking second and fourth
The eastern extension of the Taipei MRT Red Line could begin operations as early as late June, the Taipei Department of Rapid Transit Systems said yesterday. Taipei Rapid Transit Corp said it is considering offering one month of free rides on the new section to mark its opening. Construction progress on the 1.4km extension, which is to run from the current terminal Xiangshan Station to a new eastern terminal, Guangci/Fengtian Temple Station, was 90.6 percent complete by the end of last month, the department said in a report to the Taipei City Council's Transportation Committee. While construction began in October 2016 with an
RSS