On March 16 at the Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology of ANAS, an educational round table on the fight against coronovirus was held.

The event was opened by ANAS vice-president, director of the institute academician Irada Huseynova, who recalled the order of the ANAS president academician Ramiz Mehdiyev “On preventive measures related to coronavirus” and noted that this event was organized to fulfill the tasks arising from this order. The academician noted that according to the decree, the specialists of the ANAS Dıvısıon of Biological and Medical Sciences were instructed to make public statements on the methods of protection against coronavirus and publish educational materials.

She emphasized the need for scientific awareness to protect against coronavirus and urged specialists in relevant scientific fields to be active and share their knowledge with people: “Booklets and brochures should be prepared and people should be regularly informed about the methods of protection and treatment of coronavirus.”

According to the scientist, there are specialists in the country who have great knowledge of the genome, structure and origin, and at the same time, the preparation of a vaccine preparation against this virus. Academician I. Huseynova said that research should be expanded in this direction. According to her, with the help of scientific knowledge it will be easier to cope with serious illnesses and pandemics.

The scientist noted that serious measures are currently being taken in the country to prevent coronavirus and prepare vaccines.

Speaking at the meeting, Alamdar Mammadov, deputy director for science at the Institute of Biology, said that the preventive measures taken by the state and its relevant bodies in our country to combat coronovirus (COVID-19), taking into account the recommendations of the World Health Organization, have a large importance in preventing and controlling the spread of the virus.

A. Mammadov said that so far four strains of coronovirus have been identified, noting that the virus, which is currently spread around the world, belongs to the second genus, and that seven types have been identified in humans. He added that, unlike other types of viruses, coronavirus after penetration into the cell inhibits its translation system.

Noting that the virus has a single-stranded genome, the deputy director noted that a large number of proteins were encoded in it in the range of 27–32 thousand. A. Mammadov said that around the world about 170,000 people are infected with coronavirus, and about 70,000 of them have been completely cured. He said people with a strong immune system are more likely to fight the virus.

Then, a leading researcher at the Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, PhD in Biology Nargiz Sultanova made a presentation on the diagnosis of coronavirus. According to recent data, to date, more than 26 SARS-CoV-2 virus genomes have been isolated and studied. She noted that Chinese scientists began developing new methods for laboratory diagnosis of the coronavirus nCoV 2019 after determining the nucleotide sequence of the genome of this virus.

According to her, the first diagnostic test system was developed in China in January this year and put into use. Later, scientists from Germany, the USA and Israel developed various diagnostic test systems for the molecular diagnosis of the new SARS-CoV-2 virus.

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