Dear Dr. Kotresha Dupadahalli , The discussion you have started is quite interesting and people formally/informally talk about effectiveness of In silico methods for drug discovery. This is being more gravely discussed during this pandemic. However, before extending my views on the topic, I would like to hear from you about your share of views on this subject. This will surely define the direction of the discussion.

Regards

Hi Dr Abu Turab Naqvi, this is important to mention that Covid-19 viral strains are highly mutable. The in silico methods used for drug discovery makes predictions only. Hence, the viral strain in question should be well characterized primarily. The structural proteins and non-structural proteins are to be identified as drug targets, then the simulation studies can be made. This is further to mention that instead of going for antiviral drug targets, it is necessary to go for the identification of epitopes or stable antigens, which may be attenuated for preparation of active vaccines or processing of preformed antibodies as passive vaccines. Plasma therapy is based upon the application of plasma containing immunoglobulins which are available in recovered patients infected with patients. These immunoglobulins are the expression of class-switched genes in response to the evasion of a specific Covid 19 strain. The Ag-Ab simulation studies may support the in vitro studies.