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Analysis: The Impact of Microscopy Advancement on the Development of Vaccination & Virology
- Sophia Domingo
- Aug 22, 2020
- 7 min read
Updated: Sep 20, 2020
Note: This version of the article was finalised on 16 April 2020, all of the information is valid as of that date. If you have questions in regards to this, please email me at sophiadomingo.inkmagazine@gmail.com. See the formatted article HERE for the citations in footnotes.
Introduction
Humans had no way to detect viruses and bacteria causing illness and come up with any proper ways of immunity against these viruses until the invention of the first compound microscope in 1650.
People were dying of illnesses that could have easily been prevented by having basic hygiene habits and identifying the root of the problem rather than blaming the deaths happening around them on gods or the alignment of the planets. In the instances of extreme circumstances, during the Black Death from the years 1361-1400, it was believed that the bad smells that were present in the air were the cause of the large numbers regarding the deaths and illness but in actuality, the bad smells were the waste products people would throw out onto the streets due to having incredibly bad hygienic habits. Because of the waste products on the streets, the number of rats infected with plague-ridden fleas was unreasonably high. In addition to this ludicrous behaviour that was exhibited back then, the most commonly used method of dealing with the illness presented in patients wanting treatment was to use a process called trepanning. This is when a hole is drilled into the head to ‘give a demon a way to escape’. All of this behaviour eventually led to the most lethal pandemic recorded in history.
Everyone across the entire globe was being affected negatively by deathly living things too small to see with the naked eye. No one was spared from the effects of these illnesses because no one was immunised. Immunisation not only prevents you from getting the disease the body has been immunised for but also to help prevent the illness from further spreading to more people. Immunisation essentially creates barriers between people to prevent the spread of infection but if people are not protected, large numbers of people end up getting the illness as a result. This is called “herd immunity” [see fig.1].
[Fig. 1 Herd Immunity from: “What happens when some people don’t get vaccinated?” Vox. 21 Aug. 2018.]
Serious diseases, that could have been discovered and resolved by microscopes, would have had a much larger impact on us in the present time at a much higher intensity if this huge problem was not solved. The population would most likely be much lower, at around the same population as before the end of the 18th century, about less than 1 billion. Compared to the 7.8 billion right now, that is a huge difference; about 7 billion. If we did not have as many people as we have today, we would not have the same amount of discovery and creation that we are experiencing on a daily basis in all aspects of life. From technology, way of life, the arts, sports, human relations, etc. This lack of variety of ideals, prospects, concepts, perspectives, etc, that is influenced by the number of people we have today is extremely important to us, whether or not we notice it on a daily basis.
A Short Timeline of the Correlation of Virology and Microscopes
After the invention of the microscope in 1650 and multiple reworkings of the design, in 1665, Robert Hooke and Anton van Leeuwenhoek discovered the existence of microorganisms, including bacteria. This was only possible due to the development of the microscope so that you could see things from about 25-fold, up to 250-fold at the time. The next humongous development in dealing with these bacteria through immunisation started in 1796 when Edward Jenner demonstrated the human’s ability to be immune to Smallpox by inoculating a 13-year-old boy with Cowpox. This eventually led to the first Smallpox vaccine to be developed in 1798 and the complete eradication of the virus announced by the World Health Assembly in 1980.
Although, the first virus would not be discovered until 1892 when Dimitri Ivanovsky discovered that by filtering the extracts of an infectious tobacco plant to remove the bacteria, the liquid that remained was still infectious to healthy tobacco plants. This substance would not be called and classified as a virus until 1898 when Martinus Beijerinck concluded that the soluble material in the essence was another entity altogether and named it a “virus” after observing how the essence behaved in agar gel through a newly developed microscope. This led to the discovery of the first virus able to infect humans in 1901, the Yellow Fever virus, and the recognition of more and more viruses ranging from mild to severe occurring in the human body. Like bacteria, this began development of vaccinations to counter these viruses in the same way we do for bacteria but in the cases of mass, long term, ongoing epidemics such as HIV-1, the evolution of microscopes, especially in electron microscopy, over the years has led to the decrease in AIDS-related, the illness caused by HIV-1, deaths from 2005-2016 by about 48%.
Since the evolution of microscopes over the years has been in direct correlation with vaccination progression, it has been indisputable that we have made huge leaps in global health in relation to combating these illnesses which are preventable with the development of and progression of vaccination alongside microscopy. This will continue to entail further improvements in health upon society for centuries to come, especially how the occurrences of these infectious diseases have declined in both developed and developing countries, from the funds put into the advancement and research progression of virology and microscopy, thus, inducing the improvement of living conditions worldwide.
The Positives and Negatives
Because of the development of microscopy, we are now using electron microscopy as the main tool to create the main component of vaccines; antigens. Antigens are specific molecules taken from a pathogen, either a virus or bacteria, that are injected into the body for the immune system to create antibodies, a defensive mechanism to identify a virus or bacteria. These antibodies help the body to identify the infection immediately and start aggressively attacking to limit or even prevent the effects of infection. Electron microscopy lets us efficiently identify these antigen molecules quite easily due to the way an electron microscope works. By projecting and concentrating electrons, negatively charged subatomic particles, onto a virus or bacteria, you can identify which molecules in the pathogen are pathogens from the three-dimensional images and other resourceful information created from these electrons, which are high resolution to the smaller wavelength of the electrons compared to visible light. This sort of technology is extremely helpful and necessary in creating these vaccines and is a huge advantage we have access to in terms of immunisation.
Unfortunately, electron microscopy has its disadvantages to the seemingly positive outlook it puts upfront. The costs to purchase and manage an electron microscope can be quite expensive. When purchasing the microscope itself, prices can range from a huge gap of US$ 60,000 for the most basic form to the huge price of US$ 27 million. Then, for management of the high-quality scanning electron microscopes used to produce vaccines, the area used to facilitate the machine must be free from any “possible electric, magnetic or vibration interference” while “keeping a steady voltage, currents to electromagnetic coils and circulation of cool water”. Because of the high costs and requirements to facilitate these machines, it is rather a huge inconvenience to put up with for the amazing benefits there are to using this technology in aspects not only relating to medical sciences but in other aspects such as engineering and genetic evolution. While microscopes seem to have only positive outcomes on society, the economic background of the underlying situation is much more costly than what it seems. It is said that depending on the vaccine that is being produced and who manufactures the vaccine, it can cost anywhere between ‘[US$] 521 million and [US$] 2.1 billion’ to develop. This cost can then be broken down to a minimum of 10 years of developing a successful vaccine while the more years you add on, the more expensive the cost. If we take this minimum of 10 years and match it to the minimum life span of an electron microscope, which happens to also be 10 years, we can see that we have to add the average cost of a top-quality electron microscope to the ‘[US$] 521 million to [US$] 2.1 billion’ in the pot; which is roughly 7 million. This is a lot of money that is going towards this one field in medical sciences that the government, as well as society, is funding. And while this is a huge problem in the short term, the long term effects of this funding can be clearly seen in events occurring in the present time.
[Fig. 2 Unemployment Claims from: “An Early View of the Economic Impact of the Pandemic in 5 Charts.” IMF Blog. 2020.]
We are currently amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, a perfect example of the economic reality of dealing with a mass outbreak of an illness that is not currently preventable with limited forms of treatment. Without a vaccine or a way to prevent the illness, we have had to resort to social distancing as our only hope in attempting to control the situation at hand. This has resulted in the unemployment rates to go through the roof with 6.648 million people in the USA alone [see fig.2], as of 28 March 2020, currently being out of commission in the workforce as a result of the containment and isolation. In addition to the workforce being affected, huge amounts of money are being put into fighting the illness on the front lines for people combating the virus at present time. During the most recent United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, it was estimated that “the virus will cost the economy [US$] 1 trillion in 2020” across the whole world. This much money is to be put into managing a pandemic on a scale of only about 1.93 million people with the illness, as of 14 April 2020, although the numbers will continue to increase by the day. Gabriel Leung, of the University of Hong Kong, said that “if the virus isn’t halted, it could infect 60 per cent of the world’s population and kill one in 100 of those infected — around 50 million people”. If everyone was to not have any immunity to illnesses such as Influenza, Polio, Smallpox, etc, the economic impact on society that we are currently experiencing would be exponentially larger with much more severe impacts on the short and long term growth of the human race. Thankfully, the discovery and development of vaccination using electron microscopy has allowed us to reduce or even eliminate the economic crash we would have if there was no immunisation in any human being.
Conclusion
Overall, humans are now able to detect viruses and bacteria causing illness and come up with proper means of immunisation against these pathogens through vaccination. This is why the impact of microscopy advancement on the development of vaccination and virology has been very beneficial to the survival and growth of the human race.
Note: This version of the article was finalised on 16 April 2020, all of the information is valid as of that date. If you have questions in regards to this, please email me at sophiadomingo.inkmagazine@gmail.com. See the formatted article HERE for the citations in footnotes.
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