Permafrost viremia and immune tweening.

The immune system, an exquisitely regulated physiological system, utilizes a wide spectrum of soluble factors and multiple cell populations and subpopulations at diverse states of maturation to monitor and protect the organism against foreign organisms. Immune surveillance is ensured by distinguishing self-antigens from self-associated with non-self (e.g., viral) peptides presented by major histocompatibility complexes (MHC). Pathology is often identified as unregulated inflammatory responses (e.g., cytokine storm), or recognizing self as a non-self entity (i.e., auto-immunity). Artificial intelligence (AI), and in particular specific machine learning (ML) paradigms (e.g., Deep Learning [DL]) proffer powerful algorithms to better understand and more accurately predict immune responses, immune regulation and homeostasis, and immune reactivity to challenges (i.e., immune allostasis) by their intrinsic ability to interpret immune parameters, pathways and events by analyzing large amounts of complex data and drawing predictive inferences (i.e., immune tweening). We propose here that DL models play an increasingly significant role in better defining and characterizing immunological surveillance to ancient and novel virus species released by thawing permafrost.

Toward a fractalomic idiotype/anti-idiotypic paradigm.

The CoViD-19 pandemic has demonstrated the need for future developments in anti-viral immunology. We propose that artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning, and in particular fractal analysis could play a crucial role in that context. Fractals - never-ending repeats of self-similar shapes whose composite tend to resemble the whole - are found in most natural biological structures including immunoglobulin and antigenic epitopes. Increased knowledge of the fractalomic properties of the idiotype/anti-idiotypic paradigm should help develop a novel and improved simplified artificial model of the immune system. Case in point, the regulation and dampening of antibodies as well as the synergetic recognition of an antigen by multiple idiotypes are both immune mechanisms that require further analysis. An enhanced understanding of these complexities could lead to better data analysis for novel vaccines to improve their sensitivity and specificity as well as open other new doors in the field of immunology.

Permafrost Immunity.

Thawing permafrost is a serious and worrisome threat to the environment, because it releases trapped heavy metals and greenhouse gasses. Thawing permafrost is also a health threat because, in addition to releasing these noxious gasses, thawing permafrost may free novel and undiscovered antibiotic-resistant bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites among a plethora of dormant pathogens. Our immune system is ill-prepared to counter these challenges, and will require significant adaptation, or allostasis, which can be subsumed under the generic term of permafrost immunity. Since most of the most gravely threatening pathogens released by thawing permafrost are likely to penetrate the organism through the oral cavity, permafrost immunity may first be identified in the oral mucosa.