History of advances in genetic engineering of viruses before COVID-19 pandemic.

Background: On December 31, 2019, the World Health Organization's China Country Office was alerted to cases of pneumonia of unknown cause detected in Wuhan City, Hubei Province of China. Methods: Due to the fact that to date, the question of the origin of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has not been resolved yet, the author analyzed the main advances in the development of genetic engineering of viruses that took place before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Results: The first artificial genetically modified viruses could appear in nature in the mid-1950s. The technique of nucleic acid hybridization was developed by the end-1960s. In the late 1970s, a method called the "reverse genetics" emerged to synthesize ribonucleic acid and deoxyribonucleic acid molecules. In the early 1980-s, it became possible to combine the genes of different viruses and insert the genes of one virus into the genome of another virus. Since that time, the production of vector vaccines began. At present, by modern technologies one can assemble any virus based on the nucleotide sequence available in the virus database or designed by a computer as a virtual model. Conclusion: Scientists around the world are invited to answer the call of Neil Harrison and Jeffrey Sachs of Columbia University, for a thorough and independent investigation into the origin of SARS-CoV-2. Only a full understanding of the origin of the new virus can minimize the likelihood of a similar pandemic in the future.

Medicine has always been "Modern" and "Scientific" from ancient times to the present day.

Throughout human history, doctors and healers have gathered and refined the knowledge inherited from the previous generations. Different methods of effective therapy have been designed during various historical periods; when each was developed, it was considered "modern scientific medicine" for their time. Mankind has gone through natural and social disasters and survived; hence, history has proved there was no time when medical knowledge was erroneous or ineffective. Classic medicine has grown to be divided into narrow, specialized branches, causing it to lose its holistic approach and general view on health, sickness and therapeutic methods. Many of traditional medicine's effective methods have been forgotten and removed from the mainstream medicine. It would be good for modern medical education to incorporate the general knowledge of historically effective therapeutic modalities and study practical cases. Medical students should be taught how to choose a "good method" or "good medicine" independent of when that method or remedy was discovered. However, he has to keep in mind the primary goal of medicine: "I will use treatment to help the sick according to my ability and judgment…"(from Hippocratic Oath).

Extremely high-frequency therapy in oncology.

OBJECTIVE: This article represents a review of the literature, mainly from Russian sources, dealing with the therapeutic application of low-intensity electromagnetic radiation in the millimeter band applied to experimental and clinical oncology. METHOD: At the early stage of these studies, efficacy and safety of millimeter electromagnetic radiation (extremely high frequency [EHF]) was proved for various types of malignant tumors. The majority of the further studies demonstrated the high efficacy and safety of millimeter wave radiation in treating patients suffering from both benign and malignant tumors. RESULTS: Developments led to treatment on skin melanoma, cancer of the ear-nose-throat, bowel and breast cancer, cancer of the uterus, lung, and stomach, solid tumors, as well as lymphoma. The main indications for this therapy are (1) preparation prior to radical treatment; (2) prevention and treatment of side-effects and complications from chemotherapy and radiotherapy; (3) prevention of metastases, relapses, and dissemination of the tumor; (4) treatment of the paraneoplastic syndrome; and (5) palliative therapy of incurable patients. CONCLUSIONS: In spite of the fact that not all mechanisms underlying effects of EHF therapy are known as yet, this therapeutic modality has been shown to have great potential in clinical oncology from studies performed in Eastern Europe and Russia.