Researchers from the Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) Interdisciplinary Research Group (IRG) at Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology (SMART), MIT’s research enterprise in Singapore, have developed a method to produce customizable engineered lysins that can be used to selectively kill bacteria of interest while leaving others unharmed. The discovery presents a promising alternative to antibiotics for treating existing drug-resistant bacteria and bacterial infections without the risk of causing resistance.

Lysins are enzymes produced by bacteriophages to break open the bacteria cells while treating infections, and have demonstrated potential as a novel class of antimicrobials. A major advantage of lysins is that they allow fast and targeted killing against a specific bacterium of choice without inducing resistance.

The emergence of multidrug-resistant bacteria has left even minor bacterial infections incurable by many existing antibiotics, with at least 700,000 deaths each year due to drug-resistant diseases, according to the World Health Organization.

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RT SMART researchers use lysins to selectively target bacteria https://t.co/3JC9GZqRir pic.twitter.com/zhquqp8mTx

— Reluctant Quant (@DrMattCrowson) December 10, 2020

A team of Indian and U.S. researchers examined data from 575,071 individuals who were tested after coming into contact with 84,965 people with confirmed cases of COVID-19. That’s an average of seven contacts per case, and a cohort more than 10 times larger than in a previous study from South Korea that mapped how the virus was transmitted.

“It’s the largest epidemiological study anywhere on COVID by far,” said the lead author, Ramanan Laxminarayan of the Center for Disease Dynamics, Economics and Policy, in New Delhi.

Laxminarayan and his colleagues found that just 8% of people with COVID-19 accounted for 60% of the new infections observed among the contacts. Meanwhile, 7 out of 10 COVID-19 patients were not linked to any new cases.

The finding underscores the essential role of super-spreaders in the COVID-19 pandemic: One individual or event, such as in a poorly ventilated indoor space, can trigger a high number of new infections, while others might not transmit the virus at all.

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Largest study of COVID-19 transmission highlights essential role of super-spreaders https://t.co/oZdDGu6LZ6

— Los Angeles Times (@latimes) September 30, 2020

The COVID-19 virus has spread from Asia to Europe and North America rapidly over the past week, bringing with it a level of panic and angst—everywhere from the supermarket to the stock market to the local church—not seen in recent times. The global tally is now more than 125,000 infected and more than 4,600 dead.

Churches in Singapore, which Billy Graham affirmed as the “Antioch of Asia,” have already weathered the anxiety now sweeping the world. On February 7, the nation-state’s government raised its national risk assessment level from Yellow to Orange, indicating “moderate disruption” to daily life—and in particular to large gatherings of people.

March 7 marked the one-month anniversary of Singapore—which has seen 166 cases but zero deaths—going Orange. This means that for the past month, local churches—which account for about 1 in 5 Singaporeans—have been forced into an extended period of self-examination, reflection, and action.

The process has not been straightforward, with a senior pastor afflicted with the coronavirus (and subsequently discharged), entire denominations suspending services, church-based preschools closing, and very public online disputes—in a nation that strictly enforces religious harmony—on how the situation is being handled by church leaders.

To help churches in the United States, Italy, Brazil, and other countries now facing decisions that churches in China, Korea, and Singapore have been grappling with for weeks, here are seven lessons the Singaporean church has learned over the past month…

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Attention church leaders and pastors around the world:

Here’s what your Singaporean counterparts want you to know about reacting to coronavirus https://t.co/MXNH7QgWiG

— Christianity Today (@CTmagazine) March 12, 2020

OUR WITNESS IN A TIME OF ADVERSITY

Together with our nation, we are facing a time of adversity because of the coronavirus. How should Christians respond?

I. Firstly, we are to PROCLAIM CHRIST’S LORDSHIP
1. We are to find strength in God’s word and in the fellowship of God’s people to believe that the Lord our God is on the throne.

2. The good times and the hard times are all in His hands.

3. God is not the source of the coronavirus but He can harness it to serve His saving purposes. God weeps with those who suffer because of the outbreak. But He is also sovereign over the pestilence and He can use it to reveal who He is – that He is a God who protects, heals and delivers. Because God is love.

4. He is our Covenant-keeping God who promises to take His people through every crisis and accomplish His purpose. Our lives are in His hands.

5. The death and resurrection of Jesus Christ has made Him the Lord of the nations. Jesus Christ is Lord over Singapore. He is Lord over our Deanery countries. We must proclaim it in our prayers and in our times of worshipping together. Christ is sovereign over this outbreak. He is turning the nation God-ward, and He is building the values and social cohesion of the nation.

6. Let us therefore proclaim Christ’s Lordship over our nation and let us trust Him to work out His good and saving purposes.

II. Secondly, we are to PRAY FOR GOD’S MERCY…

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“The approval of others counts for nothing and the approval of Jesus counts for everything.” – Bishop Rennis Ponniah #gafcon2018 pic.twitter.com/nPOt4Aioh6

— GAFCON (@gafconference) July 9, 2018

Over the past three years, a major church scandal has unfolded in the island state of Singa­pore (literally, the “Lion City”). The target of investigation is the mighty City Harvest mega­church, which claims more than 20,000 adherents. Found­ing pastor Kong Hee has been accused of diverting at least $20 million to support his wife’s pop music career. Several other church leaders have been implicated in alleged cover-ups.

At first sight such a scandal might seem unremarkable. Sadly, clergy on all continents sometimes fail to live up to their principles, and churches often lack accountability.

What is astonishing is the existence of megachurches in Singapore, and their enormous popularity. This fact challenges much of what we commonly think we know about the nature of Chris­tianity outside its traditional Euro-American heartlands. It also raises basic questions about the process of secularization….

Most of the usual explanations for Christian expansion in Asia fall flat in the case of Singapore.

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“God is here, God is here,” croons Singapore church official Sun Ho as she struts across a neon-lit stage and thousands of people in the congregation pump their hands and sing along.

Kong Hee, the church’s founding pastor and Sun Ho’s husband, then takes the stage. In keeping with the electrifying mood, he invites his followers to speak “in tongues” and a pulsing murmur echoes through the auditorium of 8,000 people.

During the service, ushers hand out envelopes for donations, which consume at least a tenth of the salaries of most church members, going to fund different ministries, mission trips and special events.

Welcome to one of Asia’s most profitable churches: Singapore’s City Harvest.

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Singapore’s government has ordered a prominent church to pay compensation to a former employee who was fired for alleged adultery, officials said last week.

The Faith Community Baptist Church has reportedly said it will abide by the order and pay the woman about $5,500 in salary and maternity benefits, but it insisted it was correct to dismiss her.

The woman, who handled administrative responsibilities for the church, filed a complaint to Singapore’s Ministry of Manpower after she was fired last September.

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Concurrently the vicar of St John’s-St Margaret’s Church in Dover Avenue, he will succeed Bishop John Chew, who steps down in October after 12 years at the helm.

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Check it out and you can find many other resources at [url=http://anglicanprayer.wordpress.com/2010/04/14/roundup-of-south-to-south-resources/]Lent & Beyond[/url].