Author Profile

Gerard Kian-Meng Goh

Affiliation: Goh's BioComputing, Singapore, Singapore

Gerard Goh triply majored in areas such as Mathematics/Computer Science and Chemistry/Physics at St Mary’s College of California, and has also four advanced degrees from various American universities including those in chemistry and computer science. He has co-authored papers related to HIV, MERS-CoV, SARS-CoV, 1918 H1N1 and tumor oncolysis. Having previously held biocomputing research positions at various institutions such as Indiana University School of Medicine (USA), National University of Singapore Medical School and Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology, Singapore, he is currently an independent researcher in computational protein virology at Goh’s BioComputing®, Singapore.

Recent Posts

Prediction of Intrinsic Disorder in MERS-CoV/HCoV-EMC Supports a High Oral-Fecal Transmission

·

A novel coronavirus, MERS-CoV (NCoV, HCoV-EMC/2012), originating from the Middle-East, has been discovered. Incoming data reveal that the virus is highly virulent to humans. A model that categorizes coronaviuses according to the hardness of their shells was developed before the discovery of MERS-CoV. Using protein intrinsic disorder prediction, coronaviruses were categorized into three groups that can be linked to the levels of oral-fecal and respiratory transmission regardless of genetic proximity. Using this model, MERS-CoV is placed into disorder group C, which consists of coronaviruses that have relatively hard inner and outer shells. The members of this group are likely to persist in the environment for a longer period of time and possess the highest oral-fecal components but relatively low respiratory transmission components. Oral-urine and saliva transmission are also highly possible since both require harder protective shells. Results show that disorder prediction can be used as a tool that suggests clues to look for in further epidemiological investigations.