SAN ANTONIO — Francis Yoshimoto’s research on the structure and interaction of proteins between coronaviruses has earned him two citations from WHO, which he appreciates, but ultimately hopes leads to saving lives around the globe.
One year ago, the world was at a standstill as a new health crisis emerged.
“We all kind of felt paralyzed,” Yoshimoto said.
The coronavirus pandemic challenged the way of life, especially for educators like Yoshimoto, whose research efforts would continue even without the luxury of a lab.
“What can I do? What can I do to help with the cause because were all kind of going through this situation together,” Yoshimoto said.
Yoshimoto embarked on his journey from home to unravel the mystery of COVID-19.
He began researching and comparing the virus from the 2003 SARS outbreak to the current virus, SARS Cov-2.
“I basically compared their gene sequences and I tried to align all the proteins. If we know what we’re looking at, then maybe we can approach this in a more tactful manner,” Yoshimoto said.
The professor’s research initially received prominent recognition in the “Protein Journal” and would be one of the most sought-after documents on understanding the coronavirus.
His ambition and passion for studying the coronavirus continues to this day. The compilation of research has been used as a foundation for those learning about the virus and the development of the vaccine among other tools to combat the pandemic.
“I did not feel like I wanted to go for, oh I want to get more citations, I was more like, this is what is lacking, we don’t understand this about the virus, someone needs to do something to kind of organize this information. I continue to do coronavirus research as long as we still need to do this in the world.”
To learn more about Yoshimoto's contributions, click here.