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Kacena diverted her work to SARS-CoV-2 after several studies from across the country revealed that those dying from the coronavirus had high numbers of megakaryocytes built up in various organs, which causes significant issues.

Megakaryocytes are among Kacena’s areas of expertise; she studies their relation to bone regeneration and fracture healing.

The Kacena Lab began using transgenic mouse models to further study the coronavirus and its relation to megakaryocytes and bone health. It was the first lab in Indiana and only one of a handful of labs in the United States to start conducting coronavirus-related experiments at this level.

Megakaryocytes are large bone marrow cells that produce platelets needed for blood clotting. The autopsies of those who died from COVID-19 have revealed significant megakaryocyte build-ups in the heart, lungs and brain. The lab’s goal was to discover whether regulating megakaryocytes could change the severity of COVID-19 and decrease its morbidity and mortality.

The reason that starvation in utero is associated with a higher risk of type 2 diabetes in later life is that the fetus prepares for its likely adult environment which is not encountered (thrifty phenotype). These epigenetic changes are due to increased gene activity and expression rather than by starvation induced changes in the DNA sequence.5

Therefore, after 33 years, I believe it is time to reinterpret Crawford’s data and conclude that the large increases in death from diabetes during nineteenth century in Ireland was due to the in utero effects of starvation during the Irish Potato Famine and not due to increases in the intake of fat and sugar.