Authors: By Serena Marshall and Lara Salahi February 24, 2021 — The newest COVID shot uses an existing technology but one with lingering questions As the U.S. hits the half-million death mark from COVID-19 — a grim milestone that is equal to roughly the entire population of Atlanta and more than that of Miami — a new […]
Authors: Eric J. Kremer1,∗ Main Text Most of us might be surprised by the rudimentary scientific rationale prevalent in the field of vaccine research just 50 years ago. For over a century after Louis Pasteur’s vaccine against rabies, approaches usually consisted of inactivating a virus, injecting it, and seeing if it protected the host. Unlike […]
Authors: By Dr. Sanchari Sinha Dutta, Ph.D.Reviewed by Sophia Coveney, B.Sc. Adenoviruses are considered excellent vectors for delivering target antigens to mammalian hosts because of their capability to induce both innate and adaptive immune responses. Currently, adenovirus-based vaccines are used against a wide variety of pathogens, including Mycobacterium tuberculosis, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), and Plasmodium falciparum. What are adenoviruses? Adenoviruses are […]
Authors: Heather D. Marshall, PhD | Vito Iacoviello, MD Viruses are genetic material surrounded by a protein shell with the ability to infect cells, highjack cellular machinery, and make copies of themselves. Viruses are also detected by the immune system and stimulate innate and adaptive immune responses and quite often, potent immunological memory that protects the host […]
Authors: Ryan Cross , Laura Howes , Megha Satyanarayana ADENOVIRAL VECTORS Viruses might be nature’s most efficient gene-delivery vehicles. At its essence, a virus is simply a package that shuttles genes into a host cell, which it then hijacks to make more viruses. About 4 decades ago, scientists started hijacking the viruses themselves in an attempt to make novel vaccines. The […]
