By ‘There will be more pandemics’: Immunologist behind mRNA technology working on vaccine against ALL coronaviruses
(RT) – University of Pennsylvania scientists are working to create a vaccine that would protect not just against Covid-19, but all coronaviruses, saying they hope it will be “ready to go” when the next pandemic hits.
The effort to create a ‘pan-coronavirus’ jab is being spearheaded by US immunologist Drew Weissman, whose research paved the way for the current mRNA Covid-19 vaccines.
“You have to assume there’s going to be more [pandemics],” Weissman told the AFP news agency on Friday, saying there was no justification in waiting for the next crisis before beginning work on the next vaccine.
“Our idea was that we could wait for the next coronavirus epidemic or pandemic, and then spend a year and a half making a vaccine. Or we could make one now and have it either ready to go, or use it now,” he said.
On Thursday, Weissman shared the $3 million 2022 Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences with co-researcher Katalin Karikó.
The scientists shared the award for their work in modifying messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) molecules to help the human body fight viruses by instructing cells to produce certain proteins and evoke antibodies.
The Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines, currently being used to fight Covid-1, are based on that research.
Covid-19 is just one of the epidemics that have impacted the world in recent years, along with the original SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) and MERS (Middle East respiratory syndrome) viral infections. Read Full Article >
