Saloni: Guys, how do you invent a vaccine? Or even wilder…

Guys, how do you invent a vaccine? Or even wilder, how do you invent a vaccine during your PhD?! In a new episode of Hard Drugs, we talked to someone who did just that: @kat-a-collins.bsky.social! Plus: • Why did the first malaria vaccine take so long? • Could we make better vaccines today?

Inventing the second malaria vaccine with Katharine Collinsopen.spotify.com

Обсуждение

2 прямых ответов · 11 сообщений

Môr Leidr

27 мая, 16:09

My niece’s PhD produced a gene and a new syndrome both named after her & her supervisor I’m pretty impressed with that

Saloni

27 мая, 13:00

A single malaria parasite that reaches your liver is enough to cause an infection. Worse, malaria has a complicated lifecycle with multiple stages, where it changes shape and switches its surface proteins.

Ответ для Saloni

Saloni

27 мая, 13:00

And it’s co-evolved with humans for thousands of years, learning to evade and misdirect our immune system. That’s why it’s been so much harder to vaccinate against than viruses or bacteria.

Ответ для Saloni

Saloni

27 мая, 13:00

In this episode, Jacob Trefethen and I are joined by Katharine Collins, who co-invented the second malaria vaccine, R21, during her PhD at the Jenner Institute in Oxford!

Ответ для Saloni

Saloni

27 мая, 13:00

After reading the expired patent of the first vaccine, she stripped out the excess Hepatitis B surface antigen that RTS,S used as scaffolding, leaving a particle with a much higher proportion of malaria antigen; used many newer processes; and paired it with a cheaper, more scalable adjuvant.

Ответ для Saloni

Saloni

27 мая, 13:00

The result is a vaccine that’s around a third of the price, easier to manufacture at scale, and may be more durable as well. It also means a vaccine that can reach far more children and save far more lives. Efficiency and scale matter enormously in the real world.