With the global pandemic still in full swing, scientists around the world are working to develop an effective vaccine against the Covid-19 virus in record time, but not everyone agrees on how to get there and what “effective” really means. .
In the study, published in the journal Chemical & Engineering News (C&EN), experts spoke with researchers, doctors, and business leaders to shed light on some of the challenges vaccine developers face.
“In mid-July, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported that more than 160 vaccine programs were underway, an unprecedented effort toward a common goal,” wrote study author Ryan Cross of C&EN in the United States. .
For SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, that part is the spike protein, which the virus uses to bind to human cells.
Both types of methods can be time consuming, and traditional approaches are potentially dangerous because companies need to grow large amounts of the virus.
This has prompted some scientists to turn to experimental gene-based vaccines, experts said. The researchers put the genetic code for the spike protein into harmless viruses that act as vessels, or simply use DNA or RNA to deliver the genetic information to human cells.
Human cells would use these instructions to produce the spike protein, triggering an immune response.
Cross designs that these types of vaccines are very quick for scientists to design and manufacture, but the technology is largely untested and it remains to be seen whether these vaccines are effective.
Additionally, there are many different modifications that scientists can make to the spike protein, which could change the way our immune systems respond to the actual virus.
According to Cross, vaccine makers are focusing on the candidates’ ability to produce high levels of neutralizing antibodies that would prevent the virus from entering cells.
But this area of vaccine research also faces challenges. For example, methods for quantifying the antibody response in the laboratory are not ideal.
Also, it is unclear how much neutralization is good enough and for how long the effect would last.
“If the antibody levels are not high enough, a person could only be left with partial immunity, which could prevent severe symptoms but still leave them with the ability to infect others and what works in one person may not work well in other”. said.
Questions still remain about safety, and experts warn that moving too fast with an unsafe vaccine could shake public confidence.
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