Researchers at Caltech have developed a vaccine designed to neutralize multiple coronaviruses at the same time.
, President Biden’s chief advisor on the COVID-19 pandemic, praised the research as “a major conceptual step toward a pan-coronavirus vaccine.”“It’s a very, very important proof of concept,” he said, noting that it remains to be seen whether it works as well in humans as it has in lab animals. “That’s why you do the experiment.”A young Briton agreed to be infected with the coronavirus for a scientific study of the most consequential virus on the planet.
The team tested three versions of the nanoparticle. One was covered with pieces of SARS-CoV-2. A “mosaic” version had SARS-CoV-2 plus samples of seven other coronaviruses, including one that causes MERS and other strains found in bats and pangolins. The last one was bare, to serve as a control. As they designed their mosaic nanoparticle, they deliberately left out SARS-CoV, the virus responsible for severe acute respiratory syndrome. If the vaccine worked as intended, animals vaccinated with the mosaic nanoparticle, then exposed to SARS-CoV, would mount an immune response.