Fly Me to The Immune!
With the nationwide disruption of the coronavirus pandemic, we have had to make a myriad of lifestyle adjustments, many of which have impacted our daily lifestyles and forced us to find new interests like baking or stone skipping (yes, stone skipping). Unfortunately, seldom do we receive updates that this pandemic is ameliorating. Yesterday, an email etched with the words “Rising Cases of the Delta Variant” grasped my attention, leaving me to feel uncertain about when conditions would improve.
In order to best protect us against threats like the Delta variant, hospitals across the United States — thanks to our frontline workers and advanced technology — are currently offering COVID-19 vaccines. With COVID-19 rates drastically increasing on a daily basis, it is vital to understand how this nifty piece of biotechnology works and will protect us against the virus.
According to a private research university in Massachusetts, Tufts University, a vaccine is a component or form of the virus that enables the body to create antibodies that can be used to kill off the infection in the event that the body is actually exposed to the virus (Tufts). In other words, a vaccine is a “message” that tells the human body what a specific pathogen looks like. We can think of vaccines as little helpers that “hang criminal posters” inside the human body, enabling the immune system to remember what a specific pathogen looks like to prepare in advance.
Now, how exactly do vaccines prompt an immune response within the body? How do they mitigate the effects of the virus? And, why are they important?
Research by The New York Times states that “vaccines work by prompting the body to develop antibodies, which neutralize the virus by binding to it in a specific way.” This propels our immune system to become prepared if we’re exposed to the actual virus so that if this does happen, an individual’s antibodies kick into action and begin to search the body for antigens. After the antibodies locate the antigens, they halt the antigens’ progress and prevent the spread of germs from initiating any harm. The antibodies then signal our immune cells to get rid of the germs and remove them from our bodies.
Viruses are constantly mutating. In fact, Apoorva Mandavilli, an American journalist who has studied at the University of New York, recently published a research paper cautioning the public that “a new form of the coronavirus is spreading rapidly in New York City, and [that] it carries a worrisome mutation the may weaken the effectiveness of vaccines.” (The New York Times). When a virus mutates, scientists have to alter vaccines to fit the needs of the mutations; this often involves a lengthy and arduous process of trials.
Given that the Delta variant is a mutation of SARS-CoV-2 that alters the furin cleavage site, scientists must create a new vaccine that will be able to mitigate, if not, prevent the virus from greatly impacting humans (Nature). For example, the flu is constantly mutating, leaving several scientists to develop new vaccines almost every year!
Vaccines have drastically impacted the lives of many people and have helped prevent the spread of contagious diseases, most of which have stimulated detrimental effects upon individuals. Given the alarming coronavirus pandemic and the rising death toll, the COVID-19 vaccine may be our only source of hope.
As a network of avid researchers, publishers, and students at the Coronavirus Visualization Team at Harvard University, we encourage you to get vaccinated and stay safe!
Works Cited:
Lash, Nathaniel, and Tala Schlossberg. The Coronavirus Is Mutating. What Does That Mean for a Vaccine? The New York Times, www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/04/16/opinion/coronavirus-mutations-vaccine-covid.html?searchResultPosition=3.
“A New Coronavirus Variant Is Spreading in New York, Researchers Report.” The New York Times, 2021, www.nytimes.com/2021/02/24/health/coronavirus-variant-nyc.html. Accessed 1 Mar. 2021.
“What Are Viruses and How Do They Work?” Tufts Now, 3 Apr. 2020, now.tufts.edu/articles/what-are-viruses-and-how-do-they-work. Accessed 1 Mar. 2021.
Nature Editorial. “The Mutation That Helps Delta Spread like Wildfire.” Nature, 2021, www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-02275-2?error=cookies_not_supported&code=27cda53b-f158-4d9a-abfc-192e2b40c852#:%7E:text=Delta%20wasn’t%20the%20first,been%20especially%20profound%20in%20Delta.
