Why can we develop a vaccine for COVID in 8 months, but still don't have a vaccine for other viruses that are decades old? | AskScience Blog

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Monday, December 14, 2020

Why can we develop a vaccine for COVID in 8 months, but still don't have a vaccine for other viruses that are decades old?

Why can we develop a vaccine for COVID in 8 months, but still don't have a vaccine for other viruses that are decades old?


Why can we develop a vaccine for COVID in 8 months, but still don't have a vaccine for other viruses that are decades old?

Posted: 14 Dec 2020 05:23 AM PST

Not anti vaccine or anything and I plan on getting the covid one, but just wondering how a vaccine for COVID was made so quickly, and we still don't have a vaccine for HIV, respiratory syncytial virus, Epstein-Barr, etc.

submitted by /u/Coppatop
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mRNA Vaccines: What happens to the antigen presenting cells?

Posted: 14 Dec 2020 05:07 AM PST

Looking at this: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/different-vaccines/mrna.html

COVID-19 mRNA vaccines give instructions for our cells to make a harmless piece of what is called the "spike protein." The spike protein is found on the surface of the virus that causes COVID-19.

COVID-19 mRNA vaccines are given in the upper arm muscle. Once the instructions (mRNA) are inside the muscle cells, the cells use them to make the protein piece. After the protein piece is made, the cell breaks down the instructions and gets rid of them.

Next, the cell displays the protein piece on its surface. Our immune systems recognize that the protein doesn't belong there and begin building an immune response and making antibodies, like what happens in natural infection against COVID-19.

So, if I am understanding this correctly, the mRNA vaccine tells the cells to produce the protein that identifies the virus - the mRNA is then disposed of. So what happens to the antigen presenting cells? Since the immune system recognizes that the protein is not supposed to be there, does that mean the immune system will destroy these cells? If all the antigen presenting cells die off, do we lose the immunity and have to take the mRNA vaccine to provide "instructions" to the cells again?

submitted by /u/SmallAl
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How do antibodies passed on through breast feeding not immediately get destroyed by the baby’s stomach acid?

Posted: 14 Dec 2020 12:02 AM PST

How does a baby absorb all of that premade goodness?

Also obligatory no shame: Fed is best.

submitted by /u/MathsDynamics
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What cell types are likely to be transfected by the mRNA SARS-cov2 vaccine?

Posted: 14 Dec 2020 05:39 AM PST

Hello all,

Soon to be biochemistry PhD here so I can handle some level of specialized terminology. This is a question just borne out of scientific curiosity, may not have been studied, so some speculation is fine.

The lipofection based SARS-cov2 vaccine is, I assume, administered intramuscularly like most vaccines. Is it expected/known that muscle cells will be the primary producers of the spike antigen? Or another cell type in the local area? This is an interesting thing for me to think about because I know from lab experience that primary cells are quite difficult to transfect - although this may be due to the difficulty of turning on DNA expression in a senescent cell so perhaps the transfection with mRNA bypasses this issue? Just something I'm curious about.

Bonus points for my secondary question, which is more immunology related (not my field of expertise). I assume that cells expressing the spike protein will be identified as non self by the immune system and destroyed. This is, again to my limited understanding, different from other vaccines which don't require the involvement of non immune host cells. Do we anticipate any issues with the local destruction of cells (muscle cells?) caused by that recognition, especially given it may be in a cell type that typically is not infected by SARS-cov2?

Thanks!

submitted by /u/biologynerd3
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If we had a telescope 100 light years away from earth would we be seeing into the past? (And follow on questions)

Posted: 14 Dec 2020 04:21 AM PST

And say the telescope was really powerful and we could zoom all the way into that light from the earth, could we see people walking around?

And finally, if light can reflect off from other objects, could it be that light sent from our plant 100 years ago, could be bouncing off some celestial bodyback towards earth, and allow us on earth to view it and see into our own past? (Providing we had the telescope technology to do so).

submitted by /u/occasionalwisdom
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Will Saturn's rings eventually coalesce into a moon or set of moons?

Posted: 13 Dec 2020 09:19 PM PST

Is it just a matter of time before, through natural random collisions, the pieces of rock/ice constituting the rings form large enough clumps which gravitationally attract other local pieces in a snowballing accumulation effect that can form some moons? If so, do we have any estimations of the timeframe in which it might happen?

submitted by /u/usernamematesout
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How long does it take for comets to completely lose all their mass? I assume that, at the rate they expel gas and dust they would only last maybe a few hundred orbits.

Posted: 13 Dec 2020 02:09 PM PST

Which animal poops the largest in proportion to its size?

Posted: 13 Dec 2020 03:41 PM PST

My miniature Australian shepherd takes some big poops sometimes, but she's about 35lbs. My poops don't seem proportionally larger than hers.

submitted by /u/hashtagonfacebook
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How does a car battery "know" whether to supply power versus recharge from the same terminal connection?

Posted: 13 Dec 2020 09:11 PM PST

Seems like a stupid question, but I'm drawing a blank. I just recently had to recharge a dead battery using a charging device plugged into a wall outlet, obviously using the same terminal connection that the battery would supply power to the car. So how does the battery "know" whether to draw or output power?

submitted by /u/WuluChief13
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Why does a paper towel that was used to wipe up water and allowed to dry not absorb as much water the second time?

Posted: 13 Dec 2020 04:32 PM PST

Specifically, I live in a part of the country where an iced drink causes a lot of condensation (cue Family Guy) so I keep a roll of paper towels near my desk to wipe it up. As it's just water and a glass doesn't always use up a full sheet, sometimes I keep the paper towel sheets long enough to completely use that the formerly wet part has dried again. However, when re-used, I've noticed that this part won't ever wipe up as much water again as it did originally. Why?

submitted by /u/nobrainxorz
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Why are they recommending a COVID-19 vaccine for people that have already been infected?

Posted: 13 Dec 2020 10:42 AM PST

Shouldn't a previously infected person have the antibodies to protect them from re-infection?

submitted by /u/mattsffrd
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Why does HIV replication spike when CD4+ cell numbers drop?

Posted: 13 Dec 2020 10:28 PM PST

My understanding is that HIV mainly infects CD4+ cells, which include T cells, Dendritic cells, and macrophages. I also understand that HIV replication typically leads to the death of these cell types. From what I have gathered, the progressive loss of CD4 counts allows HIV to turn into AIDS, and by this time, HIV replicates uncontrollably. (Basically, low CD4 counts leads to a higher and higher viral load).

So my question is this- why does HIV/AIDS progress so much faster when CD4 counts are low? In my head, it seems like HIV is limiting it's own pool of cells it could effect. Every time it kills a CD4 cell, it is losing the opportunity to infect a new cell, so why does low CD4 numbers actually lead to a huge spike in viral replication?

My guess is that there is some cytokine released by healthy immune cells which keeps HIV replication in a more latent phase, and losing these immune cells removes this cytokine, which allows HIV to replicate faster, even with less possible "host" cells.

submitted by /u/benderGOAT
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Why are tidally locked orbits so common?

Posted: 14 Dec 2020 03:16 AM PST

At first glance it seems like these would be very rare as the rotation and orbit would have to almost perfectly match up, yet they are quite common. What's with that?

submitted by /u/SgtChris11
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If Coronavirus particles can be detected in "solid biowaste", why don't we use stool test to check for active Covid-19 infection?

Posted: 13 Dec 2020 06:30 PM PST

How much of the pyramids are hollow?

Posted: 13 Dec 2020 03:16 PM PST

That is literally all I wanna know

submitted by /u/C_BearHill
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If Covid-19 mutates to the point that the vaccine will be ineffective, will it be easier to make a new one or it’ll take the same amount of time?

Posted: 13 Dec 2020 07:25 PM PST

Is the sun's energy output to earth considered a constant when measuring global temperature changes?

Posted: 14 Dec 2020 02:40 AM PST

Apologies if planetary science wasn't the correct tag.

submitted by /u/burudoragon
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How did the "petrified sand dunes" in Utah form?

Posted: 13 Dec 2020 07:54 PM PST

I recently visited Snow Canyon State Park in Utah, and among its many grand rock formations are these stone hills with natural steps in them. From the videos and articles I've looked into it sounds like erosion from rivers and wind are typical culprits for shaping these rocks, but I'd like to understand more specifically, how were these rocks carved into steps??

Some pictures of these formations:
1) https://images.app.goo.gl/3nexKA5hk5Wrq4Qq5

2) https://images.app.goo.gl/wBbkZdANUUNbfMhs7

submitted by /u/imgurundercover
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Is it biologically possible for a virus to exist that is both extremely easy to spread and extremely deadly?

Posted: 13 Dec 2020 08:44 PM PST

For this hypothetical virus, let's say the R0 is something ridiculous like 150 and the mortality rate is also insanely high.

Is there anything in biology that prevents this killer combination, or is it completely possible (and perhaps just a matter of time before a Patient 0 contracts something like this)?

submitted by /u/TuloCantHitski
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Are some people more prone to getting cavities than others?

Posted: 13 Dec 2020 03:08 PM PST

I (28F) have had at least 8 cavities filled on my adult teeth (maybe some on my baby teeth when I was younger) but I feel like I have relatively good oral hygiene. I brush daily and try to floss on a regular basis. I do have a sweet tooth, but doesn't seem like more than the average human.

submitted by /u/signingwildcat
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Why did the Shaanxi China Earthquake have such a big impact, when earthquakes with the same magnitude happend all the time?

Posted: 13 Dec 2020 10:15 AM PST

This is a question to any geologists out there, I just learned about the China Shaanxi Earthquake and how 830 000 people died as a result of the earthquake. Apparently it was only a magnitude 8, which occur once per year, so why did 830 000 people die then? I mean it leveled mountains, so if it's so common, why aren't we more effected now?

submitted by /u/hestenesten
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Do our senses really enhance when we lose one?

Posted: 13 Dec 2020 05:18 PM PST

Basically if someone loses their sight will other senses become better/stronger, such as improved hearing? OR do we just pick up on things better through our other senses since we aren't able to rely on all 5?

submitted by /u/SwishSketcher
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