The Everything Vaccine
Summary
Host Ben Bradford explores the history of pandemics and the scientific race to develop universal vaccines with guests Carl Zimmer and Juliet Morrison. The episode examines how viruses like flu mutate to evade traditional shots, highlighting efforts to create broader protections targeting stable viral parts or boosting innate immunity. While experts agree a single "everything vaccine" is unlikely, they emphasize that advancing these technologies offers significant hope in outpacing future disease threats.
Topics discussed
Sponsor message from Schwab
Introduction: The 2009 Swine Flu and the race for vaccines
The history of pandemics and the nature of viruses
The 1918 Flu Pandemic and early vaccine failures
The annual flu vaccine guessing game and universal vaccine goals
Sponsor message from Jerry car insurance
How vaccines work and the challenge of mutating antigens
Edward Jenner, cowpox, and the first smallpox vaccine
Current research into universal flu vaccines
Funding challenges and the threat of future pandemics
Teaser for The Sunday Story on commercial fishing
Hosts discuss their jobs and the podcast format
The gross history of creating the BCG tuberculosis vaccine
BCG's unexpected broad protection against other diseases
Nasal spray experiments and training the innate immune system
Can we ever win the race against viruses? Expert opinions
Outro, listener requests, and credits
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