Page 18 - Gazette1_63

STUDENT'S MAGAZINE \

months. Although this duration seems painfully long considering the current situation, it’s “incredi-
bly fast”, perhaps too optimistic, for vaccine development (World Economic Forum). A vaccine usu-
ally goes through exploratory and preclinical studies (vaccine design and laboratory/animal testing)
and three phases of clinical trials (human testing) before approval: the first checks for safety, while
the second and third primarily evaluate the efficacy, or the ability to produce a desired outcome
under ideal, controlled circumstances. Each successive phase needs more participants, and thus
time, than the last—phase 1: 20-80 people (weeks), phase 2: 100-300 people (months), and phase
3: 1,000-3,000 people (years). Once approved, the vaccine must be distributed around the globe; its
long-term results will be monitored by physicians in phase 4. Compared to past outbreaks in which
the entire procedure can take up to a decade, we’re developing them at breakneck speed. If we have
COVID-19 vaccines in a year, it’ll certainly be an unprecedented achievement.

An interesting vaccine candidate is mRNA-1273 from the biotechnology company Moderna. Thanks
to early efforts by Chinese scientists, we now have a complete genome sequence of SARS-CoV-2
freely available on the Internet (National Center for Biotechnology Information). Researchers at
Moderna have engineered RNA vaccines that deliver mRNA7 strands into our body cells, which
then make corresponding antigens (in this case, the viral spike proteins). The immune system gen-
erates antibodies in response. RNA vaccines are cheaper and easier to manufacture than traditional
ones; whether they’re safe and effective remains to be seen. Phase 1 clinical trials for mRNA-1273 are
underway. Of course, other types of vaccines from a variety of companies are also in development.

Moving Forward
Will containment measures cause the disease to slowly disappear? Maybe. Will humans attain herd
immunity8 and overcome the outbreak? Likely. It’ll take some time, depending on the rates of infec-
tion and immunization, which will put a strain on our society as a whole. If the disease does retreat,
will it return? There’s a good possibility. Will human civilization come to an end? Probably not. We
can’t say for sure how the pandemic will end.

As biomedical researchers and physicians are experimenting with viable treatment and vaccination
options, we should wait patiently and practice safe hygienic habits. We may not be happy, but we’re
buying them valuable time and doing the greater good for public health.

1 proportion of fatal cases among those who have the disease; not always reliable because it is affected by sampling bias (e.g.
not all cases are reported)
2 an advanced form of life support that uses a pump to circulate blood through an artificial lung (oxygenator) back into the
bloodstream; only used in critical conditions
3 an organism’s complete set of genetic material (DNA/RNA), though viruses aren’t living things
4 The complex facilitates the next two steps: RNA replication (making more genomic RNAs) and transcription (getting multi-
ple mRNAs from a genomic RNA).
5 overproduction of immune cells and their activating compounds, called cytokines
6 Antibiotics don’t normally work against a virus, but using them in conjunction with other antivirals may be beneficial in
certain cases.
7 messenger RNA; encodes instructions to make proteins
8 the indirect protection from a contagious, infectious disease occurring when a high percentage of the population is immune
either through infection or vaccination

17