Kind: captions
Language: en
I'm the first person in the United
States to receive the experimental
coronavirus vaccine I was the second
person to enter into the cove at 19
trial vaccinations I was just looking
for something to do to help I said if
this can help bring closure to this
pandemic and save lives in the process I
absolutely need to do this that Perona
virus has unleashed global havoc a tiny
virus with a vicious punch how can we
hit back vaccines will be the savior in
this entire pandemic the idea is to
teach our immune systems to take out the
corona virus before the virus takes over
our body there are dozens of efforts
underway to make a vaccine against
Tsarskoe v2 the virus that causes kovat
19 a handful are using traditional
methods which use killed or weakened
versions of all or part of the virus to
get our immune system ready to fight but
some are trying a radically new approach
there's a new game in town that allows
for even faster turnaround in developing
and testing and then deploying the
vaccines and is called an RNA vaccine
RNA which is a kind of ancient cousin of
DNA RNA molecules are the scripts that
virus is used and that our human bodies
also use to make proteins the
coronaviruses RNA codes for at least 24
proteins including its spike protein
which covers the exterior it's the
protein that makes the corona viruses
have the crown appearance that they're
named after Tsarskoe v2 uses this
protein to bind to and enter ourselves
where it then injects its RNA hijacking
those cells to make lots more virus it's
almost like a skeleton key for a lock
opening a portal within human cells that
the virus can slip there so if we can
block that process if
you can neutralize the virus before it
enters the cell that will probably be
the Achilles heel that we need to target
we can tell our body hey if you see
anything with that kind of a skeleton
key shape then just destroy it
this is where an RNA vaccine comes in
which becomes possible when you have the
virus's genetic sequence and you know
which genes code for which proteins so
the concept of an RNA vaccine is let's
inject the RNA molecule that encodes for
the Spike protein it's making yourself
do the work of creating this viral
protein that is going to be recognized
by your immune system and trigger the
development of these antibodies our
bodies won't make them full-fledged
infectious virus I'll just make a little
piece and then learn to recognize it and
then get ready to destroy the virus if
it then later comes and invades us the
advantage of the RA vaccine is that it
can be produced within a matter of days
so these types of vaccines are much
faster to generate much faster than it
takes for example to even prepare a flu
shot for the seasonal flu strain but on
the other hand it's a relatively new
unproven technology and there's still no
example of the RNA vaccine that's been
deployed worldwide in the way that we
need for the corona virus there's the
possibility for unforeseen adverse
effects so this is all new territory
whether it would elicit protective
immune response against this virus is
just unknown right now in addition RNA
molecules have a weakness here's the
dirty secret
they are ephemeral they're like the
snapchat molecules our bodies make an
RNA script and destroy it
a few minutes later once they've used it
- as a little temporary instruction
manual olymic proteins and so here is
the issue if we make a bunch of these
RNA vaccines and keep them in the fridge
if you wait a couple of days they're no
longer good vaccines their expiration
date is like a couple of days after you
make up and they have to be kept at a
temperature of minus 80 degrees Celsius
which is super cold this is a big deal
breaker will have to find a way to
stabilize
RNA so their refrigerators safe and no
one is quite figured how to do that and
that is actually the problem that I'm
involved in reagent dose is optimistic I
think we're gonna have a vaccine but
it's too soon to tell which approach
will get us the vaccine we need
traditional techniques may yet win the
race right now I wouldn't rule anything
out because we just need a really good
vaccine against this virus I think the
best approach is a multi-pronged
approach where multiple vaccines are
tried for efficacy and safety and I'm
hopeful that there will be a lot of
public support to continue working on
some of these things so that we're more
protected and more prepared for the next
pathogen that might emerge and in the
midst of the current pandemic it takes
all kinds of people pitching in to get
us to the other side the piece that that
I played here I really does pale in
comparison to the to the sacrifices that
others are making right now it's it's
not heroic to sit down and get an
injection in your arm what's heroic are
the people who are on the frontlines
exposing themselves to try and save
lives every day that's what heroism is
[Music]