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We live in evolutionary competition with microbes—bacteria and viruses. There is no guarantee that we will be the survivors.
— Joshua Lederberg
Three vaccines have passed Phase 3 tests — that last step before submitting the data to the FDA for an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA). These are the two vaccines made by Pfizer and by Moderna, both of which consist of an mRNA molecule wrapped in lipid.
On Jan.10, 2020, Chinese scientists published the genome sequence of a novel virus by depositing a file in Genbank, a digital resource for DNA sequences at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). People at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease used that sequence to make a vaccine, one of 11 now in Phase 3 clinical trials.
The genome sequence of the SARS-Cov-2 virus was deposited on a National Institutes of Health (NIH) server on Jan. 10, 2020. Within days, scientists all over the world started to use the sequence to make vaccines.
We live in evolutionary competition with microbes — bacteria and viruses. There is no guarantee that we will be the survivors. The aphorism from Joshua Lederberg, a founder of molecular biology, is remarkable for its humility and for the challenge it defines.
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