The flu vaccine of the future targets the virus's unchangeable stem
Health
By mimicking the shape of a lollipop, scientists have identified a hidden, unchanging anchor in the flu virus that could provide immunity for years instead of months.
Every year, the influenza virus performs a high-speed costume change, mutating its outer shell to evade our immune systems. Researchers at the Fred Hutch Cancer Center recently analyzed 25,000 different antibody measurements to solve this seventy-year game of cat and mouse. They discovered that while the head of the virus’s surface protein shifts constantly, the stem remains virtually identical across different strains.