Universal Coronavirus Vaccine Breakthrough: A Single Shot That Could Protect You From COVID, MERS, and the Common Cold
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OK, so if I understand this correctly, they don't train the immune system to target these sugars, since they're used by human cells. Instead, they remove them during the vaccine administration so the immune system can train on the bare spike protein. Cool. Now how would this help when new virus copies come in with sugar-coated proteins, some time after the sugar stripping agent is gone from the system?
Yeah I also don't understand this part. Can the antibodies targeting the bare spike protein attach to it despite the presence of the sugars? Or are there a few spike proteins in the virus which do not have the sugars, not enough to effectively develop antibodies but enough for already existing antibodies to attach to?
I may have missed it in the article, I'm not in life sciences so I don't have all the prerequisite knowledge for this
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OK, so if I understand this correctly, they don't train the immune system to target these sugars, since they're used by human cells. Instead, they remove them during the vaccine administration so the immune system can train on the bare spike protein. Cool. Now how would this help when new virus copies come in with sugar-coated proteins, some time after the sugar stripping agent is gone from the system?
What they've found, from the article, and abstract (alas I didn't see any links to full text paper, which may come available after the ACS Spring 2025 meeting), is that they indeed do get an effective broad based immune response against coronaviruses. The 'sugar stripping agent' process is used in the production of the immunogen (basically a glycan stripped version of the more highly conserved spike protein that occurs in all/ many/ a lot of coronaviruses, i.e. which cause common cold, MERS, and COVID19), such that a broad based immune response is evoked when applying it, some time after the sugars (glycans) have already been stripped. Remember the spike is the consistent (conserved) part, and the glycans are the camouflage bits. Researchers have been trying to come up with something based on the spike protein for some time, and this is the sort of breakthrough that they've been working towards. Doubtless more info will be available after the research has been officially presented, March 23-27. (https://www.acs.org/meetings/acs-meetings/spring.html) So it's literally happening now. And may show up on Chi-Huey Wong's google scholar page (https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=GQLirSoAAAAJ) or at Scripps/Sinica (https://www.genomics.sinica.edu.tw/chihueywong/)
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The ven diagram of totalitarian regimes which restrict the free movement of citizens is basically a circle, it's coming.
The US is following the (modern) russian model.
Outside of war time concerns over draft dodgers (which is not restricted to totalitarian regimes), there are no "extra" restrictions on citizens outside of needing a passport. There ARE restrictions placed on "political opponents" but that can be considered an extension of the "normal" restrictions on people with pending legal issues and so forth and gets into a greater discussion of the role of law in a society.
No. The big restriction is monetary. Which is also how control is maintained and oligarchs are protected.
The US is rapidly speedruning a christofacist oligarchy. But that is still going to be a lot closer to a Russia or a China than a North Korea. The latter is possible and should be feared but would require a massive shift that takes away the "Things are bad for me but they are worse for Them" that conservatives globally depend on.
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Yeah, but if you're a certain shade of brown, you might not make it back in.
Or gay, or have voiced opposition to the Trump administration: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/18/germany-investigates-after-national-with-green-card-arrested-at-us-border
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Just an interesting thing to share… I lived in the US until I was 40 and moved to Norway. They just don’t sell “cold remedy” meds here, or at least not even close to the extent the US does. We have sore throat drops, and OTC pain relief. Some cough medicine but it’s pretty weak imo. I suspect this is because the expectation here is that if you’re sick, you take sick time off work. You can rest and recover. Going to the doc to get sick time approved is at most like $20 and if you and your doc have a good relationship, you can do this via email. In the US, you're expected to power through unless contagious and even then, just try to pretend you’re okay.
What you're saying hits home.
Conservatives have this tough guy routine, that going to work when you're sick is just manly or "alpha". It's bullshit. Then they spread it so everyone else can get it.
But the tough thing to do, is go to work, after pumping yourself full of nyquil, or Tylenol, or whatever. It's just so stupid and obvious. They're so "tough" yet they need all this OTC junk to ease the symptoms. Not to mention, not being productive at work, cause you feel like shit. As well as taking longer to get better.
Personally, I prefer not to take any meds at all. Just go home, sleep a lot, drink water, eat soup, chill, rest, etc.
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However, I'd expect businesses would also want to reduce cold and covid's impact on employee productivity? Wouldn't fewer employees needing to take sick time because of cold/covid increase their profits? Outside of business that profit from cold/covid, I don't see what the motivation for businesses would be against this vaccination.
Agreed, but you could spin it a number of ways. The "tough guy work ethic" cultural propaganda is to just go to work when sick. The fact that your not as productive when you feel shitty, well, the owners would have to actually care. Their argument is they'd probably prefer a sick employee only working at 70% their normal productivity, is better than letting them stay home.
The other much bigger thing is, how much money is over the counter meds industry profiting? Do they have lawyers and lobbyists? Is this profit entrenched in Wall Street investors and quarterly profits?
Which wins? Altruism for the worker bee, or rich peoples money and power?
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That last part actually works by culling the people who have the most severe symptoms. So you would be building natural immunity in the population, over a long period of time, by dying before you produce offspring.
Only for more genetically stable diseases that don't mutate into new strains every single year.
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Might be a great excuse to visit Denmark... I hear it's wonderful there.
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Latest FDA guidance: Take vitamin A, wash it down with raw milk, and attend virus spreading parties to build natural immunity.
Yeah, imma do this instead. The FDA seemsntrustworthy.
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Hard for them to approve it if there is no FDA.
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FDA approval in never.
I'm not even bothering with FDA recommendations anymore with Kennedy in charge. I'll be reading the Canada Health and NHS (UK) notices. If it means crossing a national border to get a vaccine, I'm onboard.
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Theoretically, this could approved in Europe, which is fine for me. But I doubt the pharmaceutical industry will let a working, permanent immunisation against the common cold happen. That would mean billions and trillions of lost business.
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No way they'll let Americans have it
Vaccine tourism will become a thing.
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Might be a great excuse to visit Denmark... I hear it's wonderful there.
It is. Come visit (but like be respectful please it's nice)
- source: live here
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Theoretically, this could approved in Europe, which is fine for me. But I doubt the pharmaceutical industry will let a working, permanent immunisation against the common cold happen. That would mean billions and trillions of lost business.
I never understand it when this argument is made. It assumes that there aren't entities out there making $0 on the common cold that would refuse to take the absolute fucking windfall that would be generated if such an immunization were to be brought to the market.
Like "oh, you know, we'd like to make this immunization and make billions of dollars ourselves but these OTHER guys are already making billions of dollars and we sure wouldn't want to step on their toes."
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I never understand it when this argument is made. It assumes that there aren't entities out there making $0 on the common cold that would refuse to take the absolute fucking windfall that would be generated if such an immunization were to be brought to the market.
Like "oh, you know, we'd like to make this immunization and make billions of dollars ourselves but these OTHER guys are already making billions of dollars and we sure wouldn't want to step on their toes."
Well, consider all the money that pharmaceutical companies make every year on over the counter medicines for cold symptoms. I'm sure it's not a perfect example of malfeasance like "hey, we have this perfect cure for the cold in our pockets but we make more profits from our over the counter cold medicines so let's just bury the cure", but through a complicated process they often end up at a similar result.
Recent example: https://www.propublica.org/article/how-big-pharma-company-stalled-tuberculosis-vaccine-to-pursue-bigger-profits
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Now consider that Scripps Research, who is developing this, is US-based and receives a lot of federal government funding, and that Trump/Musk/DOGE have been slashing and burning all kinds of federal science staffing and funding. Also consider that their main federal funding comes from HHS, which RFK Jr., notorious vaccine hater, heads.
Then weep. Progress on this may be stalled for a long time.
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Shit, I already have kids. Might as well skip it then.
