Genetic Engineering Could Make a COVID-19 Vaccine in Months Rather Than Years

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April 29, 2020

Dear Reader, Here's a look into some of our top stories today: As the pandemic upends much of society, frontline health care workers are shouldering the burden of a systemic lack of preparation. They're not just treating a flood of critically ill patients. They're risking their own health, witnessing higher rates of death and experiencing breakdowns of protocol, yet therapeutic support is lacking. Researchers are using genetic engineering rather than traditional methods, which can take years, to quickly create potential vaccines against COVID-19. Three different techniques are speeding to human trials, but whether they will work or can be scaled up to millions of doses is unclear. Extreme heat is one of the leading causes of weather-related fatalities in the U.S. and the risks are only growing as the climate warms. In the summer, congregating in cool public spaces may reduce the risk of heatstroke—but it may also put people at risk of spreading the new coronavirus. Public health experts are urging cities to think carefully about how to protect vulnerable populations as the outbreak rages on.

Sunya Bhutta, Senior Editor, Audience Engagement @sunyaaa

Medicine Genetic Engineering Could Make a COVID-19 Vaccine in Months Rather Than Years Candidates are speeding toward human trials By Charles Schmidt

Mental Health Psychological Trauma Is the Next Crisis for Coronavirus Health Workers Hero worship alone doesn't protect frontline clinicians from distress By Jillian Mock

Public Health How a Warming Climate Could Affect the Spread of Diseases Similar to COVID-19 A hotter planet could change the relationship among infectious agents, their hosts and the human body's defense mechanisms By Sara Goudarzi

Public Health Widely Used Surgical Masks Are Putting Health Care Workers at Serious Risk Because high-end N95 masks are scarce, hospitals and other medical centers are using less protective surgical masks By Shefali Luthra,Christina Jewett,Kaiser Health News

Medical & Biotech Machine That Keeps Livers Alive for a Week Can Repair Damaged Organs A new device could ultimately increase the number of usable livers for transplants and could perhaps preserve other types of organs By Tanya Lewis

Biology How a Landmark Physics Paper from the 70's Uncannily Describes the COVID-19 Pandemic Phil Anderson's article More is Different describes how different levels of complexity require new ways of thinking—and as the virus multiplies and spreads, that's just what the human race desperately needs By Clifford Brangwynne

Climate Climate Adaptation Risks Displacing Vulnerable Communities, If Not Done Right Resilience measures to deal with flooding and other climate impacts must be balanced with issues like affordable housing By Daniel Cusick,E&E News

Medicine A Harder Look at Alzheimer's Causes and Treatments Amyloid, the leading target for dementia therapy, faces skepticism after drug failures By Tanya Lewis

Space Where Is Everybody Else in the Universe? Guest host W. Wayt Gibbs talks with Jason Wright, a professor of astronomy and astrophysics at Pennsylvania State University's Center for Exoplanets and Habitable Worlds, about what's known as the Fermi paradox: In a universe of trillions of planets, where is everybody? By W. Wayt Gibbs | 22:07

Public Health Summer Presents Dangerous Choice: Swelter in Quarantine or Risk Contagion Extreme heat is deadly to many of the same populations that are most vulnerable to COVID-19 By Chelsea Harvey,E&E News

Behavior & Society Hygiene of Hand and Mind during the Pandemic Making handwashing a meditative practice can help us focus on humanity's interconnectedness with the environment By Geshe Rinchen Wangyal,Kelsey Gray

Natural Disasters Science News Briefs From Around the World Here are a few brief reports about science and technology from around the planet, including one about what the eruption of Mount Vesuvius might have done to one ill-fated resident of Herculaneum. By Sarah Lewin Frasier | 01:48

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FROM THE ARCHIVE U.S. Pays Steep Import Duty on...Railroad Ties? Originally published in January 1909 | April 2020

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