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What the immune response to the coronavirus says about the prospects for a vaccine

Viral immunologists say that results so far have been predictable — here’s why that’s good news.
  1. Heidi Ledford
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Illustration of y-shaped antibodies responding to a spherical coronavirus particle

Immunologists are on the hunt for the antibodies (and B cells and T cells) that help to kill SARS-CoV-2 in the body. Credit: KTDesign/SPL

In the late 1980s, 15 healthy people moved into new apartments in Salisbury, UK. On their third day, each was asked to snort a nostrilful of solution containing a coronavirus — one of several viruses that causes the common cold. Then the volunteers spent three weeks quarantined at the Common Cold Unit, part of the Medical Research Council, where researchers monitored a range of symptoms. Some study participants likened stays at the Common Cold Unit to a vacation — if so, it was a holiday complete with blood draws and nasal washes.

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Nature 585, 20-21 (2020)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-020-02400-7

Updates & Corrections

  • Update 01 September 2020: This story has been updated to reflect an extra report of SARS-CoV-2 reinfection, on 23 August.

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