Duke researchers developing ‘pan-coronavirus’ vaccine

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (WSOC) — Researchers are motivated to create a pan-coronavirus vaccine, which would prevent future pandemics.

“What we are really worried about is the next coronavirus that comes from some type of animal host that jumps over to humans,” said Dr. Kevin Saunders, director of research at the Duke Human Vaccine Institute.

Prior to COVID-19, Saunders spent most of the time focused on HIV.

“So the way that we profiled the immune response for people who got infected with SARS COV2, we used the same techniques we used for HIV,” he said.

To attach to cells, there’s a protein on the surface of the coronavirus called the spike protein.

Read more here.