The scenario is familiar. New disease comes around, but the health department and even the pharmaceuticals are caught off guard. The same thing is happening with the swine flu, otherwise known as H1N1 virus. It started in Mexico and has spread in some parts in the U.S., some parts in Europe and Asia. It is deadly, therefore it is scary. A cure is needed badly.
But if you were to keep a score, the article says it well, “Virus, hundreds. Vaccine, zero.”
And because of that a new generation of scientists are challenged to change the landscape. They are now actively taking the chance to test faster ways to battle the bug.
They hope their new tools can design a vaccine in time to combat the current outbreak; if not, they want to be ready when it returns—or if there’s an outbreak of a far worse pathogen.
With so much at stake, the debate over speed versus deliberation is heating up.
