As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, scientists around the world are working incredibly hard to develop a vaccine and, ultimately, defeat the virus.
For this second episode in the series, I was delighted to be joined by Professor Imre Berger – Director of the University’s Max Planck-Bristol Centre for Minimal Biology.
Imre and his team work to research and develop new approaches to DNA delivery and genome engineering. Within weeks of COVID-19’s genetic sequence being made available, the team decided to re-direct their work towards the development of a very different kind of (potential) coronavirus vaccine.
In this episode, Imre tells me about the background to his vaccine work (including the shock admission that he is not, in fact, a vacinologist), describes how his team’s method for vaccine development differs from other approaches underway, and sets out the process for moving towards human trial of his team’s candidate vaccine.
Finally, Imre shares some insights on his team’s approach to working on campus during a state of social distancing.
I hope you find the conversation as interesting and enlightening as I did, and thanks to Imre for taking the time to join me.