bild

Covid-19 coronavirus vaccine. Illustration of coronavirus particles (blue spheres) being marked by antigens (red, lower right) produced by a potential vaccine, with a human lung at upper right. The new coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 (previously 2019-CoV) emerged in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The virus causes a mild respiratory illness (Covid-19) that can develop into pneumonia and be fatal in some cases. Vaccines are examples of antigens in an immunogenic form. They prime the immune system to recognise the invading pathogen, with antibodies binding to specific antigens, for instance viral proteins, marking them for destruction by phagocyte immune cells. Research is ongoing into a vaccine for the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, but it is not expected to be available before 2021. This image can also represent immunotherapy by the use of neoantigens (activated proteins from T-cells). (KEYSTONE/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY/KEITH CHAMBERS/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY)