“Quartet Nanocage” Vaccine Effective Against Coronaviruses That Haven’t Even Emerged Yet

Researchers have created a new vaccine technology that, in tests with mice, has demonstrated protection against a wide variety of coronaviruses, including those that could cause future disease outbreaks—even those not yet identified.

This is a new approach to vaccine development called ‘proactive vaccinology’, where scientists build a vaccine before the disease-causing pathogen even emerges.

The new vaccine works by training the body’s immune system to recognize specific regions of eight different coronaviruses, including SARS-CoV-1, SARS-CoV-2, and several that are currently circulating in bats and have potential to jump to humans and cause a pandemic.