title: The Vaccine Race: Science, Politics, and the Human Costs of Defeating Disease
author:  Meredith Wadman 
description: <b>Shortlisted for the Wellcome Book Prize</b><br /><br />Riveting . . . [<i>The Vaccine Race</i>] invites comparison with Rebecca Skloot's 2007<i>The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks</i>.<b><i>Nature </i></b><br /><br />Rich in scientific anecdotes, historical detail and quirky characters. . . She conveys the eras no-holds-barred approach to science, as well as the altruism of individual scientists and doctors at a time when no one had yet thought of patenting a gene or a living cell her chapter on the stirrings of entrepreneurship among biologists and universities is an enlightening primer on the birth of the biotech industry. <i><b>--Washington Post</b></i><br /><br /><br />Meticulously researched and carefully crafted . . . The Vaccine Race, is an enlightening telling of the development of vaccines in the mid-20th century. . . . an intelligent and entertaining tome . . . [and] a comprehensive portrait of the many issues faced in the race to develop vaccines.<br /> <b><i>Science</i></b><br /> <br /> A riveting tale of scientific infighting, clashing personalities, sketchy ethics, and the transformation of cell biology from a sleepy scientific backwater to a high-stakes arena where vast fortunes are made.<br /> <b><i>The Wall Street Journal<br /><br /></i></b>"Meredith Wadmans fine, new book details the struggle to develop a rubella vaccinea tale of revolutionary science on the one hand; gloves-off combat on the other. And it confronts a host of hot-button issues, all beautifully explained..reads like a good detective novel." <b><br />-David Oshinsky,<i> FASEB Journal</i><br /></b> <i></i><br /> Wadmans research is extensive, and her book is packed with anecdotes and details of the science, the times, and the people.<br /> <b><i>The Boston Globe</i></b><br /> <br /> The Vaccine Race is an important readfor scientists, politicians, physicians, parents and everyone interested in how the world of medical research works.. . . A very compelling read.<br /> <b><i>The Huffington Post</i></b><br /> <br /> This is a story about the war against disease--a war without end--and the development of enormously important vaccines, but in telling that story, in showing how science works, Meredith Wadman reveals much more. Like all wars, that story includes heroism, risk-taking, persistence, and fighting against the odds, and, like all wars, that story also includes politics, obtuseness, bureaucracy, and fights over money. It's very well-written and does not oversimplify yet explains clearly even the purely scientific parts of the story. In short, I loved this book.<br /> <b>John M. Barry, <i>New York Times</i> bestselling author of <i>The Great Influenza</i></b><br /> <br /> Meredith Wadman rolls up her sleeves and takes an uncompromising look at the sometimes unethical, often crude, and always rough-and-tumble world of one of the greatest success stories in public health: vaccines. What she finds will no doubt surprise you.<br /> <b>Paul A. Offit, MD, author of <i>Pandora's Lab: Seven Stories of Science Gone Wrong</i> and <i>Autisms False Prophets</i></b><br /> <br /> A gripping story with strong resonance in the age of Zika and Ebola--and a powerful reminder of the ways in which researchers approached the ethics of medical testing only fifty years ago.<br /> <b>Henry T. Greely, Director of Stanford's Center for Law and the Biosciences and author of <i>The End of Sex</i></b><br /> <br /> The fascinating story of the scientific battle over--among other important matters--whether human vaccines should be grown in human or animal cells. The hero of this story is Leonard Hayflick, who favored human cells. Fortunately for all of us, he won out.<br /> <b>Stanley M. Gartler, Prof. Emeritus, Medical Genetics, University of Washington</b><br /> <br /> An exemplary piece of medical journalism.<br /> <b><i>Publisher's Weekly</i> (starred review)</b><br /> <br /> An important story well told, featuring the drama and characters needed to make this a candidate for film adaptation.<br /> <b><i>Kirkus Reviews</i></b><br /> <br /> It is a story of human tragedy and greatness, of curiosity and ambition, of turf battles and ethical lapses, and of what we would call today fake news and alternative facts about the use of cells from an aborted fetus.<br /> <b><i>Dallas Morning News</i></b>
zlib_text: Editorial
  Published: 27 November 2020
  Nanomedicine and the COVID-19 vaccines
  Nature Nanotechnology  15, 963﴾2020﴿
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  Two nanoparticle-based vaccines close to obtaining approval by the US Food and Drug
  Administration could represent a giant step in the fight against the COVID-19
  pandemic.
  On 18 November 2020, BioNtech and Pfizer announced the final results of their COVID-19
  vaccine phase 3 clinical trial . Only a couple of days earlier, Moderna had also revealed the
  preliminary outcome of their phase 3 study . With a claimed efficacy in preventing infection
  of 95% and 94.5%, respectively, BNT162b2 — the vaccine developed by the small German
  start-up and the giant American pharma — and mRNA-1273 — developed by the Cambridge-
  based biotech company in collaboration with the National Institutes of Health — are on route
  to becoming the first prophylactic measures against SARS-CoV-2 infection.
  Although both candidates need to tick a few more b