Could this technology end all viruses?

Explore how scientists are developing a flu vaccine that would protect you against every strain— even ones that don’t exist yet.

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There’s a vaccine being developed now that would protect you against every strain of the flu— even ones that don’t exist yet. But influenza is constantly mutating, so is a universal vaccine even possible? And how do you design a vaccine that will be effective against future strains? Explore how scientists are developing new ways to help our immune systems fight viruses.

Directed by Igor Coric, Artrake Studio.

This video made possible in collaboration with Gates Ventures

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Thank you so much to our patrons for your support! Without you this video would not be possible! Roberto Chena, Oliver Koo, Luke Pisano, Andrea Gordon, Aleksandar Donev, Nicole Klau Ibarra, Jesse Lira, Ezekiel Raui, Petr Vacek, Dennis, Olivia Fu, Kari Teffeau, Cindy Lai, Rajath Durgada Manjunath, Dan Nguyen, Chin Beng Tan, Tom Boman, Karen Warner, Iryna Panasiuk, Aaron Torres, Eric Braun, Sonja Worzewski, Michael Clement, Adam Berry, Ghaith Tarawneh, Nathan Milford, Tomas Beckett, Alice Ice, Eric Berman, Kurt Paolo Sevillano, Jennifer Heald, Megulo Abebe, isolwi, Kate Sem, Ujjwal Dasu, Angel Alberici, Minh Quan Dinh, Sylvain, Terran Gimpel, Talia Sari, Katie McDowell, Allen, Mahina Knuckles, Charmaine Hanson, Thawsitt, Jezabel, Abdullah Abdulaziz, Xiao Yu, Melissa Suarez and Brian A. Dunn.

[bioalkemisti]

As a biochemist I have to say that I loved the comparison to Napoleon and the whole explanation example. I am gonna remember this if I ever again have to explain immune response to someone who is not so into sciences.

[FairMiles]

So, only one kind of universal antivaxers?

[citizenmattify]

Just waiting for all the unbiased, reasonable discussion that is bound to happen in the comments on this topic

[cfromnowhere]

This is hilarious and informative, explains complex concepts in simple ways to people without professional backgrounds. Hats off to the wonderful scriptwriters and animators!
I wonder who came up with the idea of comparing the shape of hemagglutinin to Napoleon's bust, ahahaha!

[.]

Using Napoleon's face to explain antigens was brilliant

[jer]

It's why we can't treat every kind of cancer, because each one is different. That each person is effected differently even when the same type of cancer is present.

[TristanSamuel]

I have honestly never seen such a good impression of Napoleon Bonaparte in my entire life, and I don't think I ever will again. So amazing

[mansigupta]

As a biology student and someone who wants to become a scientist(oncologist) such videos multiply my interest and curiosity a solid 50 times!!!❤️
Thank you TedEd

[TheOnlySalad]

The TED-Ed intro music is always a big comfort knowing you're about to be given new knowledge by incredible animations:)

[dangerouscolors]

"think of hemagglutinin as a bust of 19th century french emperor napoleon bonaparte" is one of my favorite strings of words of all time. thank you ted ed

[bananabreadboi]

Honestly, I’m in 4th grade and I’m not supposed to learn this stuff until like 10th grade, but I guess at least I know what antibodies mean!

[alphachiu]

Just using Napoleon as an example was funny enough, when he said *_c r o i s s a n t_* I laughed so hard that I almost couldn't breathe

[BloodyMobile]

This video finally made me understand why flu's passed on from animals are such a big deal.
I already knew that they're dangerous and highly infectious, but I never understood WHY that's how it is.

And now I know. From a video that's not even 6 minutes. I love this.

[Yarblocosifilitico]

yes! and that vaccine is... LOVE!

ok I'll see myself out now

[erinharrington]

Achievement Unlocked: How Did We Get Here?

[ddpwe]

That's fascinating to see that we can retrain the body to recognize things it's never used before! It'll be really interesting to see what they can come up with in the coming years!

[ConcreteAngelChloe]

As much as it would be great to have a vaccine to protect against everything, I can't shake the feeling that big corporations like big pharma would hold something like this out of reach or behind a high pay wall. The quote "A patient cured is a customer lost." comes to mind.

[JohnML]

Remind me, how did that Vid jab work out? No adverse effects and deaths? Not allowed to talk about those adverse effects of course...

[bakerkawesa]

This was more optimistic than I expected

[yuvalsoifer]

How could a complex protein, to say nothing of an organic molecule, possibly be so small?