![[This image shows a person’s hand, and a syringe is being held between the person’s fingers. The needle of the syringe is pointed towards a round pathogen cell with small projections.]](https://blogs.iu.edu/sciu/files/2021/03/virus-5768628_1920.jpg)
There are many strategies when it comes to developing a vaccine, but the idea behind all of them is similar. Vaccines are designed to pose a foreign invader, such as a virus or bacterium, to your adaptive immune system without causing you to be sick. Our immune systems are quite amazing, which also makes them quite complex. Here, we will focus only on a few aspects that are important for understanding vaccine development.
Tag: COVID–19
Can Animal Crossing make you happier?
![[image showing three animal crossing characters in the town square.]](https://blogs.iu.edu/sciu/files/2020/08/Eb4ZSsKUMAARkv9.jpeg)
“Animal Crossing: New Horizons” was released on March 20th, 2020 and has since become a cultural phenomenon. Although the game itself has been praised by critics, some suggest that its success is partially attributable to its being released during the COVID-19 pandemic. During these trying times, many people have been affected by anxiety and loneliness stemming from, for example, social isolation and/or loss of work.
How many people has COVID-19 really killed in the U.S.?
In late August, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) updated their provisional death counts page to indicate that COVID-19 was the sole cause of death listed on death certificates in only 6% of cases. This fact was interpreted by some as only 6% of reported fatalities, or around 10,000 people, actually died of… Read more »
COVID-19 at IU and the importance of waiting for the evidence
Before classes had even started this semester, pictures of student parties began to circulate on social media. A college experience had been promised, but not everyone read the fine print about the degree of isolation and social distancing that would be required. The reactions ranged from indifference, to abject horror, to finger wagging, to smug… Read more »
COVID-19 lockdown: Some good news for the environment
![[smoggy vs clear photo of an arch in Delhi, India]](https://blogs.iu.edu/sciu/files/2020/06/delhi.png)
Since the coronavirus outbreak, many of us had to shelter-in-place or practice social distancing. For some of us, this meant working from home, and for others, it meant traveling to their workplace fewer days of the week. Either way, people commuting less to work can mean many different things: fewer cars on the streets, fewer factories, office and school buildings utilizing electricity. Though all these sound like a massive disruption of plans, there is a silver lining to it: the positive impact the lockdown has on the environment…
Are you sure you should eat that?
Amid this pandemic, you may be having conversations with family members similar to my own. I was talking to my brother about going to the grocery store and buying some eggs for baking when I was pretty strictly told that “no, you shouldn’t because the virus can be transmitted through food.” As a scientist myself, this was intriguing advice. So, I asked him to show me where he had read it. Sadly, nowadays when we are bombarded with news at every corner we turn, we were unable to backtrack his source…
4 Go-To Skills to Support Your Mental Health During COVID–19 (and Beyond)
![[calm-woman-in-lotus-pose-meditating-after-awakening-at-home]](https://blogs.iu.edu/sciu/files/2020/05/calm-woman-in-lotus-pose-meditating-after-awakening-at-home-3791634.jpg)
We’re living in a very stressful time due to the sweeping, global effects of the COVID–19 pandemic. Although much of the focus has been on physical health, mental health is equally important during these times. Broad feelings of uncertainty, job loss, fear, and drastic changes to our normal schedules and activities take a toll on our mental well-being. Below are four of the skills that I have relied on to maintain and support my mental health during COVID–19, though their utility extends to any time I’m experiencing stress in my life…
COVID–19: What is it? What you should know about it?
![[Coronavirus is a spherical virus with small suction-cup-like attachments on the surface.]](https://blogs.iu.edu/sciu/files/2020/04/rona1.jpg)
Obviously, we have all heard about COVID–19, the novel coronavirus outbreak that originated at a seafood market in Wuhan China. There is a LOT of information out there about COVID–19 but there are also still many open questions that we are desperately looking for answers to. I wanted to tackle this topic from a scientific approach, so what exactly is COVID–19? The Coronavirus family is characterized as an enveloped positive strand RNA virus, much like the SARS-coronavirus that infected people in 2003, but with a slightly different genome. What does that mean? Let’s break it down…