NEWS

Oxford Vaccine Makes Progress

The UK has a lot riding on the AstraZeneca/Oxford COVID-19 vaccine. 100 million doses have been secured by the government compared to just 5 million of the current frontrunner by Moderna.

The vaccine is based on a viral vector designed in 2012 by the Jenner Institute. It can be readily modified, meaning the Oxford team were able to rapidly insert a SARS-CoV-2 gene into their pre-existing construct rather than having to design a completely new vaccine de novo. This propelled them to the forefront of vaccine development.

In late August, results from phase I/II trials were published in The Lancet showing that the vaccine was well tolerated and induced strong immune responses. However, these could not determine whether the vaccine was protective; such efficacy data can only be obtained from phase III trials. In these, significantly more people are vaccinated, and researchers compare Covid-19 rates in vaccine and placebo groups.

Currently, 30,000 patients have been enrolled for such a trial in the UK, US, Brazil, and South Africa. Sir John Bell, Regius Professor of Medicine at Oxford, said that interim results could be expected within weeks, and that ‘everything was looking good’.

This comes at the same time as reports of high efficacy (>90%) in vaccines by Moderna and Pfizer/BioNTech, leading to suggestions by Sir John that life may be normal again by spring. However, it is likely that seasonal coronavirus vaccines will be needed as although the virus does not mutate very quickly, the immunity it generates is short-lasting.

All in all, things are looking up. Results from Oxford’s phase III trials are eagerly awaited and are likely to be encouraging - a home-grown vaccine may be just around the corner.

Alice Scharmeli

Penrose Wins Nobel Prize

The 2020 Nobel Prize in Physics has been awarded jointly to Roger Penrose, Oxford’s Emeritus Rouse Ball Professor of Mathematics, along with Reinhard Genzel and Andrea Ghez for their breakthrough work on blackholes.

Penrose was the first to prove that blackholes are a direct consequence of Einstein’s theory of relativity, something which Einstein himself believed was impossible. Since this discovery in 1965 our knowledge of blackholes has further improved, allowing Genzel and Ghez most recently to discover that an invisible, heavy object governs the orbits of stars at the centre of our galaxy. The only explanation is a supermassive black hole.

Penrose described winning the prize as ‘a huge honour’ and explains how important it is to appreciate blackholes and how they break the laws of nature. He believes this is only the beginning of discoveries such as this and that our knowledge ‘could increase in unexpected ways in the future.’ He continues to strive for new discoveries, at the age of 89, by applying quantum theory to biology.

Jess Sellar

Inaugral Varsity Sci

This term saw the inaugural Oxbridge Varsity Sci Symposium, a fiveday online event that brought together the best in scientific research from Oxford and Cambridge.

In a huge collaborative effort, the event was hosted by Oxford and Cambridge Biological Societies, together with partners from across the sciences, including the Chemical, Nanotechnology, Genetics, Clinical Research, Biotech, Physics, Synthetic Biology, Quantum Information, Pharmacological and Biomedical Societies from both universities. Students and early-stage researchers each presented their work in a 20-min talk followed by a brief Q & A session. The eclectic range of subjects covered ranged from the environmental impact of our Google searches to the mammalian gut-brain axis to how green algae might transform agriculture.

A spokesperson for the event organisers said, “In this difficult time, we believe that it is more important than ever for us to collaborate more closely as Oxbridge science societies, and to bring the exciting research work conducted at the two universities and affiliated institutes closer to student communities and the wider world.” OxSci reporters attended the event, and you can now read a diverse set of reports summarising the talks at www.oxsci.org.

Natural History Museum turns 160!

Oxford’s Museum of Natural History was the original scienctific hub of the University and is a unique fusion of science and art. To celebrate 160 years since its opening, the Museum has released Temple of Science - a series of illustrated podcasts, viewable on Youtube, about its spectatcular architecture, nature-inspired decoration and rich history. Definitely worth a watch!

Nid Ling

Artwork by Ralf Zeigermann.