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Biochemistry ChemVsCOVID Coronavirus

#ChemVsCOVID: Highlighting how science has helped fight COVID-19

A year and a day ago, the genetic sequence of the virus that has since spread across the world was shared. Though we were yet to appreciate the effect that the virus would come to have on our lives, this was already the moment at which science started to fight back. In this new series […]

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Biochemistry Chemistry in the News Coronavirus

How does the Oxford & AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine work? A guide to viral vector vaccines

Relatively hot on the heels of the Pfizer & BioNTech RNA vaccine, today the UK has approved the Oxford University & AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine. The Oxford vaccine is a viral vector vaccine, which works slightly differently to the RNA vaccines. This graphic, made with the Royal Society of Chemistry, looks at how they work and […]

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Chemistry in the News Coronavirus Medicinal Chemistry

What are the COVID-19 RNA vaccines and how do they work?

By now, we’re all familiar with the image of coronavirus. The spikey blob peppers news websites, looms behind reporters during bulletins and frequently punctuates your Twitter doom-scrolling. More recently, the news accompanying this image has taken a positive turn, with promising results from the COVID-19 vaccine trials. It’s the iconic spikes of the coronavirus spikey […]