In the 20th century, most vaccines took over a decade to research, test, and produce. But the vaccines for COVID-19 were cleared for emergency use in less than 11 months. The secret behind this speed is a medical technology that's been developing for decades: the mRNA vaccine. So how do these revolutionary vaccines work? Kaitlyn Sadtler and Eliz...

What we do (and don't) know about viruses, pandemics and the vaccines that combat them.

Why do people distrust vaccines? Anthropologist Heidi Larson explores how medical rumors originate, spread and fuel resistance to vaccines worldwide. While vaccines cannot escape the "political and social turbulence" that surrounds them, she says, the first step to stopping the spread of disease is to talk to people, listen and build trust.

This past year, scientists racing to stop the novel coronavirus delivered vaccines at a pace and scale the world has never seen before. Adrian Hill, director of Oxford University's vaccine research institute, recounts how he and his team developed the AstraZeneca vaccine. He explains why the challenges were as much about logistics as science, an...

Adam Grosser talks about a project to build a refrigerator that works without electricity -- to bring the vital tool to villages and clinics worldwide. Tweaking some old technology, he's come up with a system that works.

(This virtual conversation, hosted by TED technology curator Simone Ross, was recorded March 12, 2021.) Biotech entrepreneur Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw shares lessons learned from the global effort to develop COVID-19 vaccines: namely, the power of collaboration and the importance of equitable access to health care. Learn more about the innovative part...

At the intersection of precision medicine and vaccinology lies a revolutionary scientific pursuit: personalized vaccines. Infectious disease specialist Ofer Levy introduces this promising medical approach, in which tailored inoculations will enable effective immunization of the most vulnerable among us, including the young and elderly, and share...

Epidemiologist Seth Berkley is leading the charge to make sure vaccines are available to everyone, including those living in the developing world.

When a new pathogen emerges, our bodies and healthcare systems are left vulnerable. And when this pathogen causes the outbreak of a pandemic, there's an urgent need for a vaccine to create widespread immunity with minimal loss of life. So how quickly can we develop vaccines when we need them most? Dan Kwartler describes the three phases of vacci...

Viruses mutate and spread from person to person, a dynamic process that often leaves us playing catch-up when there's a new disease outbreak. What if vaccines worked the same way? Virologist Leor Weinberger shares a scientific breakthrough: "hijacker therapy," a type of medical treatment that could attack, modify and spread alongside a virus, po...

A lot happens behind the scenes before medicine gets to you. Get a deeper understanding of the drugs and vaccines you may use with these compelling facts and figures.

Ethan Lindenberger never got vaccinated as a kid. So one day, he went on Reddit and asked a simple question: "Where do I go to get vaccinated?" The post went viral, landing Lindenberger in the middle of a heated debate about vaccination and, ultimately, in front of a US Senate committee. Less than a year later, the high school senior reports bac...

The alarming rise of "superbugs" could claim up to 10 million lives globally by 2050 due to their unique ability to resist antibiotics. However, pharmacist Vikas Jaitely is researching ways we can battle these drug-resistant bacteria — by studying how they evolve in order to create more effective treatments and vaccines.

Bringing transparency to how a vaccine becomes a vaccine, Dr. Jen Gunter breaks down research, development and testing that makes these life-saving therapeutics safe -- long before they reach your local pharmacy. For more on how your body works, tune in weekly to her podcast Body Stuff with Dr. Jen Gunter, from the TED Audio Collective.

It seems like we wait for a disastrous disease outbreak before we get serious about making a vaccine for it. Seth Berkley lays out the market realities and unbalanced risks behind why we aren't making vaccines for the world's biggest diseases.

In April 2020, epidemiologist-in-training Sophie Rose volunteered to be infected with the virus that causes COVID-19. As a young, healthy adult, she's offering to take part in a human challenge trial, a study where participants are intentionally exposed to SARS-CoV-2 to test vaccines and gather critical data. Explaining how challenge trials coul...

TED Fellow and renewable energy expert Norah Magero envisions an Africa that pioneers its own technological future, shifting the narrative from dependence and consumption to self-reliance and innovation. She shares how she developed VacciBox — a solar-powered refrigeration system made in Kenya to keep vaccines cold in off-grid areas — and highli...

One hundred sixty years after the invention of the needle and syringe, we're still using them to deliver vaccines; it's time to evolve. Biomedical engineer Mark Kendall demos the Nanopatch, a one-centimeter-by-one-centimeter square vaccine that can be applied painlessly to the skin. He shows how this tiny piece of silicon can overcome four major...

Refrigerators do much more than store your groceries -- they're also vital to preserving and distributing vaccines. Illustrating the realities of (and threats to) global vaccine supply chains, technologist and TED Fellow Nithya Ramanathan describes how smart sensors placed in fridges that store medical supplies can provide crucial, real-time dat...

As COVID-19 spread, BioNTech cofounders Uğur Şahin and Özlem Türeci had one goal: to make a safe, effective vaccine faster than ever before. In this illuminating conversation with head of TED Chris Anderson, the immunologists (and married couple) share the fascinating story of how their decades of mRNA research powered the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccin...

Body Stuff with Dr. Jen Gunter Wednesday, June 22, 2022 Dr. Jen Gunter: Imagine you’re a doctor like me.You’ve been seeing a patient for a few years. You’ve got a rapport. She comes back to see you regularly because you’ve helped her. And so, when you notice in the medical record that she hasn't been vaccinated against COVID-19, you offer to get...

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 immu...

From improving vaccines to modifying crops to solving crimes, DNA technology has transformed our world. Now, for the first time in history, anyone can experiment with DNA at home, in their kitchen, using a device smaller than a shoebox. We are living in a personal DNA revolution, says biotech entrepreneur Sebastian Kraves, where the secrets buri...

Ofer Levy uses new technologies and the principles of precision medicine to develop tailored vaccines to protect the vulnerable, such as the young and the elderly, from infection.

TED Fellow Nithya Ramanathan develops tools to keep vaccines safe.

An effective COVID-19 vaccine is just the first step in ending the pandemic, says global health strategist Johanna Benesty. In this illuminating talk, she explores the various barriers to "equitable access" -- making sure COVID-19 therapeutics are available to all -- and shares a creative approach to research and development that could ensure va...

What if you were holding life-saving medicine ... but had no way to administer it? Zoom down to the nano level with engineer Kathryn A. Whitehead as she gives a breakdown of the little fatty balls (called lipid nanoparticles) perfectly designed to ferry cutting-edge medicines into your body's cells. Learn how her work is already powering mRNA-ba...

Sad but true: Many of the cures and vaccines our world desperately needs -- for illnesses millions of people have -- just aren't being produced or developed, because there's no financial incentive. Thomas Pogge proposes a $6 billion plan to revolutionize the way medications are developed and sold.

Work as we knew it is undergoing seismic shifts as the pandemic in the U.S. wanes. As some businesses reopen, even people lucky enough to work from home face big questions. What lessons do we take from this past year? How should we lead? How should we talk to each other? How should we even relate to work? Chris turns to Simon Sinek, a thinker an...

On average, adults catch more than 150 colds throughout their lives. Even with similar symptoms, the cause could be different each time. Common colds are caused by at least 8 different families of virus, each of which can have its own subtypes. How can so many different viruses cause the same illness? And is a cure even possible? Explore the two...