Throughout the course of human civilization, Influenza Viruses A and B— the viruses responsible for causing the majority of cases of influenza— have negotiated a tenuous coexistence with the human population. Yearly, between January and March, 10 to 45 million people in the United States alone contract influenza, causing significant economic and social burdens. Occasionally, a pandemic strain will emerge, resulting in catastrophic global consequences. To mitigate the burden of influenza on society, the design of influenza vaccines is a major focus in public health. Currently, the most commonly administered influenza vaccine consists of formalin-inactivated viral particles from a variety of strains predicted to circulate in the following winter. However, the efficacy of this vaccine is often suboptimal. This is in large part due to the tendency of the influenza virus to mutate and transfer from zoonotic reservoirs, generating novel genetic variants to which susceptible individuals lack protective immunity. As scientists endeavor to design safe and effective vaccines for influenza, chemistry will prove crucial in informing vaccinologists how to better direct the immune system to target influenza. In this review, we define the major challenges facing vaccine development, both social and biological in origin. A major goal in influenza vaccine development is the generation of a universal influenza vaccine. We briefly describe several recent attempts to induce the production of broadly neutralizing antibodies that confer immunity to multiple strains. We finally examine a variety of novel methods for vaccine design and assessment, involving high throughput sequencing technologies and genetically engineered viral particles.
Authors: Ximiao Liu, Xiaohai Long, Maegan Murphy, Jess Su, Kaiyuan Tian
Faculty Advisor: Michael Kennedy, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry
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