Leor Weinberger: Can we create vaccines that mutate and spread?

Can we create vaccines that mutate and spread?

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, potentially treating afflicted individuals and slowing the spread of infections like HIV.

Most medical tools are static, unable to keep pace with dynamic viruses that mutate and spread rapidly. A breakthrough called 'hijacker therapy' uses engineered viral particles that can mutate and transmit, targeting diseases like HIV at their own game. In regions where over 15 percent of people live with HIV, girls as young as ten face an 80 percent lifetime risk of infection. By leveraging therapies that spread and adapt, the approach aims to turn super-spreaders from the biggest barrier into the most effective part of the solution.