Simple strategy could lead to a “universal” flu vaccine

It’s that time of year again: Temperatures drop, sleeves go up, and the needles come out. If scientists at The Rockefeller University have their way, however, the annual ritual of the flu shot could become obsolete. A team based in Jeffrey V. Ravetch’s lab has devised a strategy for improving existing flu vaccines to better protect against these ever-mutating viruses. If successful, their work could translate into fewer flu shots. “We have a simple, direct strategy for developing a broadly protective influenza vaccine,” says Taia T. Wang, who conducted the research as an instructor in clinical investigation in Ravetch’s lab. Current vaccines protect against three or four specific strains of flu that experts predict will be in circulation during a particular flu season. However, in new experiments, the researchers found they could alter such a vaccine to defend mice against two additional strains, of which one has the potential to erupt into a...