This is a lecture I did over zoom with my biology class at Gordon College. BIO106 (Genes and Development). We had just finished an overview of viruses, and I decided to add a special lecture summarizing some of the biology of coronaviruses. I include some stuff about COVID-19 vaccine development at the end.
NOTE: Subsequent to the recording I have learned that the main reason for keeping the Pfizer mRNA vaccine at -80C temperatures probably has more to do with the formulation than the instability of the RNA itself. The precise formulation is secret stuff, but probably has to do with liposomes or other molecules to allow it to get into cells. This article talks about this:
