Science Homework Help

Vaccine assignment.

Students will choose one of the following assignments to compete by the due date. A note about these podcasts, students are encouraged to watch/listen to these without distractions. While listening, think critically about what you are hearing. Don’t just have these on in the background as you go about your day. You will struggle to pick up on some nuances if distracted. Each student should do their own write up. Some of the answers you can get just by listening to the podcasts and interviews. Some of the answers you will need to do a bit of research on yourself from the internet. Be ware though, you will need to cite your sources that you use in your research. Use appropriate sources for your answers. For bios and backgrounds, Wikipedia is ok. But LinkedIn might be better. Or university bio pages might be best. For questions about microbiology/science/immunology/etc, try using Google Scholar. Google Scholar is a Google search engine that shows only peer reviewed articles. Just type in Google Scholar in your browser to be brought to the search engine. Then, use your key words to find articles. You don’t have to use Google Scholar. You may use other internet search engines like regular Google, but be sure your information is correct. There is lots and lots and lots and lots of misreported information, misunderstood information, and downright lies out there.

This should take you a while to complete, so don’t leave it to last minute. You can collaborate with your peers, but every student needs their own write up, and each student is responsible for their own information. Your document should be in question/answer format and not essay form. It should be somewhere between 800 and 1400 words (1-2 pages single spaced). Longer is not necessarily better, but make sure you know what you are saying. Don’t just put these questions in to Google and copy and paste an answer.

1. Listen/watch episodes 657 and 802 of This Week in Virology with special guest Shane Crotty. (https://www.microbe.tv/twiv/twiv-657/ (Links to an external site.) and https://www.microbe.tv/twiv/twiv-802/ (Links to an external site.)) They are heavy immunology episodes, but Shane Crotty does a great job of explaining some of the concepts. You are only responsible for the hour of interview with Shane on each episode. After listening, answer the following questions:
   1. Write a 1 paragraph summary on each episode including the dates for reference.
   2. Who is Vincent Racaniello and Shane Crotty? (Compose a 5-8 sentence intro for each as though you were going to introduce them to an audience of science seekers.) Include their specialties and how you know what they are experts in.
   3. On episode 657, what does Shane mean when he says the US never goes to war with just the army or the navy? (I guess he may have said this on a different podcast, or a different episode. Imagine, if you will, Shane saying that the adaptive immune response is like the armed forces of the US military. The B cells are the army, the T helper cells are the navy and the cytotoxic T cells are the air force. Now imagine he said that there is a reason that the US never goes to war with just the army, just the navy or just the air force. What analogy is he making with respect to the immune system? Explain your answer.)
   4. According to the interviews, is the immunity from the COVID19 vaccines due to T cell activity, B cell activity, or both. Explain your answer.
   5. What is the difference between neutralizing antibodies and non-neutralizing antibodies. Do we need both? Explain your answer.
   6. Why is testing for T cell activity much more difficult than testing for B cell activity? Explain your answer.
   7. Define correlates of protection. Do we know the correlates of protection for SARS-CoV-2 infections?

1. Listen/watch episodes 800 and 808 of This Week in Virology with weekly guest infectious disease physician, Dr. Daniel Griffin. (https://www.microbe.tv/twiv/twiv-800/ (Links to an external site.) and https://www.microbe.tv/twiv/?s=808 (Links to an external site.)) These updates are mostly designed for physicians seeing patients infected with SARS-CoV-2, but Dr. Griffin describes most things in lay terms that students can understand. After listening, answer the following questions:
   1. Write a 1 paragraph summary on each episode including the dates for reference.
   2. Who is Dr. Daniel Griffin and Vincent Raconiello? (Compose a 5-8 sentence intro for each as though you were going to introduce them to an audience of science seekers.) Include their specialties and how you know what they are experts in.
   3. In episode 800, Dr. Griffin discusses a study of pregnant women infected with SARS-CoV-2. What types of negative outcomes do pregnant women incur when infected with SARS-CoV-2? Are they better or worse with vaccination? Explain.
   4. In episode 800, Dr. Griffin discusses a paper comparing the antibody response between the two mRNA vaccines. What were the results of that paper? Was there significant difference between Pfizer (BNT16b2) and Moderna (mRNA-1273)? Explain. Does antibody level matter with SARS-CoV-2 infections? Explain your answer.
   5. In episode 808, he discusses a paper comparing the two mRNA vaccines and J&J. What conclusions were made in his discussion?
   6. In episode 808, Dr. Griffin discusses the V-Safe registry program for women vaccinated while pregnant. What were the conclusions of that discussion? Is there an increase risk of adverse events for pregnant women? Where is he getting his data from?
   7. Define correlates of protection. Do we know the correlates of protection for SARS-CoV-2 infections?

1. Listen to episodes 26 and 27 of This Podcast Will Kill You. (https://thispodcastwillkillyou.com/2019/05/16/episode-26-vaccines-part-1-lets-hear-it-for-maurice/ (Links to an external site.) and https://thispodcastwillkillyou.com/2019/05/21/ep-27-vaccines-part-2-have-you-thanked-your-immune-system-lately/ (Links to an external site.) ) These were recorded May 2019, before the current pandemic. Vaccine hesitancy is not a new thing. Indeed, as long as there have been vaccines, there have been people skeptical about them. These two episodes do a really good job summing up the purpose of vaccination, the history of vaccination, and the infamous “link” of vaccines to autism. One of the guests on this podcast was Dr. Peter Hotez from Texas. Dr. Hotez has recently gained some notoriety with the current pandemic as he is a vocal advocate of vaccine science as he is a vaccine scientist. Keep in mind, this was in 2019… Listen to the episodes, and then answer the following questions:
   1. Write a 1 paragraph summary of each episode.
   2. Who are the Erins? (Compose a 5-8 sentence intro for each as though you were going to introduce them to an audience of science seekers.) Include their specialties and how you know what they are experts in.
   3. Who is Dr. Peter Hotez? (Compose a 5-8 sentence intro for each as though you were going to introduce them to an audience of science seekers.) Include his specialty and how you know what he is an experts in.
   4. In the episodes, the Erins’ describe how adverse events are reported to various agencies. Describe those agencies and who oversees them in 8-10 sentences.
   5. What conflicts of interests were found with Wakefield and his experiments linking autism to the MMR vaccine? Why did it ultimately lead to retraction and his license being taken away?
   6. According to the Erins, is there any evidence that thimerosal could be linked to autism? What was thimerosal used for with vaccines?
   7. What is an adjuvant? Why is it needed for some vaccines?