60-second Science

Creating a bird flu vaccine requires several layers of bioprotective clothing and typically a whole lot of eggs. H5N1 avian influenza infections have gone from flocks of chickens to herds of cattle and humans. Scientists at the Texas Biomedical Research Institute are taking their best guess at the strains of the virus that could spread and are creating critical vaccine candidates. Multimedia journalist and Scientific American multimedia intern Naeem Amarsy suited up and went to San Antonio, Tex., to visit a “biosafety level three” (BSL-3) lab at the institute.  This is the third and final episode of our series about bird flu. You can listen to episode one: https://www.scientificamerican.com/podcast/episode/how-h5n1-went-from-an-illness-in-wild-birds-to-a-global-pandemic-threat/  And episode two: https://www.scientificamerican.com/podcast/episode/how-bird-flu-went-from-devastating-poultry-farms-to-infecting-dairy-herds/  And read more of our health coverage: https://www.scientificamerican.com/health/