Bone Marrow Cells: Key To Vaccine Longevity?

Short Wave

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🗓️ 14 January 2025

⏱️ 10 minutes

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Summary

The COVID-19 mRNA vaccine generates enough of an antibody response to protect against severe disease for six months. But other vaccines offer years-long — even lifelong — immunity, such as the measles or yellow fever vaccines. Is there a way for scientists to tell how long a person's immunity will last? A team at Stanford Medicine might have found a way to do just that — with the help of some of the cells found in our bone marrow.

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0:00.0	Matt Wilson spent years doing rounds at children's hospitals in New York City.
0:04.8	I had a clip on tie. I wore helies, size 11. Matt was a medical clown. The role of a medical
0:10.5	clown is to reintroduce the sense of play and joy and hope and light into a space that doesn't
0:16.8	normally inhabit. Ideas about navigating uncertainty.
0:23.5	That's on the TED Radio Hour podcast from NPR.
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0:31.4	Hey, shortwaver's Emily Kwong here.
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0:36.2	With our bi-weekly science news roundup featuring the hosts of all things considered,
0:42.7	and today we have Juana Summers. Hey, happy to be here. It's the first news roundup of the year, so tell me what is going on in the world of science. Well, there's a new study on how the longevity of a vaccine may be
0:47.7	decided by our bone marrow. And then another one on the math and science behind hula hooping.
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