16 April 2021

An infographic explaining the challenge with an ever-mutating spike protein, illustrated by coloring the spike protein based on its conserved and variable regions. In combination with the text, this explains that the most conserved regions of the head and stem may be the best potential targets for a pan-coronavirus vaccine. Surrounding the main element are four different approaches to creating a pan-coronavirus vaccine including a chimeric spike, whole virus, RBD nanoparticles, and serial vaccines.

Made with Pymol, Cinema 4D, Illustrator

Data: Casalino et al, ACS Cent Sci., 6(10), 1722, (2020); Consurf server; 7K3J; Feig Lab/6XDC; Paul Ehrlich Institute; European Molecular Biology Lab; Max Planck Institute of Biophysics; D. Ellis/UW; PDB 6VXX; D. Veesler/UW