The Price of Immunity

Only 17% of the English-language biographies on Wikipedia are about women – but the statistic won’t stay that low for long if Dr Jess Wade has her way. A passionate advocate for diversity in science, Jess balances her work as an award-winning physicist at Imperial College London with her role as a ‘Wikipedian’, creating and uploading the biographies of underrepresented groups in science.

Researchers from the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity (Doherty Institute) and Monash University have identified immune cells, called killer T cells that can fight all influenza viruses – A, B and C – creating the potential for the development of a world-first universal, one-shot flu vaccine.

The bacteria, fungi and viruses that live inside us are collectively called our microbiome, and they play an important role in our health. But scientists also think that the bacteria in our guts might help some cancers develop and change how these cancers respond to treatment.