Thread by @firefoxx66

This morning's session at the #Nobel Symposium starts with Michael Farzan explaining ACE2 binding in #SARSCoV2 & #SARSCoV1, including a great timeline comparison between how long steps took between the two (much faster in SC2) & asking if we can improve vaccines.

@MichaelWorobey follows, speaking to the importance of digging into the evidence of #SARSCoV2 outbreak sources & Hunan market.
He opens with a remark about how this beautiful location with so many great people to talk to is pretty close to heaven - he's not wrong!

Hyeryun Choe closes the first session with a great talk on how #SARSCoV2 adapted to humans, and the importance of the D615G mutation, to stabilizing the protein. With a great graphic reminder of how quickly G614 dominated.

Eric Snijder opens the second session with the reminder that "there are more proteins that are exciting than just Spike!" He points out that comparing similarities and differences across larger families can be very informative - and tells us about double membrane vesicles.

Last before lunch is @unibern's own @ProfVolkerThiel! Giving a fantastic overview of how to reconstruct #SARSCoV2 viruses, including VoC, and using them in human cell & animal models to evaluate differences. And another great visualisation of the advantage of G614.

No chance of falling asleep after lunch as @McLellan_Lab takes us through a fantastic talk on stabilizing prefusion spike proteins for vaccine development - critical for our current SC2 vaccines! And some exciting hints in the search for a universal beta-coronavirus vaccine.

And before coffee, @GuptaR_lab takes us through some great examples of discerning the impact of mutations in #SARSCoV2 VoCs - including careful inspection of the differences between Delta & Omicron in cell entry.

To close out the invited speakers today, @Tuliodna gives a brilliant talk on how South Africa managed in the pandemic & what was key: previous epidemic experience, holistic collaboration, communication with govt, being resilient, & giving back to the scientific community!

PhD student @robert_dyrdak outlines detection of mixed #SARSCoV2 BA.1 & BA.2 infections, and occasional misclassification of them as BA.3

Getting us going this morning at the #Nobel symposium is @florian_krammer excellently walking us through immune responses after #SARSCoV2 immunization & infection, including the impact of boosters & interesting observations on binding, non-neutralising antibodies!

@PennyMo70026063 battles disappearing p-values in uncooperative slides but delivers a great overview of the differences in immune profiles by vaccination & variant infection, & reminds us of the unique position of South Africa both in #SC2 history & due to people living with HIV

Fallen behind in tweeting, but Lindsey Baden gives an excellent overview of the challenges of the vaccine, including the importance of community inclusion, building public trust, & science communication. But he started with his takeaway: "The vaccine works."