According to past research, vaccines work better for some people than others. Factors such as age, diet, and sex may influence a vaccine’s efficacy, but genetics is also thought to play a role. As of now, scientists don’t have a way to know beforehand how well a jab will stimulate any individual’s immune system.
Two papers published on October 31 in Nature Immunology bring together data from more than two dozen studies to identify the genes that determine how well vaccines in general rev up our immune systems. These findings could be applied to create better, more protective vaccines, researchers suggest.
Previously, researchers have tried to answer the question of what genes underlie responsiveness one vaccine at a time, by taking a snapshot of the genes that individuals express before and after a particular shot. “But what’s been missing in the field is to ask: Is there a universal signature ...
