Think one flu shot fits all? Think again.
This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science.
Vaccines train your immune system to make antibodies, which recognize and help block viruses. But turns out…not everyone makes the same antibodies!
Alexandra Fischer and team at Sweden’s Karolinska Institutet studied flu-fighting immune cells.
They collected samples from four healthy adults and found tiny variations in certain immune genes. And guess what? Those variations directly affect antibody production!
One gene in particular is IGHV2-70. Small gene differences made it harder for some people to produce flu-fighting antibodies!
So “universal” vaccines may actually be missing whole groups of people!
Guess the immune system didn’t get the memo….one size doesn’t fit all!
Fischer, A. A., Corcoran, M., Brouwer, P. J. M., Chernyshev, M., Gillespie, R. A., Nicoletto, A., Loeffler, J. R., Ferguson, J. A., Zygouras, I., Pushparaj, P., Rodriguez, A. J., Narang, S., van Gils, M. J., Castro Dopico, X., Kanekiyo, M., Ward, A. B., Han, J., & Karlsson Hedestam, G. B. (2025). Genetically diverse influenza antibodies highlight the role of IG germline gene variation and inform population-comprehensive vaccine strategies. Cell Reports Medicine, 6(8), Article 102240. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.xcrm.2025.102240