2406: Viral Vector Immunity

2021-01-01T20:00:34Z

Drumfreakk: Added "[Caption below the panel:]" and removed incomplete transcription tag

{{comic
| number = 2406
| date = January 1, 2021
| title = Viral Vector Immunity
| image = viral_vector_immunity.png
| titletext = We've secretly replaced this customer's instant coffee with our patented substitute. Let's see what she ... uh oh, I think she spotted us through the window. Now she's getting something from the closet ... oh jeez, she has a sword! Run!!
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a SENTIENT WOODEN HORSE. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

This comic references the story of the {{w|Trojan Horse}}.

The comic attempts to explain the methodology of a vector virus vaccine, and the failure of the specific methodology.

A vaccine is a way to familiarise a host's immune system with a pathogen without actually causing the host to fall ill with the associated illness.

There are many types of vaccines that have been developed over time, all of which are ways to present a significant segment of a viral molecular structure to the host body, so that the immune system recognises the virus and mounts an immune response faster when a real infection happens.

A viral vector vaccine uses a modified virus, usually different to the pathogen being immunised against, to deliver a molecular payload into the host body. This modified virus is called the vector virus because it is the method of delivery of the molecular piece of the pathogen virus.

For example, a modified (to be harmless) cold virus can be used to deliver an (harmless) outer segment of another virus into the body. The ability of the vector virus to sneak into the host body and inject itself into the cell's reproductive system is used to trick the body into producing numerous copies of the recognisable piece of the other virus. That way the immune system recognises the molecular segment of the other virus without actually being infected with that virus, which tends to significantly decrease recognition time after a real infection and therefore speeds up recovery.

The comic represents this idea with the Trojan horse being the (in this case) harmless vector virus, carrying, contrary to the traditional story, a beneficial payload into the cell.

The failure of the virus vector method sometimes results from the body mounting an immune response to the vector itself because it recognises its own molecular structure, therefore preventing the delivery of the payload and reducing the efficacy of the vaccine. In the comic the warriors recognise the shape of the delivery vehicle (the Trojan horse) as being similar to an animal that trampled one of their own earlier and therefore refuse it entry. An amusing point here is that they are not as such surprised at the arrival of a wooden vehicle at their doorstep, rather that its shape resembling an animal they have found threatening before, which is similar to how simple in its judgements the immune system can be.

The title text is a further riff on this theme, with the contents of the coffee cup being the payload and the narrator the virus vector.

==Transcript==
:[A large wooden horse statue on wheels stands before a city wall, upon which are standing several warriors who are shouting and brandishing spears.]
:Warrior 1: Look! It's a statue of that horrible animal that trampled Steve!
:Warrior 2: Burn it!
:Warrior 3: Smash it!
:Warrior 4: Push it into the gorge!

:[Caption below the panel:]
:How vaccine failure due to viral vector immunity works
{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:COVID-19]]

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2406: Viral Vector Immunity