title: Vaccine design reaches the atomic level.
abstract: The genetic diversity of pathogens presents a challenge to the development of broadly effective vaccines. In this issue, Scarselli et al. combine atomic-level structural information with genomics and classical vaccinology to design a single immunogen that elicits protective immunity against more than 300 natural variants of the bacterial pathogen meningococcus B. This accomplishment provides a glimpse of the power of structure-based vaccine design to create immunogens capable of eliciting protective responses against genetically diverse pathogens.
authors.affiliation: Vaccine Research Center, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA. pdkwong@nih.gov
authors.forename: Peter D
authors.initials: PD
authors.lastname: Kwong
authors.forename: Lawrence
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Shapiro
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000942:Antigens, Bacterial / Q000276:immunology*; D015195:Drug Design; D006801:Humans; D007109:Immunity / Q000276:immunology*; D009345:Neisseria meningitidis / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D000942:Antigens, Bacterial