Lothar Stitz: A Vaccine for Every Strain of the Flu

Speed is essential to halting a flu pandemic. Lothar Stitz, a professor of veterinary medicine who researches virology and immunology at Germany’s Friedrich Loeffler Institute, has come up with a method to produce flu vaccines in weeks rather than months. Better yet, his vaccine may provide lifelong protection. “This could be a vaccine that covers all influenza strains,” he says.

One challenge in making flu vaccines has been that the virus constantly evolves through genetic mutation. Before scrambling to make enough flu shots to go around, scientists have to predict which strains will strike in the coming year. Most vaccines are grown inside chicken eggs and cell cultures, a process that can take more than six months.