The world is on the verge of (hopefully) emerging from a deadly global pandemic thanks to a modern miracle of science. Researchers from around the globe have created multiple vaccines in record time. They offer our best hope of defeating COVID-19. It’s enough to make you believe our species can do anything if we commit to solving our problems together going forward. But it’s still 2021, and humanity is better at being silly online. So if you’re having trouble understanding exactly how vaccines safely work, you can either read a detailed explanation from the CDC, or watch this funny TikTok video that turns the science of vaccinations into a thriller of heroes and villains.
Vick Krishna created a one-man show to explain exactly how vaccines work with our bodies. The fun analogy turns the vaccine, the disease, and the inner-workings of our body into characters in a literal life-and-death story. One that prominently involves forks.
@hotvickkrishnaHow the mRNA Vaccine ? works ##fyp ##comedy ##skit ##covid19 ##mrna ##coronavirus ##vaccine ##howitworks♬ original sound – hotvickkrishna
Here’s how it all goes down. Brave Mr. Vaccine, in this case an mRNA version, shows up in our body with an urgent message. It tells Mr. Ribosome, who produces proteins, about the the sinister villain Covid. Specifically the exact weapon Old Man Covid will use to attack our body. (In this case, forks, which will make sense later.) Ribosome is given orders to create that weapon right away. But then our body’s enzymes destroy Mr. Vaccine, who gave his own life to save ours.
Having sensed the urgency of the situation, Ribosome gets to work making his own forks. He then shows them to Dr. Immune System, who has never seen a fork before either. Now that he has, he begins building a defense system known as Antibodies. After two weeks of work, they are finished. These Antibodies are designed to specifically neutralize the threat of forks. When Covid shows up uninvited, Dr. Immune System sends his defense team out to stop Covid. The Antibodies rip away the forks, saving the body and neutralizing Covid. All because the heroic Mr. Vaccine alerted us to the danger in the first place.
Why are forks an apt choice? We’ll let the CDC handle this one with this helpful, though far less dramatic, infographic that touches on spike proteins.
CDC
Vaccines work with our bodies to create what is essentially an epic superhero event. But the real heroes are the scientists who have saved the day with their super intelligence and a super commitment to helping mankind. And that’s the best story of them all.
Featured Image: Mechanisms in Medicine
