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There are all sorts of different vaccines but many of them share specific types of ingredients. Josh Toussaint-Strauss talks to Prof Adam Finn to find out what is in most conventional vaccines, as well as what's going on in our bodies when we take them – and why the Covid jabs work differently Continue reading...

Rishi Sunak warns of risk to economy; Joe Biden tells US ‘now is not the time to relax - follow all the day’s news as it happensVan-Tam warns against giving up on Covid rulesExperts criticise Boris Johnson for putting dates in Covid roadmapSee all our coronavirus coverage 10.24am GMT The president of the Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte, has extended coronavirus restrictions in the capital of...

From immunity to blocking transmission of the virus, labs across the UK are hunting for second-generation jabs Scientists are developing a range of second-generation Covid vaccines aimed at expanding protection against the disease. Continue reading...

Hailed as the ‘molecular scissors’ that will allow us to rewrite our genes, the DNA tool is being trialled in treatments for everything from sickle-cell anaemia to cancerWhen last year’s Nobel prize for chemistry was awarded to biochemist Jennifer Doudna and microbiologist Emmanuelle Charpentier for their work in developing the technique of gene editing known as Crispr-Cas9 (pronounced “crisper”), headlines hailed their discovery as...

Micheál Martin rules out reopening hospitality sector soon; 45% of 200m vaccinations among G7 countries3.8m cases in AfricaUK sees 445 deaths, Italy records 251France braces for further restrictionsSee all our coronavirus coverage 9.58pm GMT Brazil registered 1,212 further Covid-19 deaths and 57,472 new confirmed cases of the virus on Saturday, according the country’s health ministry.The South American nation has now recorded 245,977 total coronavirus...

Mobile app inoculation certificate aims to help reopen economy, but privileges are untested and raise ethical questions Coronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageIsrael is preparing itself to be split in half from next week, with the government creating a new privileged tier in society: the vaccinated.Nearly 50% of the population who have chosen to be inoculated against Covid will be provided with...

Event 42,000 years ago combined with fall in solar activity potentially cataclysmic, researchers say The flipping of the Earth’s magnetic poles together with a drop in solar activity 42,000 years ago could have generated an apocalyptic environment that may have played a role in a major events ranging from the extinction of megafauna to the end of the Neanderthals, researchers say.The Earth’s magnetic field...

DNA from teeth found in Siberia permafrost the oldest yet sequenced, pushing science into ‘deep time’ Teeth from mammoths buried in the Siberian permafrost for more than a million years have led to the world’s oldest known DNA being sequenced, according to a study that shines a genetic searchlight on the deep past.Researchers said the three teeth specimens, one roughly 800,000 years old and...

Project aims to identify paleoviruses and study virus evolution using the remains, Siberian lab saysA Russian state laboratory has announced that it is launching research into prehistoric viruses by analysing the remains of animals recovered from melted permafrost.The Siberia-based Vektor lab said in a statement on Tuesday that the aim of the project was to identify paleoviruses and conduct advanced research into virus evolution....

Scientists surprised by marine organisms on boulder on sea floor beneath 900 metres of ice shelfThe accidental discovery of marine organisms on a boulder on the sea floor beneath 900 metres (3,000ft) of Antarctic ice shelf has led scientists to rethink the limits of life on Earth.Researchers stumbled on the life-bearing rock after sinking a borehole through nearly a kilometre of the Filchner-Ronne ice...

The Descent of Man, 150 years old this month, is a work of humanist brilliance – yet its errors, particularly on gender, now make for uncomfortable reading“Light will be thrown on the origin of man and his history.” That sentence is the sole reference to human evolution in Charles Darwin’s masterwork On the Origin of Species, which in 1859 set down the theory that...

Preliminary findings based on analysis of data from more than 20,000 participantsCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageThe Sputnik V vaccine, which has been the subject of scepticism since Russia began using it last year before trials had ended, is 91.6% effective against symptomatic Covid according to data published in one of the world’s leading medical journals.Results in the Lancet from 20,000 trial...

UK, South Africa and Brazil variants indicate changes may be neededCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageIn common with others, the virus that causes Covid-19 mutates as it spreads. Most mutations have little or no effect, but some can change the behaviour of the virus. Mutations in a variant found in the UK in September has helped the virus spread more easily and...

Low uptake fuelled by fears over safety of vaccine and spread of misinformation Coronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageIndia’s Covid-19 vaccine drive has been hampered by turnout as low as 22% in some states, as fears over the safety of the vaccine and the spread of misinformation has fuelled widespread hesitancy.On Saturday, India launched the world’s largest vaccination programme as it began...

Minister who publicly drank syrup touted as coronavirus cure tests positive Coronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageA self-styled Sri Lankan holy man’s supposed miracle potion to prevent Covid-19 has turned sour after a minister who publicly drank it was taken to hospital with the virus.Thousands defied public gathering restrictions to swamp a village in central Sri Lanka last month to get the...

When I damaged my vocal cords, I was forced to change the way I spoke – and discovered how much our voices reveal who we areSome years ago, I was invited by my then boss, Jann Wenner, the owner of Rolling Stone, to be the lead singer in a band he was putting together from the magazine’s staff. I had just turned 41, and...

The emergence of more infectious variants of Sars-CoV-2 has raised questions about just how long our vaccines will remain effective for. Although there is little evidence that the current vaccines won’t work against the new variants, as the virus continues to mutate scientists are preparing themselves for having to make changes to the vaccines in response. Speaking to Dr Katrina Pollock, science correspondent Linda...

You asked us about the fast-spreading coronavirus variant, here are the answersCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageHow do scientists know the new UK variant is 70% more transmissible, and how certain are they of this figure?Our gift to the world: the UK variant of Sars-CoV-2. There are sufficient data to quote 70% greater infectivity, but how was this figure ascertained?” D Moon,...