Mutant versions of the SARS-CoV-2 virus have set off alarms worldwide. Science Director Roger Highfield talks to one of the laboratories racing to find out what these variants mean for COVID-19 transmissibility and virulence, along with the development of drugs and vaccines.

The UK is the first country in the world to give temporary authorisation to the Pfizer/BioNTech coronavirus vaccine for emergency pandemic use.

This is a new kind of vaccine, based on RNA, and the first approved for use in humans. Roger Highfield, Science Director, talks to Dr Berkeley Phillips, UK Medical Director of Pfizer.

Details of the Oxford COVID-19 vaccine are published today, showing encouraging efficacy and some puzzling features. Science Director, Roger Highfield, talks to the trial’s Chief Investigator about the vaccine, trial regulation and a surprising bonus result.

Many COVID-19 drugs, vaccines and tests depend on ‘the spike’. Roger Highfield, Science Director, describes why it is now the most important protein on the planet.

Britain is planning the first human ‘challenge studies’, where people are deliberately infected with SARS-CoV-2. Roger Highfield, Science Director, explores the risks and benefits.

Lockdowns and other stringent measures have been introduced in the wake of computer predictions about the pandemic. Roger Highfield, Science Director, looks at one of most advanced COVID-19 models, and results released today from the most sophisticated analysis of how it works.

Tomorrow (28th July), Locomotion will be our first of our five museums to open its doors to visitors. Roger Highfield, Science Director, describes the science behind reopening.

Never before have so many of the world’s researchers focused so urgently on a single topic. Roger Highfield, Science Director, discusses how COVID-19 has highlighted the critical role of science in combating disease and how the greatest health challenge of a generation has changed science.

In the global race to curb the pandemic, scientists are testing a new kind of vaccine. Roger Highfield, Science Director, talks to key figures in the ‘David and Goliath’ race for a COVID-19 ‘RNA vaccine’.

Science Director Roger Highfield explores how growing human tissue into mini-organs, or ‘organoids’, will help the fight against COVID-19, from explaining puzzling complications to creating novel treatments.