Royal Society Summer Science Exhibition 2018

Scientists from the University of Oxford Department of Biochemistry and the Jenner Institute (Nuffield Department of Medicine) brought their ground-breaking research into malaria vaccines to the prestigious Royal Society Summer Science Exhibition 2018. 

Visitors to the Designer Malaria Vaccines exhibit were able to explore this research through a number of different activities. An interactive map game demonstrated the effect of different interventions on malaria prevalence on a mythical island, with players able to spend a budget on bed nets, vaccine or drugs, and maximise the effect of their vaccine to make it truly effective. 

Visitors also played play a game in which they acted as the immune system attempting to detect the conserved elements on a variable parasite, to see how we search for conserved molecules for inclusion in vaccines.

Finally, 3D models of the critical malaria surface protein RH5 demonstrated how it binds to the human receptor basigin and critical human antibodies, and helped visitors to understand how researchers use this information to design novel vaccine components.

Researchers from the Modernising Medical Microbiology Group (Nuffield Department of Clinical Medicine) also exhibited 'Resistance is Futile,' a stand about the rise of superbugs, at the Royal Society Summer Science Exhibition - find out more. 

Photos from the Exhibition