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Opinion
Tyler Cowen

Women Take the Lead in Vaccine Development

The rapid scientific progress against Covid shows the benefits to society of expanding opportunity.

Not an uncommon sight inside a vaccine research lab.

Not an uncommon sight inside a vaccine research lab.

Photographer: Adam Glanzman/Bloomberg

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The early history of vaccines is a male-dominated field. The science, which is currently showing spectacular results, is now led by women. Therein lies a lesson about the allocation of talent.

Consider the history of the mRNA vaccine, which is the technological basis of both the Moderna and Pfizer/BioNTech vaccines, the two leading vaccine contenders for the U.S. To oversimplify, mRNA vaccines teach cells how to make a protein that triggers an immune system response, rather than injecting live or dead virus material.