/oss/taxonomy/term/5896/all en /oss/article/health-and-nutrition-you-asked/what-are-adjuvants-vaccines <p>In 1926, Alexander Thomas Glenny, a British immunologist, discovered that noted that vaccinated guinea pigs had a better response when the jab caused a local inflammation at the site of the injection. He then had the idea of adding substances to the vaccine to cause such an inflammation and found aluminum salts to be particularly effective.</p> Fri, 11 Mar 2022 22:51:33 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 9050 at /oss /oss/article/covid-19/ruminations-rapid-tests <p>To test or not to test, that is the question, to steal a line from Shakespeare. Actually, when to test is a more important query because there is no doubt that appropriate testing of the population can cut down infections by identifying people who may be a threat to others and advising them to self-isolate. The gold standard for detecting the presence of the virus in secretions is the so-called polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test which identifies genetic material from the virus. It does this very well, capable of picking up infection just a couple of days after exposure to the virus.</p> Thu, 23 Dec 2021 23:53:20 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 8962 at /oss