Welcome to the first episode of Penn Talks Science! This is the first episode of our first theme: The Theme of Vaccines.&nbsp;
Before jumping into more in-depth topics, we wanted to make sure that everyone had an idea of what vaccines are.&nbsp;
This episode just scratches the surface on the science of vaccines, but there is a lot more to learn. If you want to go more in depth, a good place to start are these references:&nbsp;
Center for Disease Control: The basics of Vaccines
<a href="https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vpd/vpd-vac-basics.html">https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vpd/vpd-vac-basics.html</a>
Center for Disease Control: mRNA Vaccines
<a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/different-vaccines/mrna.html">https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/different-vaccines/mrna.html</a>
Center for Disease Control: History of Smallpox
<a href="https://www.cdc.gov/smallpox/history/history.html">https://www.cdc.gov/smallpox/history/history.html</a>
American Cancer Society: Cancer Vaccines
<a href="https://www.cancer.org/treatment/treatments-and-side-effects/treatment-types/immunotherapy/cancer-vaccines.html">https://www.cancer.org/treatment/treatments-and-side-effects/treatment-types/immunotherapy/cancer-vaccines.html</a>

Vaccine Nationalism: A look at past examples.

Our mission is to bring science to all aspects of life such as policy making, diplomatic decisions and communication. Episodes of Penn Talks Science are grouped into themes with monthly episodes. Some episodes in each theme will feature students talking to each other with genuine questions and conversations and some feature students chatting with experts in their fields. Stay tuned to hear what we’re asking questions about today’s most interesting scientific topics!