Scientists at Oxford University are developing one of the leading candidates for a Covid-19 vaccine based on the adenovirus. | Steve Parsons/Pool/AFP via Getty Images

Why adenovirus and mRNA vaccines could start a revolution.

As urgency mounts for a Covid-19 coronavirus vaccine, a key question for scientists is whether this pandemic will be the watershed moment for two new technologies that have never before seen widespread use in humans. If proven effective, these approaches could dramatically speed up the development of other new vaccines and drastically lower costs, heralding a new era in the fight against infectious disease.

The main technologies gaining traction are vaccines that use an adenovirus vector and mRNA. Rather than construct a new vaccine from scratch, the idea behind these technologies is to use a standard set of parts, like a repurposed virus or a nanoparticle, to carry genetic material