This month: Harwell.
Who or what is Harwell?
It is a village and civil parish in Oxfordshire. It has two shops (a butcher and a combined newsagent and off-licence) and one pub – The Hart of Harwell, which can be found at the junction of the High Street and Burr Street.
Anything else of note to mention about Harwell?
It has a Scout troop, a tennis club and a horticultural society. Oh, and the UK's leading science and innovation campus, with £3bn of scientific infrastructure and 6000 scientists, engineers and innovators.
I’m assuming the latter has been in the news?
Yes, it certainly has. Moderna has chosen the science campus as its UK base for the development of future medicines. The firm said the Moderna Innovation and Technology Centre (MITC) will be built there by 2025.
What will they do in the centre?
Darius Hughes, UK General Manager at Moderna, said: “When constructed, our facility at Harwell will harness mRNA science to develop and deliver tailored, innovative vaccines to the UK public that address particular threats from respiratory viruses facing our population.”
Remind me of how mRNA works?
It uses bits of genetic code to cause an immune response through giving the body instructions to build immunity to a virus. It was one of the fastest routes to developing vaccines during the COVID pandemic.
Any other potential future applications?
Experts believe it could help in other areas, including cancer, flu and heart disease, but it is still very early days.
Image credit | Shutterstock
