Pamela Bjorkman, a professor of biology and biological engineering at the California Institute of Technology, is leading a project to develop a jab which can immunise against any sarbecoronavirus – severe acute respiratory syndrome–related coronavirus – a collective which includes Sars, Mers, Sars-CoV-2 as well as other as-yet-unknown threats harboured within animals. Heeney"s team is targeting an even larger viral cluster – the entire group of betacoronaviruses, one of four groups of coronaviruses which includes the sarbecoronavirus sub-group.