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Short Wave

Could this vaccine trial mean a future without HIV?

16 Feb 2026

Transcription

Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?

1.364 - 18.811 Nate Rott

You're listening to Shortwave from NPR. Hey, Shortwavers. Science correspondent Nate Rott here filling in for Emily and Regina. Today, we're going to talk about a global disease that's long hammered sub-Saharan Africa particularly hard, HIV.

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19.071 - 23.338 Ari Daniel

Specifically, we're going to talk about a vaccine to fight HIV.

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23.403 - 33.855 Nate Rott

So Ari Daniel, for those who don't recognize your dulcet tones, is a freelance science reporter. And Ari, I hear there's a pretty remarkable backstory to this vaccine we're going to talk about.

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33.875 - 34.816 Ari Daniel

That is correct.

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35.136 - 38.66 Nate Rott

Okay, so where do you want to start? All right.

38.82 - 45.347 Ari Daniel

Right here, Nate. Inside a lab at the National Institute for Communicable Diseases in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Chapter 2: What innovative vaccine is being developed to combat HIV?

45.968 - 51.334 Ari Daniel

It's arrayed with, if you can picture it, half a dozen large green and white freezers.

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51.77 - 56.977 Penny Moore

These are the freezers that contain the samples that are the basis of everything we do in the lab.

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56.997 - 60.802 Ari Daniel

This is Penny Moore. She's a virologist at the University of Wittwatersrand.

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61.744 - 65.569 Penny Moore

Our freezers are named after the seven dwarves.

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65.949 - 67.852 Nate Rott

I've always felt a strong affinity for sleepy.

68.513 - 73.92 Penny Moore

So you have happy and grumpy, and every freezer in the lab is named after somebody.

75.382 - 82.792 Ari Daniel

So Penny cracks open the lid of Bashful... and pulls out a tower of frosty tubes.

83.573 - 88.902 Penny Moore

It's heavy and hard for me to lift. So this is blood and cells.

89.964 - 100.761 Ari Daniel

These, Nate, are all the samples that have been donated to Penny and her team over and over again for two decades by the same group of 117 South African women.

Chapter 3: How did the recent political changes impact HIV research funding?

673.884 - 678.829 Nate Rott

Wow. I'm excited to hear how this goes. Thank you so much, Ari, for bringing us this story.

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679.11 - 680.831 Ari Daniel

Of course, Nate. Thanks for having me.

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682.834 - 704.752 Nate Rott

Ari Daniel is a freelance science reporter. And short wavers, if you like this episode, follow us on the NPR app or wherever you listen to podcasts. Also, check out our episodes on when your brain is fully developed and creative. Reporting for this story was supported by a grant from the Pulitzer Center. Thank you, Pulitzer Center. The Gates Foundation is a financial supporter of NPR.

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705.153 - 708.16 Nate Rott

Thanks for listening to Shortwave from NPR. See you next time.

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