Introduction

I grew up in a household that blended tradition, intuition, and holistic healing. My granny was our in home herbalist, always whipping up strange, bitter potions that despite their taste seemed to cure whatever illness that was dragging you down. Her remedies weren’t complete without strict bed rest and an almost comical amount of water to flush your system clean. Alongside those herbal practices, our family still believed in science: we were vaccinated for measles, flu, mumps hepatitis, and other serious illnesses.

As I got older, something shifted. I began questioning vaccines, not from rebellion and getting sucked into conspiracy theories , but from confusion. I didn’t understand how injecting a piece of the very virus could somehow protect us from it. It didn’t make sense to me, and that lack of clarity made me skeptical.

In 2018, I entered college majoring in chemistry, convinced it was the right path. But after my first year, the spark just wasn’t there. I realized I wasn’t driven by formulas and compounds alone, I wanted to explore life itself. I had many questions about health, healing, and the human body that chemistry couldn’t quite answer. That yearning led me to switch my major to biology, the study of life and that decision was transformative. I understood then that a lack of knowledge isn’t just harmless; it can be a silent killer.

During the pandemic, I created Plants Have Power, a small passion project producing herbal teas and capsules using what I’d learned from my growing library of books on herbal medicine. At the time, I knew the basics, what certain herbs were good for and how they interacted with our bodies. But curiosity kept pulling me deeper. I started asking tougher questions: What chemical components give plants their healing powers? How do those compounds interact with human biology on a molecular level? What exactly is going on in our immune system ?

That pursuit led me to shift my focus again, this time from plant science to biomedical science, and I left Southeastern Lousiana and transferred to Southern University to explore those questions further.

Eventually, I joined an internship researching the molecular pathways of HSV-1 (Herpes Simplex Virus type 1). That experience was pivotal. It not only deepened my understanding of viral behavior but crystallized my passion for virology, especially molecular virology.

Today, I offer a clear and honest breakdown of what vaccines truly are, where they originate, and why they're one of the most powerful tools in public health. And yes, I’m here to debunk those wild myths about microchips and conspiracies once and for all. Science isn't a mystery—it’s a conversation, and I’m finally part of it.

History of Vaccinations

An English physician by the name Edward Jenner started the idea of modern vaccinations. In the 18th century there were a majority amount of milkmaids (women that were responsible for milking cows and making dairy products) that were infected with cowpox . (they got it from the cows obviously ) What Dr Jenner noticed is that these same ladies infected with cowpox were immune to the small pox meaning they were not getting it what so ever .

Edward Jenner had the most unethical theory that if he injected cow pus into people he can make everyone immune to smallpox. Of course this is roughly the 18th century so a lot of things that they did are unethical but how else were we going to evolve in study if they weren’t putting their own lives on the line trying insane shit that advanced science. (They were the initial reasons that research and medical ethics exists by the way. ) So, Edward Jenner tested his hypothesis on the gardener’s son by injected him with the pus from a pustle ( a small, inflamed bump on the skin that’s filled with pus which is thick, yellowish fluid made up of dead white blood cells, bacteria, and tissue debris ) from an cowpox patient and challenged him with the smallpox virus which allowed him to observe the child’s survival. Jenner’s discovery was named “one of the most influential studies in medical history.” His study was a precursor to the development of smallpox vaccine and paved the way for the discovery and development of many vaccines used today.

What are Vaccines? What do they do ?

Vaccines are considered preparations that help your immune system recognize and fight harmful pathogens🦠 ( Infectious agent that can cause disease in animals) before your body even has a chance to come in contact with these sneaky little bastards, vaccines aid in helping to build resistance to certain pathogens allow your immune system to create more antibodies to be able to protect and recognize the intruders. Do you Remember the movie Osmosis Jones? The character thorax was the deadly virus and the police force , including Osmosis were the immune cells called white blood cells that are the front line defenders that help fight off the intruders. The police force included different levels of officers with different roles including:

Macrophages - The real big eaters , those into medical terminology can recognize the root word “phag” - meaning eat and “macro”- meaning big. These were the cell officers in the movie that gobbled up the invaders and alert others about their presence.
Neutrophils - Fast responders that swarm infection sites.
Natural Killer cells - their job is to destroy and kill infected cells naturally.
B and T-Cells- The detectives and snipers in the movie. B cells make antibodies (proteins in the body produced by our immune systems that help to identify and neutralize foreign invaders: viruses, bacteria and and other harmful entities) , while T cells(memory cells that remember what the criminal inavder looks like. ) target infected cells directly.
Vaccines are helping to build these exact immune cells (The Police Force ) in our body the fastest way possible, because viruses can invade quickly and it is hard to stop them when they start to turn off and hijack certain security systems in our body. Without vaccines it would-be impossible to fight certain disease in a timely manner or else it could wipe out the entire population like we have all witnessed for the Covid-19 pandemic.

What are the different types of Vaccines and how are they made ?

There are many different ways that a vaccine can be made, but I am only going to address a few . The most common way vaccines are made are through antigens which are the tiny little pieces , proteins , sugars or the entire organisms itself in a weakened or an inactive form of the viruses. Vaccines can also be formed through the genetic material (a set of blueprint instruction) of the viruses that can tell you exactly how to make the antigens.

Types of vaccines

Inactivated vaccines

Non live inactivated vaccines are vaccines that are made by taking the virus itself and literally killing it through heat, radiation or a chemical called formaldehyde an inactivating it so it does not replicate , but also maintaining the wanted immunogenicity ( the harmless part of a virus ) that allow your memory cells to recognize it for later. Unfortunately, this type of vaccine creation is not really effective in the population. ( Figure 1.1)

Live Attenuated Vaccines

Live Attenuated Vaccines are vaccines that contain a weaker version of the entire viruses in question.   This type of method does not cause disease replication, but only mimic the disease in a mild way. That’s because viruses replicate better in the set temperature in the body, which is kind of why we conduct these studies, in vitro( outside a living organism)  which allows us to study the exact movements of the OPP through cells in a Petri or culture disk and them we mimic the bodies natural temperature to further investigate what it does. Yes, the main point of researcher is to study our OPP so we can be one step ahead and develop a strategy on how to fight them in combat, so please support undergraduate and graduate research because unfortunately , you know who does not. 🫠 (Figure 1.2)

3. Subunit Vaccines

Subunit Vaccines are vaccines that use the counterparts of the viruses, usually the proteins of the viruses not the whole thing. The counterparts of the virus can be proteins, polysaccharides, or parts of a virus that may form virus-like particles. These vaccines are less effective, because they contain less antigens and during the purification process it gets rid of most of the pieces that are needed to trigger innate immunity ( the bodies first line of defense) . (Figure 1.3)

Nucleic acid vaccine (genetic material approach)

Nucleic acid vaccines are vaccines that use the section of the viruses containing the genetic material that provide specific instructions. This can be the DNA or mRNA of the viruses depending solely on the viruses we are trying to combat. DNA and mRNA are the instructions that tell us how to make a specific protein. Once the cells make this protein, the immune system recognizes it and learns how to respond, helping the body build protection against certain diseases( the opp). This approach is one of the most advanced approaches since covid -19 because does not use live vaccines which are an extreme risk for immunocompromised people and of course the elderly. It is the safest way to train the immune system. (Figure 1.4)

I’ve spent a good amount of time immersed in both the world of herbalism and the science of molecular virology. I’m not here to persuade anyone in any way, shape, or form, but I will share why I believe in combining vaccines with herbal medicine. For starters, I’ve nearly harmed myself taking wormwood without understanding its toxicological effects or the proper dosage. I’ve made teas and tinctures to help with common illnesses like the flu and colds, and I’ve developed herbal blends that effectively reduce inflammation in certain condition, when used at the correct concentration. I didn’t always believe in vaccines. But as I continued to grow in my studies, my perspective evolved. After working alongside scientists developing vaccines for HSV-1 and seeing firsthand, under the microscope how these vaccines interact with the body, I can confidently say that vaccines are among the fastest and most effective tools we have to fight diseases that have plagued humanity. In my last blog post, What Are Viruses?, I touched on how viruses are constantly mutating—because everything around us is always evolving. When half the world’s population is suffering, relying solely on natural remedies just isn’t enough. Yes, I still drink my teas, use my tinctures, and still believe in the alkaline diet because I love being healthy. But I’ve learned that evolving and learning is not a crime. So please, for fuck’s sake, stop thinking that some scientists are evil and that we put microchips in vaccine, because that is not even possible.

EVOLVE OR DIE.

So I do not get fined ……

Pulendran, Bali, and Rino Rappuoli. “Immunological Mechanisms of Vaccination.” Scandinavian Journal of Infectious Diseases, vol. 49, no. 6, 2017, pp. 516–521. Taylor & Francis Online, https://doi.org/10.1080/07853890.2017.1407035. . Accessed 1 July 2025.
World Health Organization. “Vaccines and Immunization: What Is Vaccination?” WHO, https://www.who.int/news-room/questions-and-answers/item/vaccines-and-immunization-what-is-vaccination. . Accessed 1 July 2025.
Pardi, Norbert, et al. “mRNA Vaccines — A New Era in Vaccinology.” Nature Reviews Drug Discovery, vol. 17, no. 4, 2021, pp. 261–279. PubMed, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34582315/. . Accessed 1 July 2025.
Zhang, Yifan, et al. “Advances in mRNA Vaccines for Infectious Diseases.” Frontiers in Immunology, vol. 15, 2024, article 12116436. PubMed Central, https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12116436/. . Accessed 1 July 2025.

What are Vaccines?