Silk cages preserve vaccines and antibiotics for months without refrigeration

Here is an unfortunate clash of circumstance. Vaccines and antibiotics become useless in heat, but the countries where they are most needed – poor ones where infectious diseases are a major cause of death – are really hot. Because of this, millions of dollars are spent on keeping vaccines cold and millions of lives are affected when they can’t be. The factory that makes a vaccine can be continents away from the arm of the child who will receive it. Those distant points are separated by the “cold chain” – a network of refrigerators, freezers, insulated vehicles, cold boxes, specially equipped depots, and trained personnel. If the chain fails, and vaccines are allowed to heat up, they rapidly and permanently degrade. This happens even in developed countries, but it’s a huge problem for developing ones, where electricity and refrigeration can be sparse luxuries. If there was a way of stabilising ...