Ingredient in potential Covid-19 vaccine has shark researchers worried

Shark fishing has been known to harm wild populations, and a sudden spike in squalene demand would be a significant concern, says a marine biologist and ecologist. — TNS

Science's steady march to find a vaccine capable of ending the coronavirus pandemic may come at the expense of another species: sharks.

Shark researchers in Miami, Florida, the United States, say they’re concerned about a key ingredient used to make vaccines more effective, squalene – an oily substance found in plants and even human skin – but is particularly concentrated in shark livers.