An example of metaphor and simile in science journalism:
"Elliot Pfebve who is 55, has already had surgery and chemotherapy and his personalised vaccine was created by analysing a sample of his tumour, and isolating mutations unique to his cancer. The bespoke mRNA jab is designed to produce an immune response against these mutations, which should unmask any remaining cancer cells and flag them for destruction. He'll get up to 15 doses over the course of a year."
Fergus Walsh
Fergus Walsh (Medical Editor) was speaking on the BBC Radio 4 News buletin, 08.00, Friday 31st May 2024
"Vaccines are usually designed to prevent disease. But cancer vaccines are created as a treatment once someone has been diagnosed. Just as with conventional vaccines, they prime the immune system to look for an enemy, in this case the patient's cancer.
A sample of Elliot's tumour was sent to BioNTech's labs in Germany where up to 20 mutations specific to his cancer were identified. Using this information, a vaccine was created using mRNA, which contains instructions to Elliot's cells to produce mutated rogue proteins unique to his cancer cells. The vaccine acts like a 'wanted poster' which unmasks cancer cells which are adept at hiding in the body, only to resurface later. The intention is that the vaccine will prime his immune system to seek out and destroy any remaining traces of cancer, and so improve the chances of him being cancer free in years to come."
Fergus Walsh
Fergus Walsh (Medical Editor) article ('Thousands of cancer patients to trial personalised vaccines') on the BBC News website, accessed Friday 31st May 2024
Some of these metaphors shade into anthropomorphism (i.e., looking for an enemy, hiding, seeking out – are deliberate actions).
Read about examples of science similes
Read examples of anthropomorphism in science
