Vaccines from a bioreactor
A universal way to make vaccines cheaper has been found
Svetlana Maslova, Hi-tech+
Without vaccines, it is impossible to prevent many diseases or eliminate epidemics, but due to the high cost or storage conditions, it is not possible to provide them to all those in need. American scientists have come up with a way to reduce the cost of producing vaccines without losing quality.
Scientists from the Medical Department of the University of Texas at Galveston (USA) have created a universal platform that reduces the cost of production and storage of vaccines without reducing their quality and effectiveness. The technique has already been tested on a vaccine against the Zika virus, according to the university's website.
Modern technologies for the production of vaccines involve their production in cell culture or with the help of chicken eggs. This is a rather expensive approach, which also involves the risk of infection. In addition, most vaccines must be transported at low temperatures, which increases the cost of the vaccine by more than 80% in tropical and subtropical regions.
"The new technology can serve as a universal platform for creating live attenuated vaccines for many viral pathogens," says researcher Shi Pei–yun.
It should be added that in the article Zou et al. A single-dose plasmid-launched live-attenuated Zika vaccine induces protective immunity, published in the journal EBio Medicine, describes a complex technique for developing a vaccine, which at the final stage was synthesized in the form of plasmids in Escherichia coli bacteria in a conventional bioreactor – VM.
The team has developed a "live" vaccine against the Zika virus based on DNA. The vaccine triggers the production of antibodies and other protective mechanisms of the human immune system.
Such a process does not require the creation of vaccines in cell culture or using chicken eggs, and since DNA molecules are stable, the vaccine does not lose its properties at high temperatures and can be stored at room temperature for many years.
The researchers used the Zika virus vaccine as a visual model.
In an experiment with mice, they proved that the DNA platform very effectively protected rodents from viral infection, its transmission from mother to fetus during pregnancy, as well as from reproductive dysfunction in males.
"This is the first study that demonstrates that a single low dose of a DNA vaccine causes a strong protective reaction. We will continue testing this promising platform for other viruses to identify a similar effect," Shi concludes.
Vaccines protect us from influenza and tuberculosis, and in the future they can help provide protection against HIV, cancer and other diseases that are difficult to treat today. Thus, the recent testing of an experimental HIV vaccine conducted on humans and monkeys causes reliable immune responses and protects against infection, and the melanoma vaccine already provides 100% survival.
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