Bug barcode readers hold out promise of universal vaccines
Thursday, October 15, 2009 - 10:35
in Biology & Nature
Veterinary scientists have made a discovery that promises to deliver a new approach to fast development of cheap vaccines that are effective in all mammals - not just humans or another particular species. They propose that by harnessing the system that reads the biological 'barcodes' of infectious microbes such as food poisoning bacteria, flu viruses and protozoa that cause malaria, one vaccine could be made to prevent a particular disease in all mammals. The research is discussed in the new Autumn edition of Business, the quarterly magazine of the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council.