New Method to Create Vaccines

(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Scientists say they may have a new way to quickly and effectively create vaccines. The research could revolutionize the way vaccines are made now.

When an infection is in the body, the immune system goes to work manufacturing antibodies to fight it. Most of the antibodies have no effect, but a few will bond to the invader and replicate to fight the enemy. In the past, scientists had to take a needle in a haystack approach to determine which antibodies will work to fight infections. Now, a new process could change that.

Researchers from Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation and Emory University have found a way to identify and clone human antibodies specifically tailored to fight infection. The new process develops a “smart bomb” for the immune system. Researchers isolated antibody-secreting cells from people who have received the influenza vaccine, then cloned the antibody genes from these cells.

“We can recognize which cells are made and then make antibodies from them directly,” Patrick Wilson, Ph.D., from the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation, was quoted as saying. “It’s a rapid and efficient way to make fully human antibodies.”

This research is aimed at combating influenza, but could be used to create treatments for any condition that has a vaccine -- like smallpox or anthrax. Study authors say the technology cold serve as a therapy for someone who is already infected. It could also be key to fighting diseases like multiple sclerosis and cancer. Scientists are currently working on making more antibodies from other infections.

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SOURCE: Nature, published online May 6, 2008