by Julia Newman (’19)

A vaccine developed by a new technique at the University of Buffalo in New York has capabilities beyond any previously created vaccine. These new vaccines, unlike their predecessors, have both natural bacterial and man-made polymer components, which allow them to have multiple mechanisms for the delivery of antigens within the vaccine. They can now be delivered not only actively, as they were in the past, but also passively, or delayed, in the form of proteins or nucleic acids that do not act immediately to create a response. This means that vaccines can now create a much greater immune reaction within the body, and they can also greatly improve the ability to make vaccines strain-specific.

References:

1. Li, et al., In situ pneumococcal vaccine production and delivery through a hybrid biological-biomaterial vector. Science Advances 2.7 (2016).
2. Photo retrieved from: http://edge.alluremedia.com.au/m/l/2013/02/Vaccine.jpg