Vaccine Industry Targets Type 1 Diabetes
Glucose—the natural sugar generated from the foods we eat— is our energy source for all cell functions. The cells, however, cannot directly access the glucose on their own. In the normal course of events, glucose crosses from the blood stream to the cells with help from a hormone…
A Polio Vaccine Made from Tobacco Leaves?
Seeking an alternative to using live poliovirus to create the polio vaccine, scientists are infecting a relative of the tobacco plant with a virus “containing the genetic material of polio” to manufacture a new polio vaccine from the modified plant leaves. If the experimental technique is considered successful once the vaccines have been tested in…
Heroin Vaccine Ready for Testing on Humans
The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) of La Jolla, CA has completed pre-clinical testing of a vaccine to block the “high” effect stimulated by the opioid drug heroin and is now ready to test it in humans following tests that showed the vaccine’s effectiveness in nonhuman primates.
A Vaccine to Cure Acne?
Acne, one of the more universal causes of teenage angst, affects many adults as well. A chronic inflammatory disease condition, the role of inflammation in the pathology of acne has been confirmed but there are questions about exactly how and why some people develop severe types of acne and others do not. Some researchers believe the chronic inflammatory skin condition may…
The Upcoming Trials for the First Malaria Vaccine
The World Health Organization (WHO) announced on Apr. 24, 2017 that it will conduct field trials in Ghana, Kenya, and Malawi next year on the world’s first malaria vaccine. The vaccine, known as RTS,S (Mosquirix), was developed by GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) of the United Kingdom. It is a injectable vaccine that reportedly offers partial protection against malaria in young children.
NIH to Test Mosquito Saliva Protein Vaccine Against Mosquito-Borne Diseases Like Zika
The U.S. National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) is recruiting 60 men and women for a Phase I clinical trial who will volunteer to be injected with an experimental vaccine containing synthetic proteins from mosquito saliva, then bitten by mosquitoes. The trial design is supposed to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of the new…