‘One and Done’: Scientists Develop Vaccine That May Fight Any Viral Strain
Key Takeaways
A new type of vaccine could provide broad and effective protection against all strains of a specific virus
The vaccine teaches the body how to interfere with viral replication, rather than fight it with antibodies
This vaccine should work in infants and people with compromised immune systems
TUESDAY, April 16, 2024 (HealthDay News) — Genetics-based “one-and-done” vaccines for the flu and COVID could prove more effective and easier to craft than current jabs, researchers report.
These new vaccines would target viruses using a different response to infection than what is prompted by current vaccines, researchers said.
Instead of teaching the immune system to create antibodies to fight off a specific virus, the new vaccine would instead teach the body to create small signaling RNA proteins that will shut down harmful viral spread.
This new approach could revolutionize current vaccine development, in which experts create vaccines based on predictions of which flu and COVID strains are likely to be most infectious, researchers argue.
Instead, these RNA-promoting vaccines should be effective against all strains of a specific virus.
“What I want to emphasize about this vaccine strategy is that it is broad,” said researcher Rong Hai, a virologist with University of California, Riverside. “It is broadly applicable to any number of viruses, broadly effective against any variant of a virus and safe for a broad spectrum of people.”
“This could be the universal vaccine that we have been looking for,” Hai added in a university news release.
Traditionally, vaccines use dead or live but modified virus to prompt an immune response from the body. This immune response teaches the body how to recognize a germ and produce antibodies that specifically target and kill that bug.
The new vaccine also uses a live, modified version of a virus, but it doesn’t rely on the body having a traditional immune response that prompts the creation of antibodies, researchers said.
Instead, these vaccines teach the body to interfere with viral replication through the use of targeted RNA signaling proteins.
Everyone already has this natural response to infection, but viruses can produce their own proteins that block the body’s RNA response, explained researcher Showei Ding, a professor of microbiology at University of California, Riverside. The new vaccine teaches the body how to get around this viral defense.
There’s also little chance a virus could mutate to avoid this vaccine, Hia added.
“Viruses may mutate in regions not targeted by traditional vaccines. However, we are targeting their whole genome with thousands of small RNAs. They cannot escape this,” Hai said.
One such vaccine injection created for a mouse virus called Nodamura protected lab mice from lethal doses of the virus for at least 90 days, researchers report. Nine mouse days are roughly equivalent to one human year.
The new study was published April 15 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
University of California, Riverside, has been issued a U.S. patent on its new RNA vaccine technology, the researchers said.
The vaccine will be of particular help to newborns, who can’t receive current vaccines because their immune systems are underdeveloped, as well as people with diseases that compromise their immune systems, researchers said.
“That’s why our next step is to use this same concept to generate a flu vaccine, so infants can be protected,” Ding said. “If we are successful, they’ll no longer have to depend on their mothers’ antibodies.”
The new vaccine could also be delivered in the form of a spray, which will help people who are needle-shy.
“Respiratory infections move through the nose, so a spray might be an easier delivery system,” Hai said.
Ultimately, this strategy could be used to “cut and paste” vaccines for any number of viruses, the researchers noted.
“There are several well-known human pathogens; dengue, SARS, COVID. They all have similar viral functions,” Ding said. “This should be applicable to these viruses in an easy transfer of knowledge.”
More information
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has more on how traditional vaccines work.
SOURCE: University of California, Riverside, news release, April 15, 2024
What This Means For You
A new type of vaccine could potentially provide better protection against a wide variety of viruses.
News Related
-
Anyone who’s purchased gift baskets to hand out to loved ones this holiday season might need to find a backup present after the latest food recall that involves festive cookies. Gift basket company Wine Country Gift Baskets just announced that it is voluntarily recalling all gift baskets that feature Acorn Baking ...
See Details:
Recall Just Announced For Popular Cookies Featured In Holiday Gift Baskets
-
LOS ANGELES: Quarterback Jalen Hurts ran in an overtime touchdown to give the Philadelphia Eagles a 37-34 NFL win over the Buffalo Bills Sunday (Monday in Manila) and move them to 10-1 on the season. The Eagles, who lost the Super Bowl to Kansas City last season, trailed at half-time ...
See Details:
Eagles rally past Bills in overtime as Chiefs win
-
Yen Makabenta First word WHILE UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and other promoters of the climate emergency are preparing to convene the 28th conference of the parties (COP28) of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in the United Arab Emirates, starting on November 30 and stretching to December 12, ...
See Details:
Reality bites the green energy agenda
-
Sandigan orders Marcos Sr. pal to pay workers The Sandiganbayan has ordered the enforcement of a July 2023 ruling ordering a Marcos Sr. associate to pay a lumber company’s workers P2.1 million in damages as well as return 60 percent of their company’s shares and pay all unpaid benefits. The ...
See Details:
Sandigan orders Marcos Sr. pal to pay workers
-
DSWD: Shear line, LPA affect 1.2 million people; over 18,000 families evacuated MANILA, Philippines – More than 18,000 families have fled to evacuation centers across flood-affected regions in the country due to the impact of the shear line and low pressure area. Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) gave ...
See Details:
DSWD: Shear line, LPA affect 1.2 million people; over 18,000 families evacuated
-
-
MANILA, Philippines: The entire Luzon, including Metro Manila, is expected to experience isolated rain showers and thunderstorms as the northeast monsoon (“amihan”) and easterlies will be affecting the country over the next 24 hours, the state-run weather agency said on Tuesday. Weather specialist Patrick del Mundo of the Philippine Atmospheric ...
See Details:
Rain showers, thunderstorms over Luzon, including Metro Manila — Pagasa
-
Attention, Naruto fans! You can soon watch the famous anime’s live-action adaptation as it finally has a confirmed writer. According to a Variety report, the beloved manga and anime series is set to head to big screens for its live-action adaptation under Lionsgate. It will be written by Tasha Hao, ...
See Details:
'Naruto' live-action film adaptation is in the works
-
Attention, Naruto fans! You can soon watch the famous anime’s live-action adaptation as it finally has a confirmed writer. According to a Variety report, the beloved manga and anime series is set to head to big screens for its live-action adaptation under Lionsgate. It will be written by Tasha Hao, ...
See Details:
NASA Highlights Stingray Nebula
-
Attention, Naruto fans! You can soon watch the famous anime’s live-action adaptation as it finally has a confirmed writer. According to a Variety report, the beloved manga and anime series is set to head to big screens for its live-action adaptation under Lionsgate. It will be written by Tasha Hao, ...
See Details:
Manila's Lagusnilad underpass opens
-
Attention, Naruto fans! You can soon watch the famous anime’s live-action adaptation as it finally has a confirmed writer. According to a Variety report, the beloved manga and anime series is set to head to big screens for its live-action adaptation under Lionsgate. It will be written by Tasha Hao, ...
See Details:
China probes debt-ridden financial giant
-
Attention, Naruto fans! You can soon watch the famous anime’s live-action adaptation as it finally has a confirmed writer. According to a Variety report, the beloved manga and anime series is set to head to big screens for its live-action adaptation under Lionsgate. It will be written by Tasha Hao, ...
See Details:
China's VUCA situation
-
Attention, Naruto fans! You can soon watch the famous anime’s live-action adaptation as it finally has a confirmed writer. According to a Variety report, the beloved manga and anime series is set to head to big screens for its live-action adaptation under Lionsgate. It will be written by Tasha Hao, ...
See Details:
Unraveling the mystery that is diabetes
-
Attention, Naruto fans! You can soon watch the famous anime’s live-action adaptation as it finally has a confirmed writer. According to a Variety report, the beloved manga and anime series is set to head to big screens for its live-action adaptation under Lionsgate. It will be written by Tasha Hao, ...
See Details:
Bangladesh's nuke plant is not going to steal PH investments
OTHER NEWS
ALIW Awards Foundation Inc. President Alice H. Reyes has released the names of finalists for the 2023 Aliw Awards to be presented on Dec. 11, 2023, at the Manila Hotel ...
Read more »
WhatsApp Web gains the feature of single-view photos and videos (Photo: Unsplash) The WhatsApp Web, the desktop version of the popular messaging app from Meta, has received an update allowing ...
Read more »
Young athletes’ time to shine in Siklab Awards MANILA, Philippines — The future heroes of Philippine sports will be honored during the third Siklab Youth Sports Awards on Dec. 4 ...
Read more »
Graphics by Jannielyn Ann Bigtas A local government official said Monday that five to 10 barangays in Northern Samar are still isolated following the massive flooding in the area last ...
Read more »
DyipPay app lets you pay jeepney fare, book tricycles “Barya lang po sa umaga.” Everyone who rides jeepneys knows this rule: it may not be an actual law, but it’s ...
Read more »
Updated In-Season Tournament Bracket ahead of pool play finale Tuesday will mark the last day of pool play for the inaugural NBA In-Season Tournament. From there, six first-place teams and ...
Read more »
PCG forms teams for maritime emergency response MANILA, Philippines — Recent incidents of fishermen lost in the waters off Southern Tagalog have prompted the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) to form ...
Read more »