Successful development of super vaccines can protect against all types of diseases

It can help us react quickly if unfortunately bioterrorism happens.

Recently, engineers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), the United States have successfully developed a " paradigmatic paradigm " vaccine . It can easily be programmed and customized to create many different vaccines in just 7 days. So far, vaccines have been successful against Ebola, H1N1 flu and Toxoplasma gondii (a relative of malaria parasites). Tests proved to be 100% effective on mice.

Not only that, scientists said this could be a vaccine that created a revolution in disease control. Including diseases with a completely new strain of natural viruses, pandemics that can be caused by terrorism, vaccines can be immediately prepared within a week.

The study allows all diseases to be vaccinated immediately in 7 days.

"The approach based on nano-assembly allows us to create vaccines against many new diseases in just 7 days, opening up the ability to cope with a sudden outbreak or change of course. and rapid evolution [of pathogens], " said Professor Daniel Anderson from MIT.

Hopefully, researchers also use this method to create anti-cancer vaccines . It has the ability to "train" the immune system to recognize and destroy tumors. This research project is led by two scientists: Dr. Jasdave Chahal and Dr. Omar Khan from MIT.

Vaccines quickly customized

The vaccine that Dr. Khan and Chahal is developing contains genetic material of information RNA. They can be designed to encode any protein of any virus, bacterium or parasite. These molecules, then, are packed into an RNA-carrying molecule. After vaccination into the host (in the mouse test), the molecule is "translated" into proteins that activate the immune response to fight off the pathogen.

Most traditional vaccines today contain a form of inactivation of viruses or pathogens. They will require a long time to produce. Moreover, for some diseases, traditional vaccination also contains a great risk. It is also considered a bet.

Some more advanced vaccines contain bacterial proteins. However, this vaccine does not produce a strong immune response in humans. So, if you want it to work effectively, scientists have to study an adjuvant, which enhances the reaction.

In this context, RNA vaccine is an extremely promising approach. Using the same protein vaccine mechanism, instead of injecting the protein directly into the host, the scientists injected RNA. After entering the body, the RNA now makes the host cell produce many copies of the encoded protein. Therefore, unlike conventional protein vaccines, the immune response becomes stronger without the use of adjuvant.

The dendrimer nanoparticles will pack the vaccine and bring it to the target.

The idea of ​​vaccines using RNA was born 30 years ago. However, as all biological mechanisms are complex, we still have to find ways to use them safely and effectively.

In his research, Dr. Khan encapsulated the RNA vaccine in a nanoparticle, made from dendrimer molecules (a molecule with a very special symmetric branch). The advantage of using dendrimer is that scientists can infect them for a certain period of time. This allows dendrimer to more closely link with negatively charged RNA.

The final size and structure of the vaccine particle can also be controlled. Dr. Khan can manipulate the dendrimer-RNA particles to fold many times. By the time the vaccine particles became a sphere with a diameter of only 150nm, it had achieved the same size as many viruses. Vaccine particles can now enter the cell, making proper use of the virus to take advantage of surface proteins.

The most important feature of this vaccine is RNA.Researchers can customize RNA to make most of the proteins they want. This is the basis for us to call it a vaccine for panacea.

Vaccines are designed to be injected into the body by intramuscular route, a very simple method in health and easy to manage. When vaccine particles enter the cell, they cause protein production and stimulate the immune system. More amazingly, this vaccine can stimulate both separate mechanisms of the immune system. It is T-cell reaction and antibody response.

Testing on mice has shown some success. Mice given a single dose of RNA vaccine did not show symptoms after exposure to pathogens including Ebola, H1N1 flu and parasite Toxoplasma gondii.

"No matter what kind of antigen we chose, the vaccine can still produce enough antibodies and even T-cell reactions," said Dr. Khan.

Vaccines can be introduced into the body via simple intramuscular injections.

Researchers also believe their vaccine is much safer than the DNA vaccine that many other scientists are pursuing. Unlike DNA, RNA cannot be integrated into the host genome, a potentially dangerous activity that creates mutations.

In addition to this, the biology professor Hidde Ploegh from MIT said: This kind of customizing can become an important strategy to solve the epidemic , besides the way we are stockpiling resistance. Traditional births today. The important thing now is just to evaluate its safety and find ways to optimize production costs.

Get the vaccine right after 7 days of outbreaks

Let's look at how we are struggling to deal with recent diseases: 2015 Zika, Ebola in 2014 or 2009 H1N1 flu. An important reason why we cannot control these diseases is It took several months to years to create a vaccine.

For example, in 2009, the H1N1 flu vaccine was produced by developing virus inside chicken eggs. This process takes several months. When a new influenza virus suddenly appeared, there was no way to make a vaccine faster.

"Usually, a vaccine is only available after a long time of outbreaks," Dr. Chahal said. Now, if it only takes 7 days to create the vaccine, it will be a revolution. Professor Joseph Rosen from Dartmouth University says we can react as soon as the disease breaks out, even if it is unknown to viruses and bacteria.

"To deal with a pandemic, whether from nature, unintentional or intentional [human], vaccines can be produced in just a week , " Rosen said. RNA vaccines, therefore, allow us to intervene and stop the serious consequences of a biological crisis, if they happen unfortunately.

Rapid response is essential in a bioterrorism attack.

To realize this utopia, Dr. Khan and Chahal are now launching a company to license and commercialize new vaccine technology. In addition to the vaccines they designed, the two scientists will develop it targeting both Zika and Lyme disease.

And cancer vaccines

Not only at developing vaccines for infectious diseases, scientists at MIT also want to use it to fight cancer. Participating in a contest called "Mission: Possible", organized by David H. Koch Cancer Research Institute, MIT, Dr. Khan and Chahal retreated midway. They accepted the opportunity to receive up to $ 300,000 in funding because of a more attractive offer from outside organizations.

The Advanced Medical Research Foundation, the United States, has offered to support them in a vaccine design project aimed at genes that are normally only activated during embryonic development. These genes are not active in adults but are re-activated when a lung cancer develops.

So, by approaching these genes, scientists have seen a way to develop vaccines that can fight cancer."We are excited to think about the potential of this new approach," concluded Professor Robert Langer from David H. Koch Institute of Cancer Research, MIT.