New Freeze-Dried Vaccines Let You Just Add Water
Researchers at Harvard and MIT have developed a technique that allows the manufacturing of antimicrobial compounds, vaccines, and antibodies from freeze-dried DNA molecules. The technique could allow vaccines to be made on-site in locations that need them, just like mixing up a jug of Gatorade from some powder and water.
Freeze-drying, which is normally associated with food, is the process of removing water from an organic source using sublimation. Drug manufacturers have been able to freeze-dry entire vaccines before, but this advance-which researchers published in the journal Cell-allows for individual molecules to be recreated. That means you can get vaccines where they need to be without the hassle of transporting ingredients that could be rounded up on-site. Calling the process of rehydrating entire vaccines inefficient, the researchers say that in the current system of freeze-drying, "vaccines and other protein-based biomolecules must be globally distributed from centralized foundries and, most often, require a cold chain for stability."
With the ability for a greater distribution around the globe, the process is also much cheaper at $0.03 per microliter. It would still require a scientific expert to rehydrate the molecules, limiting the possible spread of the technique. But it's conceivable that groups like Oxfam, UNICEF, or the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation could use the technique to allow for quicker vaccine creation across the world in the event of a breakout.
Source: MIT Technology Review, Cell, Wyuss Institute
You Might Also Like
