American researchers have just developed a very encouraging universal flu vaccine. This one, composed of nanoparticles, has been the subject of very conclusive tests carried out on mice.
You should know that flu epidemics claim hundreds of thousands of victims every year in the world. In 2018, the creator of Microsoft, Bill Gates, wanted to give a boost to vaccine research. Indeed, the interested party declared that he wanted to support the best research with millions of dollars.
One of the vaccines being developed has recently been talked about. In a statement released on January 6, 2020, researchers from the University of Georgia (USA) said their vaccine has great potential. More specifically, we are talking here about a nanoparticle vaccine with universal potential. This has been successfully tested on mice against six different strains of the virus flu!
The leaders of the study evoke a "combination of antigens in nanoparticles », a source of strong protection. We are talking about a new approach whose ultimate goal is to protect humans from different strains flu. In addition, it is also a question of avoiding the inoculation of a vaccine every year! Obviously, this type of universal vaccine is long overdue.
Researchers say they developed their vaccine using the neuraminidase (NA) protein , in addition to the usual M2e protein. Thus, the nanoparticle vaccine uses the M2e protein as its core while the NA protein sits on the surface. Incidentally, remember that other research focuses on the M2e-haemagglutinin (HA) couple . And yet, the present study made it possible to understand that the HA protein mutates very quickly, which meant having to be vaccinated every year. However, the NA protein mutates more slowly, so this was a more appropriate choice.
The vaccine in question has been tested effectively but only on mice. There is no doubt that in the months to follow, more answers will be provided on its ability to embody this long-awaited universal vaccine.
Related Articles:
