The vaccine race is more active than ever. Among the many projects, that of an American biologist is surprising. Lacking funds, he and other researchers and their entourage are currently testing this "homemade vaccine" on themselves!
Currently, around 200 Covid-19 vaccines are under development, of which around 30 are in advanced stages . Let us quote the Moderna vaccine (United States) or that of the University of Oxford (United Kingdom) promising a commercialization in a few months. Obviously, developing such a vaccine in such a short timeframe represents a very significant financial investment. We should mention in particular the fact that the advanced phases of human testing generally involve the recruitment of several tens of thousands of people.
As explained in an article published by the MIT Technology Review on July 29, 2020, biologist Preston Estep is far from having this kind of means. Indeed, the expert is not part of any known company and his research is not funded by the federal authorities. However, the latter thought of a surprising ploy :test this "homemade vaccine" on yourself.
Preston Estep claims to be developing his own vaccine which he describes as a citizens' initiative. Obviously, his research takes place on the fringes of any regulation or agreement from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) but would be in a legal gray area. Above all, you should know that the biologist is supported by about twenty other scientists from MIT and Harvard.
Among them is the geneticist George Church, best known for his work aimed at resuscitating the woolly mammoth. The researcher has been receiving kits in the mail and has been injecting himself with two doses of the vaccine a week apart for more than a month. In total, about 70 people would participate in these trials, including the scientists and their entourage. In addition, the Preston Estep vaccine has an original feature:it is a nasal spray!
Since March 2020, this research has been carried out within a group called the Rapid Deployment Vaccine Collaborative (Radvac). The objective was to find the simplest possible formula from freely available ingredients. However, the vaccine was designed from the advanced proteins of the coronavirus. These allow the body to recognize it and thus trigger the immune response.
Preston Estep reminds us that this approach has the advantage of being safe , for a vaccine that can be produced in large quantities. However, this type of vaccine is known to be less effective than those obtained from an inactivated virus.
