A NOVEL kind of DNA “vaccine” could protect people against everything from
snake bites to HIV.
Conventional DNA vaccines contain genes that code for proteins resembling
those of viruses or bacteria. These proteins trigger the production of
antibodies that bind to the pathogens. But the scale of the immune response can
be disappointing.
So Niels Lorenzen of the Danish Veterinary Laboratory in Aarhus and his
colleagues tried using a DNA vaccine that directly triggers the production of
antibodies. They injected trout with the genes for antibodies against viral
haemorrhagic septicaemia virus. This protected the fish from infection with the
virus…
