|
| Andhra Pradesh ~ India ~ International ~ City ~ Entertainment ~ Business ~ Sports ~ Technology ~ Health ~ Features |
| Twitter ~ Facebook |
|
Home
/ Technology News / 2009 / December 2009 / December 8, 2009 Human trial for revolutionary spoon-fed vaccines to begin Down Under |  / Print / Comments |
Mechanism affecting Salmonella virulence, drug susceptibility discovered
Scientists have uncovered the mechanism behind Salmonellas virulence and its susceptibility to antibiotics. ANI
New fluorescent biosensor to aid drug development
Carnegie Mellon researchers have come up with a new fluorescent biosensor that could aid in the development of an important class of drugs that target a crucial class of proteins called G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs). ANI
Silk fibres could pave way for edible optics in future
Silk, spun by spiders and silk worms, could some day find use in degradable and flexible electronic displays for sensors and implantable optical systems for diagnosis and treatment, according to scientists. ANI
Human trials are set to begin on a technique that could revolutionize vaccination by replacing the syringe with the spoon.
Melbourne, Dec 8 : Human trials are set to begin on a technique that could revolutionize vaccination by replacing the syringe with the spoon.
The Australian-pioneered technique promises to make having the annual flu shot as painless as downing a spoonful of yoghurt.
Dr Barry Marshall, the Australian scientist who won a Nobel Prize for discovering the bacteria responsible for stomach ulcers, is working on a way to use those same bugs (Helicobacter pylori) to create edible vaccines.
The first challenge Marshall must get around is a basic principal of the human body - that the immune system does not normally react to food.
"Previously, people have looked at delivering vaccines on lactobacillus in yoghurts, for example, but most of these products just look food to the immune system and they are ignored," Dr Marshall said.
The expert added: "The new idea (is to use) the helicobacter, which infects your stomach temporarily.
"In the few days that it is sitting there it could be producing the vaccine, liberating it in the wall of your stomach where it is sensed by the immune system."
The trial, taking in 36 healthy Perth-based volunteers, will begin in January.
It will aim to find out which of a range of different strains of the unique bacteria, now known to be widespread and mostly harmless, had the most benign effect on gut.
ANI