Board index » Word on the Street... » News & Debate




Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 7 posts ] 
Author Message
 Post subject: Hungry For Immunity? Potato Vaccine In the Works
PostPosted: Tue Feb 15, 2005 4:43 am 
Offline
User avatar
Yeah Yeah Yeah
 YIM  Profile

Joined: Sun Oct 17, 2004 12:36 am
Posts: 3556
Location: Twin Ports
BBC World News:

'Potato vaccine' for hepatitis B
More research will be needed into the potato vaccine
An edible vaccine against the deadly liver disease hepatitis B may have been developed by scientists in the US.

Chunks of genetically modified potato may be enough to give immunity without the need for an injection, they hope.

Researchers in Buffalo, New York, found signs of immunity in 60% of the 42 people who tested the potato vaccine.

An oral vaccine would be an affordable way to tackle a disease which kills 1m people a year, the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences reported.

Edible

A hepatitis B vaccine is already available as an injection but it is too expensive for some poorer countries to buy and store in refrigerators.

The relatively low cost and simplicity of an oral hepatitis B vaccine would make it ideal for global immunisation programmes, say scientists at the Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo.

They took ordinary potato plants and genetically altered them to include a single protein from the hepatitis B virus.

The idea was that once consumed, the protein would trigger the body's immune system to recognise and fight any future encounter with the hepatitis B virus without causing disease.


They have not cracked it yet, but it is very exciting
Professor Graham Foster, consultant hepatologist at the Queen Mary University of London

The future hope is that countries could grow their own potato vaccine plants and immunise entire populations.

But more research will be needed.

All of the volunteers in the study had been immunised against hepatitis B with the conventional jab in the past.

Dr Yasmin Thanavala and colleagues said they were confident that their prototype could lead to an oral hepatitis B vaccine.

They envisage that the final version would be given in the form of a capsule or powder.

Future hope

Professor Graham Foster, consultant hepatologist at the Queen Mary University of London, said: "It has the potential to be terribly exciting.

"A vaccine that could be grown and administered locally would have huge implications for poorer nations.

"Hepatitis B is a major healthcare problem worldwide."

But he said more research was needed to see whether it would work in people who had not already been vaccinated against hepatitis B.

He also questioned whether the immune reaction seen in the trial was large enough to be effective in real life.

"They have not cracked it yet, but it is very exciting."

Hepatitis B virus is most commonly transmitted through blood-to-blood contact.

Some people will suffer only an acute illness and recover quickly without any long-term liver damage.

However, it can cause a chronic illness that lasts more than six months, sometimes for life, with symptoms that come and go. This can cause cirrhosis and liver cancer.

_________________
Rising and falling at force ten
We twist the world
And ride the wind


Top
 
 Post subject:
PostPosted: Tue Feb 15, 2005 4:52 am 
Offline
User avatar
Administrator
 Profile

Joined: Sat Oct 16, 2004 10:53 pm
Posts: 20537
Location: The City Of Trees
Sounds cool.


Top
 
 Post subject:
PostPosted: Tue Feb 15, 2005 5:50 pm 
Offline
User avatar
too drunk to moderate properly
 WWW  Profile

Joined: Sun Oct 17, 2004 7:19 pm
Posts: 39068
Location: Chapel Hill, NC, USA
Gender: Male
Parents hate the hep B vaccine b/c they think it implies that their kids are sexually active. I think your "natural medicine" crowd will be madly up in arms about this one.

_________________
"Though some may think there should be a separation between art/music and politics, it should be reinforced that art can be a form of nonviolent protest." - e.v.


Top
 
 Post subject:
PostPosted: Tue Feb 15, 2005 11:04 pm 
Offline
User avatar
Yeah Yeah Yeah
 YIM  Profile

Joined: Sun Oct 17, 2004 12:36 am
Posts: 3556
Location: Twin Ports
just_b wrote:
I think your "natural medicine" crowd will be madly up in arms about this one.


Of course they will.

Theirs is a disease as well, afterall.

_________________
Rising and falling at force ten
We twist the world
And ride the wind


Top
 
 Post subject: Re: Hungry For Immunity? Potato Vaccine In the Works
PostPosted: Tue Sep 11, 2012 7:15 pm 
Offline
User avatar
statistically insignificant
 Profile

Joined: Mon Jan 21, 2008 10:19 pm
Posts: 25134
tuber-culosis

_________________
Fortuna69 wrote:
I will continue to not understand


Top
 
 Post subject: Re: Hungry For Immunity? Potato Vaccine In the Works
PostPosted: Tue Sep 11, 2012 7:30 pm 
Offline
User avatar
Supersonic
 Profile

Joined: Tue Oct 19, 2004 12:10 am
Posts: 10993
Gender: Male
10/10

_________________
i8pork wrote:
being on the internet is fun as hell. :comp:


Top
 
 Post subject: Re: Hungry For Immunity? Potato Vaccine In the Works
PostPosted: Tue Sep 11, 2012 8:45 pm 
Offline
User avatar
a joke
 Profile

Joined: Sun Oct 17, 2004 3:08 am
Posts: 22978
Gender: Male
Alex wrote:
10/10


Top
 
Display posts from previous:  Sort by  
Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 7 posts ] 

Board index » Word on the Street... » News & Debate


Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 13 guests


You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot post attachments in this forum

Search for:
Jump to:  
cron
It is currently Thu Mar 28, 2024 9:34 am