Science / Medicine : New Vaccine Method Found

The bacteria that cause food poisoning can be altered to make improved vaccines that may be able to ward off a wide variety of infections, perhaps including AIDS, scientists reported.

To develop the new vaccines, Stanford University researchers genetically modified the thin, corkscrew-shaped filaments or propellers, called flagella, which the salmonella bacteria use to swim.

These flagella can be changed into vaccines to protect against infections for which there are no current immunizations, the scientists reported recently in the journal, Science. The method is an important step toward developing better medications that program the body’s immune system to recognize and prevent disease.

One test vaccine stimulated an immune response to cholera toxin in mice, the researchers found. In addition, other vaccines produced by the novel method stimulated immune responses in mice, rabbits and guinea pigs to antigens--proteins that stimulate antibody production--of several disease-causing microorganisms, including the AIDS virus, malaria parasite, hepatitis B virus and a hemolytic streptococcus, which results in strep throat.