DNA vaccine is expected to open a new era of medical care

DNA vaccine is expected to open a new era of medical care

◎Reporter Liu Xia

According to a recent report on the British "Nature" website, India has recently approved a new coronavirus vaccine-ZyCoV-D

ZyCoV-D is also the first DNA vaccine for humans.

The first DNA new crown vaccine is available

The ZyCoV-D vaccine was developed by the Indian pharmaceutical company Zydus Cadila

The researchers said that although ZyCoV-D is not particularly effective compared to many other new crown vaccines, it is a DNA vaccine that is of great significance

Shahid Jamir, a virologist at Ashoka University in India, explained that although ZyCoV-D seems to be less effective than some mRNA vaccines, when clinical trials were launched in India this year, it was the delta mutant strain of the new coronavirus that was raging in India.

Pete Richard, a pediatric immunologist at the University of Perth in Australia, said this proves that DNA vaccines can work and help control the pandemic

The researchers explained that ZyCoV-D contains a circular DNA strand called a plasmid, which encodes the spike protein of the new coronavirus and turns on the promoter sequence of the gene

Nonetheless, some researchers criticized the lack of transparency in the approval process because the results of later trials have not yet been announced

No injection and easy to produce

David Weiler, director of the Center for Vaccines and Immunotherapy at the Weststar Institute in Pennsylvania, said that the sudden onset of the new crown epidemic and the imminence of defeating the new crown virus have prompted scientists to adopt new technologies-such as the use of mRNA and DNA to develop vaccines

RNA vaccines can show a strong immune response faster in clinical trials and have been delivered to hundreds of millions of people around the world

Weiler said that since the 1990s, both DNA and mRNA vaccines have been developed by scientists

The ZyCoV-D vaccine solves the above problem well: it is deposited under the skin, not deep in the muscle tissue

Jameel said: “The ZyCoV-D vaccine can be injected into the skin without a needle.

Although ZyCoV-D is more effective than previous DNA vaccines, it requires at least 3 doses to achieve the effect

"Partners" will follow

According to the "Nature" website, several other DNA vaccines against the new coronavirus are under development.

In addition, six DNA vaccines against the new coronavirus are in the early stages of testing, including the vaccine developed by GeimOne Life Science Company of South Korea and BioNET Company of Thailand, the latter of which is undergoing phase I trials in Australia

Richard estimates that more DNA vaccines will appear in the future to treat diseases for which no vaccine is currently available-from cytomegalovirus that can be passed to babies during pregnancy to respiratory syncytial virus
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In addition, DNA vaccines against influenza, human papillomavirus, HIV and Zika virus are also in the trial or development stage
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Weiler pointed out that DNA vaccines can store a lot of information, which means they can encode large and complex proteins, and even multiple proteins, which makes them promising anti-cancer weapons
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Jameel said: "If DNA vaccines prove to be successful, this is the future of vaccinology because they are easy to manufacture
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