In a head-to-head competition held 10 years ago, scientists at the National Institutes of Health tested two promising new types of vaccine to see which might offer the strongest protection against one of the deadliest viruses on earth, the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) that causes AIDS. One vaccine consisted of DNA rings called plasmids, each carrying a gene for one of five HIV proteins. Its goal was to get the recipient’s own cells to make the viral proteins in the hope they would provoke protective reactions by immune cells. Instead of plasmids, the second vaccine used another virus called an adenovirus as a carrier for a single HIV gene encoding a viral protein. The rationale for this combination was to employ a “safe” virus to catch the attention of immune cells while getting them to direct their responses against the HIV protein.

One of us (Weiner) had already been working on DNA vaccines for eight years and was hoping for a major demonstration of the plasmids’ ability to induce immunity against a dreaded pathogen. Instead the test results dealt a major blow to believers in this first generation of DNA vaccines. The DNA recipients displayed only weak immune responses to the five HIV proteins or no response at all, whereas recipients of the adenovirus-based vaccine had robust reactions. To academic and pharmaceutical company researchers, adenoviruses clearly looked like the stronger candidates to take forward in developing HIV vaccines.

This article was originally published with the title DNA Drugs Come of Age.

3 Comments

1. 1. olo3000 10:05 AM 6/22/10

   sounds promising

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2. 2. sonsinger 02:36 PM 8/13/10

   I read this article today. Seems like this technology is aimed at viruses and cancer...no small feat and certainly worthwhile. But is there any possibility that this technology could start providing relief in the battle we face with microbes that are becoming resistant to conventional antibiotics, like MRSA?

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3. 3. Corung 01:02 AM 10/27/11

   I think that the DNA research for a vaccine is like taking our most current research and integrating outmoded technology with learning.
   
   Look, they discovered how to cure cancer with two magnets in 1975 and anybody out there needs to start first with Biomagetic pair therapy and if that doesn't work after two or three 1 hour sessions then look at these poison obsolete caveman alternatives they are feeding us. You can always use them in parallel as well.
   
   The DNA genome project is research and decoding to be applied in new directions. A better understanding of the Genome and how disease circumvents it is more important to understand then creating a vaccine based on our limited understanding. They have identified most of the Genome as Genetic junk. That tells me we need much more research before utilizing these new findings.
   
   We are at the molecular level of research, which means our new medical direction should be energy and field based (Quantum) as opposed to invasive medicine.
   
   Nuclear medicine while helping us through a rough patch in our understanding is overkill. If I talk to a Doctor and he cannot draw proper picture of the earths magnetic field, he or she has no business trying to create a vaccine to be distributed to millions of people.
   
   While many will trust this voodoo, I will aways start with two magnets and a map of my energetic network and then go to the doctor.
   
   We really need to stop perpetuating this myth that there are no cures for serious diseases out there destroying families, business and community units.
   
   The Genome map is a research tool to better understand the body's functions and our origin, which based on the Genome Map clearly is not evolution based. That is where the focus needs to be.

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