Recombinant vaccine
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(New page: Recombinant vaccines are created by utilizing bacteria or yeast to produce large quantities of a single viral or bacterial protein. This protein is then purified and injected into the pati...)
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Revision as of 14:02, 1 September 2008
Recombinant vaccines are created by utilizing bacteria or yeast to produce large quantities of a single viral or bacterial protein. This protein is then purified and injected into the patient, and the patient's immune system makes antibodies to the disease agent's protein, protecting the patient from natural disease. Advantages of the recombinant vaccine technology are that there is virtually no chance of the host becoming ill from the agent, since it is just a single protein, not the organism itself. Traditional vaccine risks come from the organism not being totally weakened (attenuated) or a reversion to a virulent (disease causing) form. Another advantage of a recombinant vaccine is that it does not need an adjuvant. An adjuvant is an agent that stimulates (irritates) the immune system to find and react to the vaccine agent. Some adjuvants have been implicated in causing cancer in some animals over time.
