Fillable microparticles might be the future of vaccines
What?! First, check out this article:
Scientists invent jab that could deliver every childhood vaccine in one go
Here’s my take:
This is definitely an interesting idea, however I’m not sure they are close to being able to carry out this plan quite yet (in my opinion), but it’s definitely an incredible possibility.
So what’s going on here?
Based on the findings from the research of these new micro-capsules, the researchers believe they may be able to create a vaccine that releases the capsules into the body that biodegrade at just the right times to deliver each vaccine into the body.
What a cool idea to eliminate the stress and pain of multiple injections for the child throughout childhood!
“Professor Robert Langer of MIT, who jointly led the study, said: ‘We are very excited about this work. For the first time, we can create a library of tiny, encased vaccine particles, each programmed to release at a precise, predictable time, so that people could potentially receive a single injection that, in effect, would have multiple boosters already built into it.
This could have a significant impact on patients everywhere, especially in the developing world.'”
These materials have already been approved for use in humans and are likely to go into clinical trial soon.
There are challenges these scientists have to face in creating these vaccines but the technology is there. Micro-capsules could be the future of vaccines. We will have to just wait and see, but it’s very exciting to think about the possibilities!
The Journal article in Science, “Fabrication of fillable microparticles and other complex 3D microstructures” : http://science.sciencemag.org/content/357/6356/1138.full
