The new platform targets fusion peptides in SARS-CoV-2
A sudden surge in the numbers of those infected by the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) have crippled India. When vaccination against the disease started this year, there was all-round hope. But constant mutation of the SARS-CoV-2 virus has dented it. A fresh ray of hope has been a vaccine-production platform created by the University of Virginia Health System (UVA).
The new platform claims to offer protection against existing as well as future strains of the novel coronavirus. The vaccine, created by Dr Steven L Zeichner and Dr Xiang-Jin Meng targets a specific part of the virus — the fusion peptide — that earlier vaccines did not. It is part of the spike protein that has been observed to remain universal among all genetic sequence of SARS-CoV-2: A detail that has become the turning point for creating a all-in-one vaccine.
The vaccine utilises the technique of synthesising the deoxyribonucliec acid (DNA) of the virus and thus enables the immune system to be better prepared of an attack — a technique also used by mRNA Vaccines designed by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna.
Meng and Zeichner’s vaccine will cost only $1 (Rs 75) per dose. Results of tests on animals have been encouraging. These have to be followed by trials on humans.
The duo has developed another vaccine to protect against porcine epidemic diarrhoea virus.
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