NoodleNumbat
Well-known member
Germany's breakthrough in nasal Covid-19 vaccine holds promise for sterilizing immunity against the virus. Researchers at the Max Delbruck Center for Molecular Medicine in Berlin have made significant progress in developing a nasal vaccine that can shut down the Covid-19 infection before it takes hold, providing "sterilizing immunity" and preventing illness.
The vaccine is made with a live but weakened form of the coronavirus that causes Covid-19. In hamster studies, two doses of the vaccine blocked the virus from copying itself in the animals' upper airways, achieving "sterilizing immunity" and preventing illness. The results were impressive, as the vaccine performed better than mRNA-based vaccines or adenovirus-based vaccines.
The nasal vaccine takes a new approach to an old idea - weakening a virus so it's no longer a threat and then giving it to people for their immune systems to learn to recognize and fight off. This technique is called codon pair deoptimization, which makes the virus harder for cells to translate without making the body sick.
The researchers think that if they can perfect this vaccine, it could be a game-changer in the fight against Covid-19. "If you're already on site," said Emanuel Wyler, one of the researchers, "you can immediately eliminate the fire, but if you're 2 miles away, you first need to drive there, and by that time, one-third of the house is already in full flames." This means that traditional vaccines might not be as effective against new variants of the virus.
However, other nasal vaccines are also in development, and some have already reached late-stage testing in people. The German team working on the nasal vaccine says they're eagerly waiting for the results of a similar vaccine developed by Codagenix.
Despite these promising developments, experts caution that more work needs to be done before this vaccine can be widely used. "You could imagine reading a text ... and every letter is a different font, or every letter is a different size, then the text is much harder to read," Wyler explained.
The World Health Organization's vaccine tracker shows at least four nasal vaccines for Covid-19 that have reached late-stage testing in people. The nasal vaccines in use in China and India rely on harmless adenoviruses to ferry their instructions into cells, although effectiveness data for these has not been published.
In reality, the Omicron variant could pose a new challenge for this vaccine, but researchers are working on an update. "That's foolish," said Dr. Greg Poland, who designs vaccines at the Mayo Clinic. "We should be developing a pan-coronavirus vaccine that does induce mucosal immunity and that is long-lived."
The development of effective Covid-19 vaccines has been slow and halting, but researchers are optimistic about the potential of this new approach. Still, some concerns remain, such as the fact that live vaccines can't be taken by everyone with compromised immunity.
The German team working on the nasal vaccine acknowledges these risks but says they're eager to move forward. "Although it's strongly attenuated, it's still a real virus," Wyler said.
The vaccine is made with a live but weakened form of the coronavirus that causes Covid-19. In hamster studies, two doses of the vaccine blocked the virus from copying itself in the animals' upper airways, achieving "sterilizing immunity" and preventing illness. The results were impressive, as the vaccine performed better than mRNA-based vaccines or adenovirus-based vaccines.
The nasal vaccine takes a new approach to an old idea - weakening a virus so it's no longer a threat and then giving it to people for their immune systems to learn to recognize and fight off. This technique is called codon pair deoptimization, which makes the virus harder for cells to translate without making the body sick.
The researchers think that if they can perfect this vaccine, it could be a game-changer in the fight against Covid-19. "If you're already on site," said Emanuel Wyler, one of the researchers, "you can immediately eliminate the fire, but if you're 2 miles away, you first need to drive there, and by that time, one-third of the house is already in full flames." This means that traditional vaccines might not be as effective against new variants of the virus.
However, other nasal vaccines are also in development, and some have already reached late-stage testing in people. The German team working on the nasal vaccine says they're eagerly waiting for the results of a similar vaccine developed by Codagenix.
Despite these promising developments, experts caution that more work needs to be done before this vaccine can be widely used. "You could imagine reading a text ... and every letter is a different font, or every letter is a different size, then the text is much harder to read," Wyler explained.
The World Health Organization's vaccine tracker shows at least four nasal vaccines for Covid-19 that have reached late-stage testing in people. The nasal vaccines in use in China and India rely on harmless adenoviruses to ferry their instructions into cells, although effectiveness data for these has not been published.
In reality, the Omicron variant could pose a new challenge for this vaccine, but researchers are working on an update. "That's foolish," said Dr. Greg Poland, who designs vaccines at the Mayo Clinic. "We should be developing a pan-coronavirus vaccine that does induce mucosal immunity and that is long-lived."
The development of effective Covid-19 vaccines has been slow and halting, but researchers are optimistic about the potential of this new approach. Still, some concerns remain, such as the fact that live vaccines can't be taken by everyone with compromised immunity.
The German team working on the nasal vaccine acknowledges these risks but says they're eager to move forward. "Although it's strongly attenuated, it's still a real virus," Wyler said.
... I mean, if it works out, it could be super effective at preventing the virus from taking hold in our bodies. The idea of using a weakened form of the coronavirus to give our immune systems a chance to learn how to fight off the real deal is pretty genius 
. It's like, if you're already exposed to the virus, this vaccine can basically "put out the fire" before it gets any worse 
. Of course, there are still some risks and uncertainties, but I think the potential benefits make it worth keeping an eye on 
.
I've been following the updates on Codagenix and Max Delbruck Center and it's crazy to see how far they've come! The fact that it can provide "sterilizing immunity" is mind-blowing 
and it's even better than mRNA-based vaccines 
and I'm totally down to get vaccinated with this ASAP 
I mean, my kids are almost too young to remember not wearing masks on school days, you know? But the fact that researchers have made such breakthroughs with nasal vaccines is really exciting 
It's like they're finally getting close to solving the problem. The idea of sterilizing immunity sounds so promising - if it can truly prevent illness and stop the virus from spreading, that would be a game-changer. Of course, there are still concerns about effectiveness against new variants and who can safely take live vaccines... but overall, I'm feeling pretty hopeful 
It's like having a fire extinguisher for your insides 
.
. But hey, at least the Germans are on top of this 
.
? We need some pan-coronavirus solutions ASAP, pronto! 
It's like we've finally found a way to give our bodies superpowers to fight off that nasty virus 
. I mean, can you imagine being able to take a pill and have your body automatically fight off Covid-19? 
That's like something out of science fiction! 
i'm literally so hyped for this new nasal covid-19 vaccine!!! 
researchers in germany have made huge progress and it could be a game-changer in the fight against covid-19!