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Israel develops world's first bacterial vaccine

03/14/2023

A group of Israeli scientists have created the world's first vaccine that can fight bacteria that are deadly to humans. This is an mRNA vaccine used, for example, in the vaccine against COVID-19. The advantage of these vaccines, in addition to their effectiveness, is that they can be developed very quickly. Until now, however, scientists believed that mRNA vaccines against bacteria were biologically impossible. A joint study by scientists from Tel Aviv University, the School of Biomedicine and Cancer Research, and the Israel Institute for Biological Research refuted this.

“We have shown that it is possible to develop 100% effective mRNA vaccines against deadly bacteria,” said the scientists, whose results are published in the journal Science Advances.

The researchers explain that viruses depend on host cells to reproduce. By introducing its own mRNA molecule into a human cell, the virus uses our cells as a factory for the production of viral proteins based on its own genetic material, endlessly copying itself. The principle of vaccination is based on knowledge of the nature and local location of the virus: the virus synthesized in laboratories is “wrapped” in a wrapper of nanoparticles, thanks to which it “sticks” to our cells and stimulates the production of viral proteins. The immune system, getting acquainted with these proteins, learns to protect our body in the event of exposure to a real virus.

With bacteria, it's different. They do not need human cells to reproduce, they self-replicate, freely "travel" through the body and constantly undergo changes, including developing resistance to antibiotics. Previously, researchers have repeatedly tried to synthesize bacterial proteins, creating a vaccine based on them, but the level of antibodies turned out to be so low that a protective immune effect did not occur. The introduced vaccines simply did not recognize bacteria that had time to change in the body and did not have a local dislocation.

The key to the success of Israeli scientists was the development of new methods for the secretion of bacterial proteins, “reinforced” by a part of the human protein, which has already proven its effectiveness. All the animals vaccinated as a result of the experiments, infected with deadly bacteria, not only remained alive, but also received complete protection from the disease.

Given the sad predictions that by 2050 the death rate of mankind from bacteria may exceed the death rate from cancer, the development of Israeli scientists appeared on time.

“If we face some kind of bacterial pandemic tomorrow, our research will provide a path for the rapid development of safe and effective mRNA vaccines,” the scientists assured.

https://jewish.ru/ru/news/articles/202002/