A NEW generation of vaccines that exploit natural “alarm bells” in the immune system could be turned against killer diseases such as tuberculosis, malaria and HIV.
To press the panic button, the vaccines use adjuvants – substances that put the immune system on alert, making it more likely to notice the vaccine. Some vaccine injections are already augmented with adjuvant chemicals such as aluminium hydroxide, but the new vaccines have built-in genes for making their own adjuvants.
These adjuvants mobilise the immune system against the particular disease the vaccine targets, making the immune response more focused and potent when the body…
