vaccine

After over 25 years of failed formulas, an HIV vaccine has, for the first time, displayed the ability to confer some immunity against the virus. Deployed in a clinical trial in Thailand, the vaccine managed to prevent infection in a significant minority of volunteers. However, scientists involved in the study caution that they cannot fully explain the success, and that the vaccine only worked in a portion of those who received it.

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With the White House Council of Advisors on Science and Technology estimating that this winter's swine flu outbreak could lead to 30,000 to 90,000 deaths in the US (on top of the usual 30,000 deaths that occur from seasonal flu), the government has ramped up its effort to vaccinate as many Americans as possible against H1N1. In fact, the vaccination effort is so large, it may constitute the largest vaccination program in human history.

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After yesterday's announcements by the World Health Organization, calling swine flu "unstoppable" and noting that there might not be enough vaccine produced by the time flu season rolls around, the debate began over what to do with the small amount of H1N1 vaccine that will be produced this year.

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Researchers at North Carolina State University have found a surprising potential weapon against the conjectural "biological terrorism" of the imminent future. Sorry, what's that? We have self-inflicted domestic dangers on our hands that are more real and pressing than... terrorism? How things change. In any case, if suspicious white powders do happen to show up in your mailbox, you'll be prepared to defend yourself against them. It'll be as simple as crushing a pill and stirring it up in yogurt. Just like Mom used to make. Or something like that.

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Where does the flu come from? Scientists at the University of Cambridge and the World Health Organization's Global Influenza Surveillance Network tracked the migrations of flu viruses and discovered that the most common originate in East and Southeast Asia and spread in a distinctive pattern around the world. Understanding how these viruses evolve and travel will lead to better vaccines against flu epidemics that currently infect 5 to 15 percent of the world's population each year.

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One of the dire consequences of factory farming is that it encourages the spread of disease due to the close quarters in which the animals live. Thats why theyre fed antibiotics and other medicines when they arent sick. This overuse of antibiotics, while beneficial to the flocks and herds in the short term, leads to stronger and more drug-resistant bacteria in the long term. The effect has been widely reported by popular authors like Michael Pollan and Eric Schlosser. What we havent heard much about are how viruses can thrive in this environment.

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German scientists have demonstrated that the tattoo needle may be a more effective way of delivering vaccines than the standard injections. In tests on mice, the tattoo technique proved more successful in stimulating an immune response—tattooing a vaccine produced 16 times more antibodies in the mice.

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One-Shot Fat FixWant to fight fat? Eat less, exercise more-and get vaccinated. A fat vaccine is in the works at the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California, where tests have led to leaner lab rats. The trick is blocking ghrelin, a hormone that slows down the body´s metabolism. The vaccine triggers the immune system to release antibodies that attack the hormone, enabling you to burn more fat. But don´t pass the holiday ham just yet. Human trials are several years away.

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Don’t tell anyone, but Doug Ausenbaugh has built an underground drug farm—in bucolic southern Indiana, no less. It’s cleverly cached in an old limestone mine near the hamlet of Marengo. There, carefully cultivated stalks flourish under the glare of artificial lights and the rainlike spatter of drip irrigation.

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