Shots without needles

phealthPMED_170.jpg

Needles hurt. Worse, they can spread disease. PowderMed's new vaccine gun, the PMED, requires no sharps. The flashlight-shaped device relies
on pressurized helium to shoot microscopic DNA vaccine particles just below the skin's surface at 1,500 miles an hour. The shot is painless because it hits just above nerve endings, where immunity-producing cells gather in large numbers. As a result, the PMED requires one thousandth the dose of a needle injection&8212;a major cost savings. And the powders don't need a fridge, so they're easier to store and transport. Vaccine powders for influenza and hepatitis are in the works.

Want to learn more about breakthroughs in electronics, medicine, nanotech, and more?
Subscribe to Popular Science today, for less than $1 per issue!

0 Comments



June 2013: American Energy Independence

Five amazing, clean technologies that will set us free, in this month's energy-focused issue. Also: how to build a better bomb detector, the robotic toys that are raising your children, a human catapult, the world's smallest arcade, and much more.


Online Content Director: Suzanne LaBarre | Email
Senior Editor: Paul Adams | Email
Associate Editor: Dan Nosowitz | Email
Assistant Editor: Colin Lecher | Email
Assistant Editor: Rose Pastore | Email

Contributing Writers:

Kelsey D. Atherton | Email
Francie Diep | Email
Shaunacy Ferro | Email

circ-top-header.gif
circ-cover.gif
bmxmag-ps