[h=1]DARPA-Backed Research on DMAb Approach to Immunity[/h] August 7, 2015
Researchers at the
Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania have devised an entirely new approach to vaccines ? creating immunity without vaccination. The
study, published in
Scientific Reports, demonstrated that animals injected with synthetic DNA engineered to encode a specific neutralizing antibody against the dengue virus were capable of producing the exact antibodies necessary to protect against disease, without the need for standard antigen-based vaccination. Importantly, this approach, termed DMAb, was rapid, protecting animals within a week of administration.
The work was funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, the
Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, and
Inovio Pharmaceuticals.
...
In the current study, the DNA used to encode the neutralizing antibodies against dengue virus was altered to produce a neutralizing antibody that does not bind to cell receptors, effectively eliminating the chance for dengue infection to lead to enhanced, lethal disease...
