tetano
Editor, Senior Moderator
Med Hypotheses
. 2020 Jun 2;144:109948.
doi: 10.1016/j.mehy.2020.109948. Online ahead of print.
B-cell Engineering: A Promising Approach Towards Vaccine Development for COVID-19
Muneeb A Faiq[SUP] 1 [/SUP]
Affiliations
Abstract
With the number of cases crossing six million (and more than three hundred and seventy thousand deaths) worldwide, there is a dire need of a vaccine (and repurposing of drugs) for SARS-CoV-2 disease (COVID-19). It can be argued that a vaccine may be the most efficient way to contain the spread of this disease and prevent its future onset. While many attempts are being made to design and develop a vaccine for SARS-CoV-2, pertinent technological hitches do exist. That is perhaps one of the reasons that we don't have vaccine for coronaviruses (including SARS-CoV-1 and MERS). Recently developed CRISPR-mediated genome editing approach can be repurposed into a cell-modification endeavor in addition to (and rather than) correcting defective parts of genome. With this premise, B-cells can be engineered into universal donor, antigen specific, perpetually viable, long lasting, non-oncogenic, relatively benign, antibody producing cells which may serve as an effective vaccine for SARS-CoV-2 and, by the same rationale, other viruses and pathogens.
Keywords: Antibody; B-cell; COVID-19; CRISPR; Coronavirus; Genome editing; Vaccine.
. 2020 Jun 2;144:109948.
doi: 10.1016/j.mehy.2020.109948. Online ahead of print.
B-cell Engineering: A Promising Approach Towards Vaccine Development for COVID-19
Muneeb A Faiq[SUP] 1 [/SUP]
Affiliations
- PMID: 32516733
- DOI: 10.1016/j.mehy.2020.109948
Abstract
With the number of cases crossing six million (and more than three hundred and seventy thousand deaths) worldwide, there is a dire need of a vaccine (and repurposing of drugs) for SARS-CoV-2 disease (COVID-19). It can be argued that a vaccine may be the most efficient way to contain the spread of this disease and prevent its future onset. While many attempts are being made to design and develop a vaccine for SARS-CoV-2, pertinent technological hitches do exist. That is perhaps one of the reasons that we don't have vaccine for coronaviruses (including SARS-CoV-1 and MERS). Recently developed CRISPR-mediated genome editing approach can be repurposed into a cell-modification endeavor in addition to (and rather than) correcting defective parts of genome. With this premise, B-cells can be engineered into universal donor, antigen specific, perpetually viable, long lasting, non-oncogenic, relatively benign, antibody producing cells which may serve as an effective vaccine for SARS-CoV-2 and, by the same rationale, other viruses and pathogens.
Keywords: Antibody; B-cell; COVID-19; CRISPR; Coronavirus; Genome editing; Vaccine.