The Pentagon?s efforts at speedier responses to infectious diseases is getting turbocharged, as researchers at Arizona State University kick off a program to develop vaccines that can inoculate against unknown pathogens ? and do it within a week.
Darpa, the military?s out-there research agency, has given $5.3 million for the project to ASU?s Biodesign Institute. And the grant is only one part of a much bigger Darpa initiative, called Accelerated Manufacture of Pharmaceuticals. Earlier this year, the agency funded programs to produce vaccines using tobacco plants and a prophetic almanac that would anticipate pathogenic mutations before they happen.
Tobacco-based production would turn a year-long process into a four-week one. But for at-risk troops, Darpa wants something even faster: a vaccine to address any pathogen, developed in seven days and ready for injection shortly after.
Read More http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2010/09/darpa-plots-insta-vaccines-for-mystery-bugs/#ixzz0zcGeaxwx
Darpa, the military?s out-there research agency, has given $5.3 million for the project to ASU?s Biodesign Institute. And the grant is only one part of a much bigger Darpa initiative, called Accelerated Manufacture of Pharmaceuticals. Earlier this year, the agency funded programs to produce vaccines using tobacco plants and a prophetic almanac that would anticipate pathogenic mutations before they happen.
Tobacco-based production would turn a year-long process into a four-week one. But for at-risk troops, Darpa wants something even faster: a vaccine to address any pathogen, developed in seven days and ready for injection shortly after.
Read More http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2010/09/darpa-plots-insta-vaccines-for-mystery-bugs/#ixzz0zcGeaxwx