14 DAY TRIAL // Scientists at The Autonomous University of Madrid claim that, according to their investigations, a mutant strain of the MERS (Middle East respiratory syndrome) virus could serve to manufacture a vaccine that would protect people against this infectious disease.
The researchers explain that this strain displays a genetic mutation that is intended to make it easier for it to infect a cell and replicate its genetic material.
However, it appears that the joke is on it. This is because the same mutation also impairs its ability to set up camp in other tissues and bring about the onset of the disease.
EurekAlert tells us that the mutant MERS virus strain believed to hold the key for the development of a vaccine against this disease is called rMERS-CoV-ΔE.
It was engineered by scientists in a laboratory, and the mutation that keeps it from spreading and causing the infectious disease is located in its envelope protein, i.e. the part of the virus that is intended to help it first bind with host cells and then push through their membrane in order to infect them.
Due to the fact that is has a faulty envelope protein, this strain is unable to set up camp in other tissues than the ones where it has purposely been introduced.
Therefore, it would only linger in the body long enough to trigger the formation of antigens that would help the human body fight the infectious disease. After this, it would simply die off.
“The injected vaccine will only replicate in a reduced number of cells and produce enough antigen to immunize the host,” researcher Luis Enjuanes explains.
The scientists explain that, before they can roll out clinical trials intended to test the effectiveness of one such vaccine, they must continue toying with the genetic makeup of this virus strain and induce other mutations that would make it impossible for it to switch back to its virulent form.
Such protective measures are required by the Food and Drug Administration in the United States.