“Super-antigens” may provide long-term protection against a variety of diseases spread by humans.
Wherever you stand on the role of AI in the future of humanity, it has proven undeniably useful in the field of medical research. And now a team of researchers at the University of Cambridge has used the technology to create a universal vaccine that could be used to stop future pandemics before they spread. This is the first time that a vaccine with an active ingredient entirely designed by computers has been used in human trials, with no significant side effects reported.
The vaccine was given to 39 healthy volunteers between the ages of 18-50 at two UK medical facilities located in Southampton and Cambridge. It was designed to protect people from multiple coronaviruses, a group of viruses that includes SARS-CoV-2, which was responsible for the global COVID pandemic in 2020.
The unprecedented antigen – the active ingredient in a vaccine – generated a protective immune response in volunteers against SARS-CoV-2 and SARS, as well as related bat viruses that could cause future pandemics. Because of the way the vaccine has been developed, it will likely provide protection against diseases that have not yet emerged.
Unlike most vaccines, which are developed in response to an outbreak and struggle with virus mutations, this new “super-antigen” could provide an all-in-one solution to diseases like flu and Ebola spreading between humans.
“We have transformed vaccine development from reactive to future-proof. Our vaccines will continue to provide protection against viruses, even if they mutate into new strains,” said Professor Jonathan Heaney of the Viral Zoonotics Lab, Department of Veterinary Medicine, University of Cambridge, who led the research. “We have overcome the problem of traditional vaccines having limited safety. This means we can avoid the constant cycle of updating vaccines to try and catch up with virus variants spreading in humans, like a dog chasing its tail.”
To create it, the research team fed the AI model all the available genetic sequence data for Sarbeco coronaviruses that was logged around the world. They then used machine learning to design an antigen that shared features common with an entire group of viruses.
Because the sample size was relatively small, the next phase of the trial will administer the vaccine to a broader and more diverse number of participants and again assess its effectiveness.
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