For the past few months we have been waiting for a coronavirus vaccine to be developed that will put an end to all the headaches of head but we really know how vaccines are made, here’s how.
Vaccines are made from the viruses or bacteria that cause the disease in question, but without the biological agent that actually makes us ill, i.e. by means of antigens (substance or molecule which is not recognised by our organisation and which consequently provokes an immune response to eliminate it from our body).
Types of vaccines
There are several ways in which this effect can be achieved, for example, the use of live attenuated vaccines, which have been selected after being grown in different cell cultures and selecting the least virulent strain. Polio, mumps, measles and varicella vaccines have been made using this method. Another way to achieve this effect is by using homologous strains of diseases occurring in other species that are known to have a lesser effect but are capable of conferring immunity to their human counterpart. In this case we find the smallpox vaccine, which was the first vaccine to be used.
On the other hand, there are vaccines obtained by recombinant attenuation techniques. These consist of manipulating the genetic material of the microorganisms to introduce mutations and thus increase the stability of the attenuation, so that its reversion rate is very low or almost zero.
Then there are also non-living vaccines; these contain whole micro-organisms that have been stripped of their ability to multiply in cells or in the individual. And following on from this concept, there are also vaccines of purified protein, peptide and polysaccharide components; for example, the vaccine being attempted to combat the coronavirus is based on the S protein of the coronavirus.
Assembly
Once the type of vaccine to be produced has been chosen, the first step is the large-scale generation of the antigen that will carry our vaccines; bioreactors are generally used for this purpose.
Once the antigen has been generated, it has to be isolated from the cells used in the bioreactor to create them.
And finally, the parts that make up the vaccine, such as adjuvants, which increase the immunological response of the antigen, stabilisers, which increase the shelf life of the vaccine, and preservatives, which allow the vaccine to be kept open for a certain period of time, must be assembled.
And finally, we have our vaccine ready to pass all the FDA safety tests!
Also, find out how paternity testing is done.