New Delhi: For decades, humanity has played a lethal game of biological catch-up, forever one step behind nature. From the suffocating grip of COVID-19 to the visceral terror of Ebola or even the seasonal flu, the global response has been a frantic race to build a shield, ie a vaccine, only after the arrow has been fired.
What makes it even more difficult is that current vaccines, especially the seasonal flu and the Covid-19 vaccines, use antigens from specific virus strains or variants that have already been detected in humans. A wide range of these and other viruses continue to circulate in animals that could potentially jump to humans at any time. However, it’s not possible to predict which one, or when.
Now, scientists at the University of Cambridge have unveiled a “universal” new type of vaccine technology designed by Artificial Intelligence. To design the antigen for a universal coronavirus vaccine, the team used all the available genetic sequence data for Sarbeco coronaviruses logged by surveillance programmes around the world.
Using machine learning, they then designed a super antigen containing the antigen features common to this whole group of viruses – including ones that haven’t emerged yet. The study, published in the peer-reviewed Journal of Infection, introduces a “proactive vaccinology” approach.
“We’ve converted vaccine development from being reactive to being future proof. Our vaccines will continue to provide protection against viruses even as they mutate into new strains,” said Jonathan Heeney, from the Lab of Viral Zoonotics, University of Cambridge’s Department of Veterinary Medicine.
He added, “We’ve overcome the problem of traditional vaccines, which have limited protection. It means we can escape the constant cycle of chasing the virus variants circulating in humans and updating the vaccines to try to catch up, like a dog chasing its tail.”
The first human clinical trial of the universal Sarbeco coronavirus vaccine, involving 39 healthy volunteers aged 18 to 50 years, showed that the vaccine is safe and has no significant side effects. The research triggered immune responses not only to SARS-CoV-2 and SARS, but also to related bat viruses that could potentially jump from animals to humans and cause future pandemics.
