A virus which causes disease in plants but not humans may be an effective means of delivering a vaccine, according to researchers from Axis Genetics, in the UK, and Huddinge University Hospital, Sweden. They report their findings in the current Journal of Virology.
The researchers engineered the cowpea mosaic virus, which causes plant disease, to display several elements from staphylococcus aureus. Mice immunised with these engineered viruses showed a significant immune response to the bacteria.