Avian flu vaccine on the brink
Monday, January 10, 2011 - 13:03
in Health & Medicine
A collaboration between BBSRC and STFC-funded scientists has been using a new form of low energy microscopy to observe how poxviruses interact with components inside live cells. Genetically modified fowlpox viruses have been used extensively in Mexico and southeast Asia to vaccinate chickens against bird flu and the scientists hope that the technique will help them develop more effective vaccines that reduce the chances of healthy birds acting as a reservoir for influenza virus. The research was published in the December 2010 edition of the Journal of Virology.