Food-borne Illness Vaccine May Become A Reality

Posted on September 2, 2009 by Shawn Stevens

The battle for food safety continues to be waged on multiple fronts.

In addition to testing and developing new technologies (beyond cooking) to reduce naturally occurring pathogens in food, researchers are now looking for ways to defeat pathogens in our bodies.

As we reported previously, continuing NASA research might soon lead to a Salmonella vaccine. And now, we have learned, the United States military has joined the fight. According to the Washington Post, a new scientific breakthrough recently announced by the Naval Medical Research Center suggests that a Campylobacter vaccine may be on the way as well.

Campylobacter is well known as a leading cause of food-borne illness. According to some studies, the pathogen may be responsible for as many as two million cases in the United States each year, and cause several hundred million more worldwide. The infection can also (in some instances) be difficult to treat because of widespread antibiotic resistance.

Nevertheless, after a quarter century of research, Navy scientist Patricia Guerry may have discovered the path to a vaccine which will inhibit the bacteria’s ability to attach to our intestinal lining and cause illness. Indeed, as explained by the Washington Post:

Guerry, a molecular microbiologist, began her work in the 1980s and over time created new research tools that allowed her to identify the pathogen's unique genetic, biochemical and structural features. This led to the development of a vaccine that neutralizes the bacteria's ability to attach to the intestinal lining.

The vaccine candidate against the pathogen Campylobacter jejuni, developed by Guerry, her colleagues at the U.S. Naval Medical Research Center in Silver Spring and Canadian scientist Mario Monteiro, successfully protected against infection in monkeys during testing last year and is slated for human clinical trials.

If true, this may be the first known (and, promising) food-borne illness vaccine actively tested on humans. And, although Guerry has been conducting her research as part of an ongoing effort to better protect U.S. soldiers oversees, her research, of course, may very well have a profound impact on the rest of the nation – and world. Click on the following link to read the Full Story.

In any event, this is great news for industry and consumers alike. We proudly salute Guerry and, of course, the rest of her team.

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Food Poisoning Vaccines May Be On The Horizon

Posted on August 17, 2009 by Shawn Stevens

Salmonella has dominated the news as of late. Once an illness thought to come only from runny eggs and raw chicken, it has now been found in a wide variety of foods including peanuts, dried gelatin, and, bizarrely, frog legs. The recent PCA Salmonella outbreak was perhaps the largest in history.

Salmonella has been around for a long time, causing illness in humans for at least one hundred years. Now, science may be on the verge of finding a vaccine. The fight for a vaccine is taking place in labs across our world – as well as in others beyond it.

Astronauts have been conducting Salmonella experiments aboard the International Space Station with results that have been both surprising and promising. Previous studies have shown that weightlessness can have a dangerous affect on bacteria and pathogens. Early data indicated that Salmonella became much more virulent in a zero gravity environment. The studies were conducted as a corollary to the well documented loss of immunity in micro-gravitational environments and the fear that astronauts might be more susceptible to food-borne illness.

Further research, however, has led to the discovery that Salmonella’s virulence can not only be controlled, it can actually be turned off. The discovery sent shockwaves through the scientific community and carries with it incredible ramifications.

If the infectious part of Salmonella can be negated, then it is possible for the pathogen to be introduced to our bodies without causing illness. This, potentially, would allow our immune system to develop immunity without ever having to experience the symptoms.

Here on Earth, at the Institute of Food Research in Norwich, UK, researchers are also close to finding a vaccine. They have shown, after a number of breakthroughs that Salmonella relies on glucose for its own survival during the infection stage. While seemingly trivial, the discovery allows for the possibility of a vaccine not just against Salmonella and other food-borne pathogens, but also a range of other superbugs.

“This is the first time that anyone has identified the nutrients that sustain Salmonella while it is infecting a host’s body,” said Dr. Arthur Thompson, IFR group leader. “Our experiments showed that glucose is the major sugar used by Salmonella during infection,” said Dr Thompson.

Scientists believe they can turn off the cells ability to absorb glucose which would render them incapable of replicating. The salmonella would, however, continue to stimulate an immune response which would eventually lead to immunity.

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