A pair of researchers at George Mason University — associate professor Aarthi Narayanan and assistant professor Remi Veneziano — have received funding from the U.S. Army Medical Research Acquisition Activity (USAMRAA) for work on a new vaccine design.
That design has the potential to revolutionize the approach to vaccines by playing with their structure at the nanoparticle scale of DNA. It has netted the researchers $314,000 from the USAMRAA, which will help them explore a design using one, two, and three-dimensional structures made out of DNA molecules to deliver viral antigens.
Using the new method, the researchers could place antigens in precise locations along the DNA structure. It could also deliver antigens through combinations. The researchers believe that the level of specificity this allows could increase the immunogenic potential of vaccines and make them safer, too.
The first step is proving the potential of this method for vaccine development. After, researchers could more readily move to take it to market.