AN ARBOR, MICHIGAN — Researchers say previous work on the closely related MERS and SARS could benefit the vaccine development strategy to fight the Wuhan coronavirus outbreak.<br /><br />The University of Michigan's Aubree Gordon and Icahn School of Medicine's Florian Kramer say that nucleic acid vaccine technology, which utilizes viral DNA or RNA material, might lead to a viable vaccine.<br /><br />Writing in an op-ed published in Live Science, the authors explain that making a vaccine involves creating a construct, such as an antigen, that the body's immune system could use to target and attack the virus.<br /><br />A vaccine has to be tested in animal and human trials before it is judged safe and effective.<br /><br />According to the authors, scientists do not have isolated virus samples or enough antibodies for testing the vaccine, and they have not established the animal species suitable for animal trials.<br /><br />The vaccine development process will likely take months to complete.<br /><br />The authors state that better global surveillance of viruses would be important to mitigate future epidemics, as coronavirus, Zika, Ebola and influenza outbreaks have shown.<br /><br />They say novel vaccine technologies that could be quickly adapted to different strains are needed as part of a proactive approach to combating pathogens.
