UANL’s coronavirus vaccine efforts

Researchers from the Microbiology Department of the School of Medicine

Researchers from the Microbiology Department of the School of Medicine are studying yeast as a vehicle for vaccination against SARS CoV-2. UANL is the university with more active projects against COVID-19 that are supported.

For the past years, university researchers have worked on the development of yeast, which will help in the development of a vaccine against COVID-19.

José Prisco Palma Nicolás is the leader of the research program. The aim of this study is to generate an antigen expression in the Pichia pastoris yeasts, using a section of the specular glycoprotein S (Spike) that covers the SARS CoV-2 virus.

Looking for the best antigen and vehicle.

Dr. Palma comments that the main strategy for a vaccine is to choose the right antigen. He also recalled previous global experiences such as 2002 against Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and in 2012 against Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS). To this day, there is no vaccine for humans against any of the seven coronaviruses that affect humanity; the vehicle to be used is also fundamental in the process.

During the first week of September 2020, there are more than 325 COVID-19 vaccine candidate projects around the world. Regarding the candidates, there are those who use purified RNA, adenovirus, or expression in human cells.