Synchrotron used to help construct synthetic vaccine

BBC : A collaboration of researchers in the UK has been able to create a fully synthetic vaccine for foot-and-mouth disease, a serious and contagious condition that afflicts cloven-hoofed animals. The researchers used x rays generated by the Diamond Light Source synchrotron to obtain a highly detailed, atomic-level understanding of the protein shell of the foot-and-mouth virus, a member of the picornavirus family. With that knowledge, they were able to construct a synthetic version of the virus consisting of an empty shell and lacking any of the internal RNA that makes viruses dangerous. Because the resulting vaccine has no live virus, there is no risk of infection, and animals given the vaccine can be easily distinguished from those that are infected. The researchers also reinforced the synthetic virus’s shell, which makes the vaccine stable for several hours, even at high temperatures. The vaccine is therefore very useful in places like southeast Asia, where foot-and-mouth disease is endemic. Also in the picornavirus family is polio, which has not yet been completely eradicated. The current polio vaccine uses a live virus and so carries the risk of potentially reestablishing itself. If the technique used to create the foot-and-mouth vaccine can also be used for polio and other similar viruses, such risks can be mitigated.