NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

Tuesday, September 27, 2016

Researchers at Harvard and MIT have developed a technique that allows the manufacturing of antimicrobial compounds, vaccines, and antibodies from freeze-dried DNA molecules. The technique could allow vaccines to be made on-site in locations that need them, just like mixing up a jug of Gatorade from some powder and water.

Freeze-drying, which is normally associated with food, is the process of removing water from an organic source using sublimation. Drug manufacturers have been able to freeze-dry entire vaccines before, but this advance—which researchers published in the journal Cell—allows for individual molecules to be recreated.