A novel oral vaccine platform using genetically engineered Bifidobacterium could enhance anti-tumor immunity. In an exploratory phase I clinical study, the vaccine was well tolerated and generated immunologic and clinical findings that warrant further investigation. The results also point to potential biomarkers that may help identify patients most likely to benefit from this approach.

Researchers at the University of Gothenburg have identified a key protein that allows the virus that causes genital herpes to get into the nervous system. The discovery, made in experiments on mice, could pave the way for future vaccines against the disease.

New research could help make future mRNA vaccines easier to store and distribute.

HIV is globally so diverse, consisting of hundreds of thousands of different strains, that antibodies capable of blocking one strain may not recognize another. This strain variability has been one of the greatest barriers to developing a vaccine that can provide broad protection against the virus. But rather than hoping the immune system stumbles onto the right antibodies, scientists at Scripps Research and collaborating institutions designed a series of immunizations to guide a subset of precursor B cells—white blood cells that can mature into cells that release antibodies—through a step-by-step training process termed germline-targeting sequential immunization. Each successive shot was engineered to activate the appropriate B cells and then nudge them closer to producing broadly neutralizing antibodies (bnAbs): rare antibodies that are able to recognize and block many different HIV strains.