Scientists have for the first time developed flu vaccine from the yellow striped caterpillars instead of the hen eggs. While the current method of using hen eggs is a lengthy procedure, the new method is quicker and easier. In the method currently used, live flu viruses injected into the eggs multiply, then the eggshells are broken, the viruses are inactivated and are treated to create flu vaccine. It takes about nine months to prepare the vaccine and also depends on the availability of the eggs which could be a hindrance when a large scale pandemic strikes. In the new method, scientists replace a gene from that virus with a flu virus gene, and then inject it into the caterpillars found abundantly in nature, where it makes more flu virus. This vaccine was tested on about 450 adults during the flu season and was found that two thirds of the participants who were given a high-dose injection had a strong immune response and did not develop flu that season. Further studies are needed to confirm the effectiveness of the new vaccine, and if successful, large scale cases of flu could be treated effectively and cheaply especially in developing countries where thousands of people die ever year for not receiving timely treatment. Image Source

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