Sons And Daughters BBCMF Bird Flu Pandemic Biotechnology

[mick]

Bird flu vaccine for mice, chickens developed, led by Univ. of

Pittsburgh researchers -- LA Times : L.A. Times is reporting that a Univ. of Pittsburgh-led research team has produced a bird flu vaccine made from a genetically engineered human cold virus and shown that it protected 100 percent of vaccinated mice and chickens. The research is detailed in the Feb 15 issue of the Journal of Virology and made available early online. Researchers from the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center that led the team told the LA Times they prepared it in only 36 days, growing it in a laboratory dish. The LA Times reports that the vaccine should be equally effective in humans because it is based on a human virus. The U.P.M.C. team is working with the Food and Drug Administration to begin human tests of the vaccine... trials could begin within weeks.