Universal flu vaccine shows promise in mice, produced faster using brewer's yeast

At the American Chemical Society meeting in Chicago, bioengineers from the University of Michigan presented results from the first mouse trial of a new universal flu vaccine. The vaccine targets the M2 protein, which is conserved across many influenza A strains, instead of the rapidly mutating hemagglutinin. Produced using brewer's yeast as an incubator, the vaccine can be made in one month instead of the usual six. In the study, 18 mice were vaccinated, and blood samples showed high antibody levels against M2 from five flu strains. When exposed to three of those strains, the mice had 100% protection from infection. The researchers caution that more work is needed before human trials, including determining the duration of immunity.