New breakthroughs against bluetongue disease
The development of vaccines against bluetongue was the aim of the EC-funded BLUETONGUE VACCINATION project. Project partners worked on all aspects of BTV, including epidemiology, policy formulation as well as scientific research. The project intended to develop inactivated vaccines utilising 'virus-like-particles' and slow-release delivery systems. Project partner, London School of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene developed a new technology for the synthesis of BTV virus-like-particles. Researchers were able to generate a baculovirus, expressing BTV's 4 capsid proteins. The baculovirus could self-assemble into a VLP inside insects' cells and it is then removed through a series of purification steps. The advantage of this innovative approach is that no BTV genetic material is used in the final vaccine, rendering the final preparation extremely safe. The advantage is that with this approach the risk of infection with this vaccine is eliminated. Researchers were aiming to further develop this technology in order to form the basis for an anti-BTV vaccine in sheep.
