How would you like to get a vaccine without a needle or pain? MIT researchers have developed a polymer patch that can slowly deliver viral DNA as a potential alternative vaccine. The patch consists of several layers of polymers impregnated with viral DNA that code for viral proteins and adjuvants consisting of strands of RNA that resemble viral RNA. I know I said there are no needles, but in fact this patch uses microneedles (about half a millimetre in length) to inject the DNA and adjuvants into the skin where they can be taken up by immune cells in the skin. The polymers that this patch is built of slowly degrade when in contact with water, so by altering the number of layers and the composition of the polymers the rate of vaccination can be adjusted to take place over minutes to days, to weeks.
http://www.nature.com/nmat/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nmat3550.html
http://phys.org/news/2013-01-polymer-gradually-dna-coding-viral.html#jCp
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