Artificial intelligence has now been used to create a “fundamental new vaccine technology” that can protect against large groups of viruses and prevent pandemics, according to researchers.
A team from the University of Cambridge says this is the first time a vaccine whose active ingredient is “designed entirely by computer simulation” has been tested in humans.
The vaccine is designed to “provide protection against Sarpicocoronaviruses — a large group of naturally occurring viruses including SARS-CoV-2, which caused the COVID pandemic,” according to University of Cambridge press release.
Experiment results published in Infection magazine It is noteworthy that the research, which was conducted between December 2021 and September 2023, included 39 healthy volunteers between the ages of 18 and 50 years.
Get weekly health news
Get the latest medical news and health information delivered to you every Sunday.
The vaccine “triggered immune responses in volunteers not only to SARS-CoV-2 and SARS, but to related bat viruses that could jump from animals to humans and cause future pandemics.”
“The superantigen is compatible with most vaccine delivery systems,” the press release stated.
“In this trial, it was administered as a DNA vaccine through microfluidic jetting. This needle-less delivery method provides an alternative for those who have a fear of needle-based injections. This could make vaccination faster and easier to administer to large numbers of people, especially in settings where traditional injections are more difficult to deliver.”
“Viruses such as influenza, coronaviruses and the Ebola group are constantly evolving and by the time vaccines are rolled out, they may be poorly matched – the current ‘reactive’ vaccine system is struggling to keep up the pace,” Professor Saul Fawcett of the University of Southampton, lead researcher on the trial, said in the press release.
“This new class of global vaccines is future-proof,” Faust said. “Not only do they protect against many variants at once, but they potentially protect against related viruses that have not yet emerged and spread to humans.”
The press release also notes that “the larger Phase 2 trial will then evaluate the vaccine’s ability to stimulate immune responses in a broader and more diverse population, and confirm that it generates robust, broadly protective immune responses.”
&Copy 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
