Infographic: Vaccines on Film

How an experimental preparation technique could make vaccines easier to transport, store, and administer

Written byRuth Williams
| 1 min read

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To make a film-based vaccine, a mixture containing attenuated virus, methylcellulose, sugar alcohol, and surfactant would be poured out as thin layers and allowed to air dry in sterile conditions for eight hours. These flexible, lightweight sheets could then, in principle, be packaged and transported without the need for vials or protection from extreme temperatures. At their destination, the vaccines would be given orally to subjects, thus eliminating the need for syringes, needles, and trained personnel.

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Meet the Author

  • ruth williams

    Ruth is a freelance journalist. Before freelancing, Ruth was a news editor for the Journal of Cell Biology in New York and an assistant editor for Nature Reviews Neuroscience in London. Prior to that, she was a bona fide pipette-wielding, test tube–shaking, lab coat–shirking research scientist. She has a PhD in genetics from King’s College London, and was a postdoc in stem cell biology at Imperial College London. Today she lives and writes in Connecticut.

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