Caltech Team Creates Hantavirus Vaccine Candidate in Just Two Days

A Caltech research team created a candidate vaccine for hantavirus in only two days, using a new genetic-editing technology applied to mRNA vaccine design, according to the Caltech Source Alert.

The work began in April, after reports that hantavirus had spread with deadly results aboard a Dutch cruise ship.

Researchers said they applied their newly developed technology for editing genetic sequences to the kind of mRNA vaccines that helped control the coronavirus epidemic. The new technique, according to the alert, accomplished in days what used to take months.

While such a vaccine would still require testing and FDA review, the researchers are now sharing the results of their work with the public. They say what they have learned could be used to rapidly create vaccines for other outbreaks of disease, including the Ebola virus outbreak currently afflicting parts of Central Africa.

A preprint of the work is available at the link provided in the alert.