Steve Quayle News Alerts

Dec. 18, 2003

Scientists said Thursday they have found a safer and cheaper way to seek a vaccine for SARS, by cloning parts of the virus' DNA rather than using live samples in labs.

The perils of using live viruses were underscored this week when Taiwan announced that a medical researcher had caught SARS after working in a laboratory without the usual basic precautions, such as wearing gloves.

Researchers from the Chinese University of Hong Kong said they have identified a promising method for developing a vaccine for the sometimes-fatal respiratory ailment that hit Asia hard earlier this year.

Instead of working with live virus samples, which are deactivated to make a vaccine that triggers people's immune response, they can clone parts of the virus' DNA to replicate proteins that they hope will do the same thing.

With cloning, "there is absolutely no chance we will be infected by the SARS virus," said university biochemist Mary Waye at a news conference.

Cloning DNA is also cheaper, the researchers said, although they declined to provide figures for how much money could be saved.

The same method was used about a decade ago elsewhere to develop a successful vaccine for hepatitis B, said another researcher here, Stephen Tsui.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome infected 8,098 people worldwide and killed 774 after it was first detected a year ago. In Hong Kong 1,755 people caught it and 299 died in an outbreak that also shut down much of the economy.

After Taiwan reported its new case on Wednesday, Hong Kong went on alert and stepped up screening at the airport for any passengers who might be affected. There has been no indication the man in Taiwan has infected anyone else, however.

The Associated Press telephoned researchers from Hong Kong University to ask their views on the Chinese University findings, but they did not immediately return the calls.

http://abcnews.go.com/wire/Living/ap20031218_591.html