Electroporation process improves access for DNA vaccines

Fifteen years ago, **DNA vaccines** looked like the next great hope for preventing AIDS, malaria and flu, and for treating chronic diseases such as hepatitis and cancer. Using the **genomic information** from the disease, scientists would quickly create a **vaccine** that would cause an immune reaction and attack the disease or prevent infection. It was a product that didn't need refrigeration, as older-type vaccines do. And it could be produced relatively cheaply. Several companies were formed around the technology, including San Diego-based Vical. More than a decade later, the technology has produced interesting results in animals but fewer tangible results in humans. But now, devices developed by two San Diego-based companies, Ichor Medical Systems and Inovio Biomedical, are being viewed as a solution to some of the **DNA vaccine** woes. One of the problems with DNA vaccines is that the molecules are large and have trouble getting through a cell wall to the **nucleus**, where they do their work.... "Source":[ http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/business/biotech/20070817-9999-1b17tech.html]

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