Science Homework Help about vaccines.?

Question

What do they mean by oral dose, oral vaccine

"the development of subunit vaccines based on antigens produced in plant tissues is an expanding field of research. many immunogenic proteins have been synthesized in plants and several plant based vaccine candidates have been tested in trials to assess immunogenicity and protection. of particular interest are clinical trials in which antigens have been delivered orally in plant tissues. however higher levels of expressed antigens are necessary for oral delivery to be piratical for widespread use, especially since oral doses of antigens are likely to be much larger than dose typical for injections."

"here we record antigen levels across a bulk preparation of defatted corn germ to assess the suitability of maize as a production system for ORAL VACCINE."

*10 points to a good simple scientific answer, elaborate as much as possible please, and thank you in advance.

Answer 1

An oral vaccine is taken by mouth rather than by injection. This would be a very efficient way to do a mass immunization. They could plant engineered crops and then feed them to the population.

Answer 2

what in the heck r u talking about(next time wrute 1 shorter & i might read it)!!!

Answer 3

Oral means "by mouth."

It's from Latin or-, as in oratory, o*****e, oracle, Oral-B, oral s*x, etc.

An oral vaccine is one that's swallowed instead of injected.  Oral vaccines don't get into your blood directly, they have to go through the digestive system.  Absorption through the digestive system isn't  100% though; some portion passes through or is broken down in transit.  That means oral doses have to contain more of the active ingredient than injected doses to achieve the same end result (same amount of active ingredient in the blood).

Different medications get absorbed differently, and people's digestive systems differ.  If you look at the medication info sheet for any pill you take, you're likely to see info about how the drug is absorbed and "mean plasma concentration" levels to help docs figure out their dosing.  I linked to one for "concerta" below.  Some psychoactive drugs need not only to get into the blood but into the brain...there can be multiple hurdles for a drug to pass before it starts helping you.

I'm guessing health officials find oral vaccines easier to administer widely than injections, because injections require needles and trained personnel.

Answer 4

according to your quotes, oral vaccine is something taken in by mouth rather than needle injecting for immunization. so the experiment is trying to prepare transgenic corn that are concentrated in antigens so it would reduce the need for injections.