Uc Science Today

A proof-of-concept study at the University of California, Berkeley has found promise in a pill-sized technology that could lead to painless oral vaccines. Aside from not having to deal with a needle anymore, we asked study leader Dorian Liepmann what are some of the other advantages of a system like this? "Well, the great thing is we can actually do this at home. You could give this to people so they don’t need to go to a pediatrician. One of my co-investigators suggested that we could actually put this in a lollipop for children. And so they would just hold it in their mouth until the drug was delivered, and then they’d have the rest of the lollipop. You don’t need trained personnel to give you a shot, which is a huge expense. Also, for better distribution to Third World countries or to rural areas, you could actually get your vaccinations done very, very easily and effectively." The technology, called Mucojet, still needs to go through clinical trials, so it could be 5 to 10 years before it’s available,