A vaccine designed by artificial intelligence tested for the first time on humans could protect against vast swathes of viruses as they mutate.
Artificial intelligence has been used to design a type of vaccine that protects against a broad range of viruses even as they mutate.
Cambridge University researchers say this is the first time that a vaccine whose active component was designed entirely by computer simulations has been tested in humans and has the potential to prevent future pandemics.
The trial, involving 39 healthy volunteers, tested a vaccine designed to protect against multiple coronaviruses, including SARS-CoV-2, which caused the covid pandemic, and strains that infect animals but have the potential to cause a pandemic.
The vaccine was found to be safe, with no significant side effects, and triggered immune responses against SARS-CoV-2, SARS and related bat coronaviruses that could potentially infect humans.
Rather than chasing individual variants, the AI-designed antigen targets characteristics shared across an entire family of coronaviruses. Researchers hope this could lead to vaccines that remain effective even as viruses evolve and new strains emerge.
This is a significant development as traditional vaccines have limited protection and need to be updated as viruses mutate, said Jonathan Heeney, from the University of Cambridge and scientific lead of the research.
“We’ve converted vaccine development from being reactive to being future-proof,” he added.
The antigen in a vaccine triggers the body’s immune system and trains it to fight off future infections.
Genetic codes from coronaviruses
To design the antigen for the coronavirus vaccine, developed by the University of Cambridge and spin-out company DIOSynVax, the team took known genetic codes from coronaviruses that had been recorded by surveillance programmes.
Using machine learning, they then designed a super antigen containing features common to the whole group of viruses, including ones that haven’t emerged yet.
The trials took place at the National Institute for Health and Care Research’s Southampton and Cambridge bases, with the results published in the Journal of Infection.
Further development is needed before the vaccine is ready for public use, with a larger trial set to take place.
However, scientists are hopeful about what this development could mean not only for coronaviruses, but for other diseases too, such as the seasonal flu, with the same technology applied to them.
The trial’s chief investigator, Saul Faust from the University of Southampton, said that viruses like influenza and the Ebola group are “evolving continuously”, meaning that by the time vaccines have been developed, they may already be out of date.
This new class of vaccines not only protect against many variants at the same time, “but potentially against related viruses that haven’t yet emerged and spilt over to humans,” he added.
