VACCINE DESIGN - FUTURE POSSIBILITIES AND POTENTIALS

Recent developments in the understanding of the structure and replicat ions of a wide range of pathogens, including viruses, bacteria and par asites have opened up ways of designing novel vaccines which should bo th improve the quality and extend the range and value of vaccines as m ajor prophylactic and therapeutic tools of the future. Two main strate gies have emerged, one involving the development of synthetic vaccines which are essentially composed of selected epitopes of the pathogenic agent that will elicit neutralising antibodies. The other strategy at tempts to make use of chimeric agents that will allow live virus or ba cteria to be used as vectors for carrying appropriate epitopes of the target pathogen. Current knowledge about the immunology and improvemen ts in the presentation of antigen to the immune system will also play an important role in the rational design of vaccines. This review summ arises present methods of producing vaccines and considers the develop ment of more rational methods of vaccine design that will greatly infl uence the production of vaccines in the future.