A SIMPLIFIED VACCINOLOGISTS VACCINOLOGY AND THE PURSUIT OF A VACCINE AGAINST AIDS

Vaccinology is the science and engineering of developing vaccines to p revent infectious diseases. Guidelines come from knowledge of pathogen esis and from successful past vaccines. The vaccine enterprise relies on the evolution of appropriate science and technology. Governmental s upport and industrial participation are key to successful development of new vaccines. A large challenge for vaccinology is a vaccine which protects against AIDS. Though misguided in its first decade, current v accine research is directed to use of any and all viral antigens and t o elicit both cell-mediated and humoral immune responses that are resi dent, with memory, at the mucosal sites of viral entry. Recent seminal discoveries guiding the future include selective elicitation of both Type 1 and Type 2 immune responses, and prime-boosting using recombina nt viral or DNA vectors and expressed antigens. Success in vaccinology depends on simplification of the complex and on iterative processes i n a well-defined pathway. The present and future of vaccinology are di scussed in depth. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.