Researchers at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center have developed a ricin vaccine found to be effective in mice, Gene Therapy Weekly reported this week (see GSN, Aug. 20).

Ricin is a chemical toxin made from castor beans, which produces flu-like symptoms and causes death in a few days.  It can be administered through food and water or via an aerosol spray.

“Ricin is not only dangerous, but it is also cheap and easy to make,” said Ellen Vitetta, director of the university’s Southwestern Cancer Immunobiology Center and senior author of the study on the ricin vaccine, set to be published in the medical journal Vaccine.

The vaccine, developed through recombinant technology, will be tested against airborne ricin once the experiments can be conducted in a Biosafety Level 3 laboratory, Vitetta said, adding that arrangements for such a facility were in the planning stage. 

“We have only tested it against injected ricin, but, based on past experience, there’s every reason to believe it will be protective against aerosolized ricin,” she said.

Once vaccinated mice have been tested against airborne ricin, the next step would be to begin production and storage of the vaccine, as well as human trials, Vitetta said. U.S. agencies or private companies would have to step in and conduct the clinical trials because of limited resources, she said (Gene Therapy Weekly, Oct. 17).

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