This stuff would have been useful during the fourteenth century.
I speak of an astonishing new breakthrough at a local lab in which scientists have developed a drug that primes the body’s immune system to reject many different kinds of pathogens for a short time. Here’s a snippet from a story I wrote:
The tiny mice didn’t realize that the gas they were inhaling would save their lives as they scampered around a plastic container in a Houston laboratory.
In a few hours, these experimental mice — along with others who hadn’t had a turn in the container — would be exposed to pneumonia. All of the untreated mice would die. All that had been exposed to the aerosol would survive.
Conducted by a team of scientists at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, the experiments demonstrated a concept that could revolutionize the way public health planners approach outbreaks of infectious disease.
The aerosol — a purified extract of a common bacterium — stimulates the lungs to vigorously reject pathogens.
Unlike vaccines, which must typically be given a week or more before exposure, the new aerosol is highly effective against a host of pathogens — including anthrax, influenza and even bubonic plague — if given just a few hours before infection. The new drug and its delivery system even have some benefit if given after exposure.
They key difference here is that scientists are trying to stimulate the innate immune system, as opposed to the adaptive immune system, which is more familiar to most people because it’s what vaccines target.
The innate immune system, however, doesn’t recognize specific diseases, and responds generically to all pathogens. By inhaling a common bacterium, the scientists found they could essentially raise the system to “red alert.”
There seem to be no major side effects, but the trials have yet to be replicated in humans. Anyone who has wondered how we would handle a bioterror attack or influenza outbreak can immediately see the potential of this new therapy.