A synthetic vaccine against the parasitic worm Schistosoma mansoni

合成生物学(SB)在疫苗开发中的潜力尚未得到充分开发。SB在疫苗学中的应用方式与其他基于设计的方法类似：使用计算、生物信息学和建模方法设计能够引发保护性免疫反应的合成抗原结构。特别是，当工程支架与基于设计的方法相结合时，有可能引发自然感染时不会发生的免疫反应。这种方法有望绕过传统疫苗失效的问题--例如，在保护作用短暂或薄弱的情况下。因此，该项目符合BBSRC的“通过生物工艺改造工业”的职权范围；特别是，它寻求“……应用全细胞(和酶系统)和利用合成生物学方法，以帮助生产...生物制药..。‘

The potential of Synthetic Biology (SB) in vaccine development is under-explored. SB is applied in vaccinology in a similar fashion to other design-based approaches: computational, bioinformatic and modelling methods are used to design synthetic antigen constructs which are capable of eliciting a protective immune response. In particular, engineered scaffolds, when combined with design-based approaches, have the potential to elicit immune responses which do not occur with the natural infection. This approach promises to circumvent problems where traditional vaccines have failed- in cases where protection is short-lived or weak for example. The project therefore fits within the BBSRC remit of 'Transforming industries through bio-based processes'; in particular, it seeks to '... apply whole-cell (and enzymatic systems) and harness synthetic biology approaches, to aid the production of ... biopharmaceuticals... '