Can AI-Based 'Universal Vaccine' Take Down COVID-19 and MERS at Once? UK Completes Human Clinical Trials

The inconvenience of having to get a new vaccine every time a new variant emerges may soon become a thing of the past. A "next-generation vaccine" developed by a UK research team with the help of artificial intelligence (AI) has entered human clinical trials for the first time.

Vaccine

According to BBC and other foreign media outlets on June 5 (local time), a joint research team from the University of Cambridge in the UK has published the results of the first test, in which all core components of the vaccine were designed by AI and administered to humans, in the international journal "Journal of Infection."

The ultimate goal of this research is the development of a so-called "universal vaccine" that covers an entire group of viruses with similar evolutionary lineages, such as SARS, MERS, and COVID-19. The intention is to move away from the current reactive approach of scrambling to update vaccines every time a new variant emerges.

Jonathan Heeney, professor at the University of Cambridge and lead researcher, expressed his confidence, saying, "Our goal is not only to block viruses currently in circulation, but also to defend against unknown pathogens that may appear in the future. This is a breakthrough that will fundamentally change the paradigm of how humanity responds to pandemics."

The key lies in the computational power of AI. The research team fed the AI vast genetic datasets from numerous coronaviruses. The AI then identified common vulnerabilities that remain unchanged despite viral mutations and designed a "superantigen" that can train the human immune system to target the entire group of these viruses.

The phase 1 clinical trial, which was the first hurdle, was conducted with about 40 adult participants. Rather than verifying efficacy, this stage was intended to confirm safety when administered to humans. According to the results published in the journal, as this is still an early stage, the impact on participants' immune responses remained at a "modest" level.

The research team plans to clarify the immune induction mechanism of the AI-designed vaccine by soon recruiting approximately 200 participants for a phase 2 clinical trial.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.