Taiwan Today

A group of Taiwan professors have developed the world’s first method of producing influenza vaccine using the respiratory lining cells of fowls, National Chung Hsing University announced Nov. 4. An application has already been filed to patent the method that could be used to produce flu vaccine in the near future, the university said. The research team, made up of assistant professor Su Hong-lin and professor Liao Jiunn-wang of the university’s department of life sciences and department of veterinary medicine, respectively, and professor Wang Ching-ho of National Taiwan University’s veterinary medicine department, spent three years developing the technology. The results of their research are expected to be published in the international journal “Veterinary Research” next January. Su pointed out that to date, the research team has been able to use the avian respiratory cell method to cultivate the virus seed strain over five consecutive generations without any mutations. He said the team expects to achieve success in generating the virus seed strain indefinitely within the next year, which will allow for the eventual development and mass production of flu vaccine using the technology. He added that the new method will also be helpful toward research into respiratory illnesses. Such a vaccine would be beneficial for patients who are allergic to eggs or who have concerns about avian influenza stemming from the current method of producing flu vaccine using chicken embryos. The new method of growing flu vaccine, however, has not been without its detractors. Since the method requires that chicks under 10 days old be used and involves utilizing cells by cutting out a portion of the chicks’ respiratory lining, two doctoral students withdrew from the research effort out of fear that they would be required to take part in killing of the animals. (SB)