NOVA Home Find out what's coming up on air Listing of previous NOVA Web sites NOVA's history Subscribe to the NOVA bulletin Lesson plans and more for teachers NOVA RSS feeds Tell us what you think Program transcripts Buy NOVA videos or DVDs Watch NOVA programs online Answers to frequently asked questions
Killer Disease on Campus

Making Vaccines
Subunit vaccine: hepatitis B

 


Hepatitis step 1

Step 1
Use the tweezers to pull out a segment of DNA from the hepatitis B virus.



 

A subunit vaccine makes use of just a small portion of a pathogen. For a virus, the vaccine can contain just a piece of the protein coat that surrounds the virus's DNA (or RNA). Even small portion of a virus is sometimes enough to stimulate an immune response in the body.

There are several ways to produce a vaccine for hepatitis B vaccine. For your vaccine, you'll use genetic engineering techniques.



Hepatitis step 2

Step 2
Add the segment of DNA to the DNA of a yeast cell (which is in the yeast culture).



 

A segment of the virus's DNA is responsible for the production of the virus's protein coat. You will add this segment to the DNA within a yeast cell.

The yeast cell, as it grows, will "read" the viral DNA incorporated in its own DNA and produce the protein that makes up the protein coat of hepatitis B.



Hepatitis step 3

Step 3
Use the purifier to isolate the hepatitis B antigen produced by the yeast cells.



 

The vaccine, once administered, will stimulate the immune system to attack the antigen (i.e., the protein coat). Then, if the inoculated person is later exposed to the virus, the immune system will quickly respond to the invader and eliminate it before it has a chance to spread widely.

To finish making the vaccine, you need to separate the proteins from the yeast cells.



Hepatitis step 4

Step 4
Fill the syringe with the purified hepatitis B antigen.



 

The isolated hepatitis B protein, produced by the yeast cells, contains none of the viral DNA that makes hepatitis B harmful. Therefore, there is no possibility of it causing the disease.



Hepatitis done

Done
The hepatitis B vaccine is complete.

Select another pathogen.



 

Congratulations. You have produced a subunit vaccine for hepatitis B.

Another example in the subunit category is the anthrax vaccine approved in the U.S. (The countries of the former Soviet Union have an attenuated version of the vaccine.) The U.S. vaccine is currently administered to military personnel.




Smallpox icon

Similar-pathogen vaccine:
smallpox virus

  Measles icon

Attenuated vaccine:
measles virus

  Polio icon

Killed vaccine:
polio virus

Tetanus icon

Toxoid vaccine:
tetanus

  Hepatitis icon

Subunit vaccine:
hepatitis B

  HIV icon

Naked-DNA vaccine:
HIV



Killer Disease homepage



Send feedback Image credits
   
NOVA Home Find out what's coming up on air Listing of previous NOVA Web sites NOVA's history Subscribe to the NOVA bulletin Lesson plans and more for teachers NOVA RSS feeds Tell us what you think Program transcripts Buy NOVA videos or DVDs Watch NOVA programs online Answers to frequently asked questions