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<\/a><\/p>\nExperts hailed the method as a \u201cbig paradigm change\u201d to the current \u201creactive\u201d system which \u201cstruggles to keep pace\u201d as diseases evolve.<\/p>\n
Current vaccines use antigens from specific strains of virus that have already been detected in humans.<\/p>\n
However, the universal Sarbeco coronavirus vaccine, developed by the University of Cambridge and biotechnology company DIOSynVax, brings together features that are common in the whole family of viruses.<\/p>\n
This is done by researchers taking all available genetic sequence data on coronaviruses logged by surveillance programmes around the world to create a \u201csuper antigen\u201d.<\/p>\n
Professor Jonathan Heeney, from the lab of viral zoonotics at the University of Cambridge\u2019s Department of Veterinary Medicine, told the Press Association: \u201cWhat that Covid pandemic taught us is how fast we can make vaccines, but we\u2019re still using the old paradigm.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is about making one vaccine that will get them all based on their relationships.\u201d<\/p>\n
He added: \u201cYou hoover up all the genomic sequences; what\u2019s known from around the world, from past outbreaks and current outbreaks, and you do some basic structural science.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe take all these different sequences\u2026and we think, \u2018OK, what\u2019s consistent amongst them, what\u2019s not changing, what is essential for their life\u2019 and that\u2019s what we target.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt not only predicts, but it targets what is essential for that virus family. We\u2019re targeting something in a virus family, which the virus can\u2019t change easily.\u201d<\/p>\n
A phase I trial, published in the Journal of Infection, included 49 healthy volunteers aged between 18 and 50 who had the vaccine in Cambridge and Southampton.<\/p>\n
It was administered as DNA vaccine through a micro fluid jet.<\/p>\n
This is a needle-free method that uses a high-pressure, hair-thin stream of liquid to push vaccine blueprints directly into skin cells.<\/p>\n
Researchers found the jab is safe and that it triggered an immune response to not only SARS-CoV-2 and SARS, but to related bat viruses that could potentially jump from animals to humans.<\/p>\n
A previous study in animals also found the jab sparked a strong immune response against a range of coronaviruses.<\/p>\n
A phase II trial is expected to include \u201cupwards of 200 or more people\u201d, Prof Heeney said.<\/p>\n
![\"Scientists](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/3CL3VFY3MVKIBK4SDROETHVIPM.jpg\")
Scientists led by the University of Cambridge have created new vaccine technology with the help of artificial intelligence, which could provide immunity against whole families of viruses and protect people from any future mutations in a single jab. An early trial has shown a coronavirus vaccine developed using the method is safe, with a larger study set to include upwards of 200 people. <\/p>\n
He is hopeful that the technology can be a \u201cgame changer\u201d that makes vaccines \u201cfar better, broader, and give more robust protection\u201d.<\/p>\n
It could provide broad protection from thousands of variants of viruses, such as ebola.<\/p>\n
Prof Heeney told PA that during his career he has travelled during outbreaks, and the one that \u201creally left a mark\u201d was the West African Ebola epidemic, which lasted from 2013 to 2016.<\/p>\n
There is currently another epidemic of ebola happening in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Uganda, caused by bundibugyo virus.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of viruses out there, and once we know them, we start chasing them, but we have to change that paradigm,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd that\u2019s what this is about, it\u2019s about making vaccines that not just protect us from today\u2019s viruses, but the ones that haven\u2019t yet happened.<\/p>\n
\u201cA great example of that is what\u2019s going on now in the DRC. Again, yet another Ebola virus, but it\u2019s not the same one, it\u2019s from the same family. Deja vu. We\u2019re behind the curve, and these viruses belong to the same family.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, what we\u2019re trying to do is to make a vaccine that will protect against all those different viruses in a family, and it\u2019s a big paradigm change.\u201d<\/p>\n
The team is also looking to advance on a vaccine for bird flu, which Prof Heeney described as a \u201cbig global threat\u201d.<\/p>\n
He said: \u201cThis is because this bird flu virus is all around the world, on most continents, not only impacting birds, but also mammals and humans, and it\u2019s even in the food chain in America, in milk.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo it\u2019s quite a worry, but there\u2019s different clades, or types of families, and there\u2019s particular ones in south-east Asia that are very different, but that have killed people in double digits.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo it\u2019s about making sure that our technology can get whatever is going to pop up and protect us, and to get ahead of that curve, instead of chasing it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Prof Saul Faust, of the University of Southampton and the trial\u2019s chief investigator, said: \u201cViruses like influenza, coronaviruses and the ebola group are evolving continuously and by the time vaccines are rolled out, they may be poorly matched \u2013 the current \u2018reactive\u2019 vaccine system struggles to keep pace.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis new class of universal vaccines are future-proofed.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey not only protect against many variants simultaneously, but potentially against related viruses that haven\u2019t yet emerged and spilt over to humans.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we can develop and clinically advance this new class of vaccines before a virus outbreak begins, millions of lives could be saved, lockdowns avoided and the economy preserved.\u201d<\/p>\n
Prof Marian Knight, scientific director for National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Infrastructure, said: \u201cThe remarkable success of this AI-designed \u2018super-antigen\u2019 trial marks a pivotal leap forward in our ability to deliver broad, lasting viral protection.\u201d<\/p>\n
The study was sponsored by University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"New vaccine technology created with the help of artificial intelligence could provide immunity against whole families of viruses…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":483579,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[220,218,51116,103,61,60,34939,208016,82,35368,1577,35584,11987],"class_list":["post-483578","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","tag-ai","tag-artificial-intelligence","tag-east-anglia","tag-health","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-pa-exclusive","tag-professor-jonathan-heeney","tag-science","tag-south-east","tag-uk","tag-university-of-cambridge","tag-vaccines"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/483578","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=483578"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/483578\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/483579"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=483578"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=483578"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=483578"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Scientists](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/LI5SI2ILYRMV7JYPP7RHB4NTAE.jpg\")
Scientists led by the University of Cambridge have created new vaccine technology with the help of artificial intelligence, which could provide immunity against whole families of viruses and protect people from any future mutations in a single jab. An early trial has shown a coronavirus vaccine developed using the method is safe, with a larger study set to include upwards of 200 people. <\/p>\n