Health

News Nuggets: Manufacturing Cheap Vaccines, Ayurveda, and Bioprospecting Breakthroughs

Three interesting health-related news, all from alternative media.

Vaccine Manufacture Breakthrough

The Voice of America is reporting (also reported on THDBlog and in India) that Henry Daniell of the University of Central Florida has achieved a breakthrough to manufacture existing vaccines by genetically engineering plants. The new process skips existing processes, cutting costs substantially and allows vaccines to be administered orally.

Professor Daniell explains. “By doing this you completely eliminate all the other costs associated with the therapeutic proteins. But the major unanticipated advantage of this was our ability to cure certain autoimmune diseases which has never been done before. And so that was an added benefit which came in relation to reducing the cost of the therapeutic proteins”.

Ayurveda’s Moment of Glory?

Ayurveda may be preparing to give up its scientific pariah status. VOA reports on plans to introduce short Ayurvedic courses in 16 American medical schools. Navin Shah, the urologist behind the initiative, mentions the significant opportunity, “I found that there is a $40 billion business of herbal medicine in this country and very little goes to ayurveda actually.”

While Ayurveda has never been treated seriously by western or western-trained practitioners, many Indians retain their faith in something that has delivered tangible results on an individual basis. It is surprising to learn, particularly, of how extensive a system it is. According to the report, “In India, ayurvedic physicians undergo a five-and-a-half-year classroom program, followed by a year of training in a hospital.”

The biggest challenge may well be, however, the skepticism about Ayurveda. It is not an easy solution of the kind the west is used to and depends on therapy and lifestyle changes. The inability to affect both may well restrict Ayurveda’s ability to prove itself.

Proponents of the ancient practice say prospective patients in the West should understand that ayurveda’s approach to illness differs from more modern medicine. Ayurvedic medicine melds the physical and the mind, and the best outcome emerges over time, through treatment combined with lifestyle changes, such as regular exercise and a radically changed diet.

Breakthrough for Cystic Fibrosis/Cancer Raises Specter of Biopiracy

In a related development (also from VOA), an Indian-American student has identified molecules to fight a bacteria that kills people with cystic fibrosis, HIV, or cancer with common plant extracts. The work addresses the Pseudomonas bacteria, which is fatal to people with compromised immune systems (see here for details). Interestingly, and in a thumbs up for Ayurveda, the student - Madhavi Gavini - based her work on the Ayurvedic practices of her grandparents, using a herb book as her initial guide:

One of the common tropical plant extracts penetrated the bacterium’s protective layer. Next, Madhavi isolated the specific molecule in the extract that was able to inhibit bacterial growth. She found that the molecule was heat resistant, and resistant to pressure. “It kills the cell,” she explains, “by preventing the transcription of the genes involved in energy, metabolism, adaptation, membrane transport, and toxin secretion.”

Madhavi, at 16 years the recipient of several awards, has every reason to be proud of her work and its implications. I’m sure this is important both for the proponents and naysayers of traditional medicine.

However, it raises in stark relief the issue of biopiracy. Madhavi has no plans to patent her work, but I’m sure Pfizer, Merck and others do. They will sell drugs for billions, with not a penny going to those they base their work on. All the more reason for India and other developing countries to get some real international legislation protecting biodiversity and traditional knowledge.

© 2007 The Discomfort Zone.