Double Shot: Anthrax vaccine gets makeover
By Nathan Seppa
Anthrax, a scourge once confined to farmers and wool handlers, has become a member of the rogues’ gallery of biological weapons. Although there’s a vaccine against anthrax, it’s been the target of such strong criticism that a government-funded panel last year recommended that researchers find an alternative.
Scientists now report that in mice, a dual-purpose experimental vaccine appears to spur the immune system to disable anthrax’s lethal toxin at the same time it kills the bacterium. The current vaccine targets only the toxin.