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Application of Viruses for Gene Therapy and Vaccine Development

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The Biological Role of a Virus

Part of the book series: Advances in Environmental Microbiology ((AEM,volume 9))

Abstract

Although viruses have been demonstrated to cause a serious threat to our health, further confirmed by the current coronavirus virus pandemic, engineered viral vectors have been frequently used for gene therapy and vaccine development. A large number of different viral vectors have been subjected to proof-of-concept gene therapy evaluations in animal models for various indications before entering human clinical safety and efficacy studies. Moreover, immunization studies in animals and humans have been conducted with the goal of developing both prophylactic and therapeutic vaccines. Several viral-based gene therapy drugs have been approved for the treatment of various cancers and others have been subjected to clinical trials. Immunization studies have demonstrated protection against lethal challenges with pathogens and for example promising vaccine candidates for Ebola virus have generated favorable results in clinical trials. Several viral vector-based vaccine candidates for the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes the disease named COVID-19, have been designed resulting in strong antibody responses in clinical trials. Recently, adenovirus-based COVID-19 vaccines have received Emergency Use Authorization and are currently used for mass vaccinations. In this chapter, the most commonly used viral vectors systems are described, followed by examples of preclinical and clinical evaluation. A special emphasis is dedicated to coronaviruses.

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Lundstrom, K. (2022). Application of Viruses for Gene Therapy and Vaccine Development. In: Hurst, C.J. (eds) The Biological Role of a Virus. Advances in Environmental Microbiology, vol 9. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-85395-2_9

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