Scientists offer new hope for rapid production of bird flu vaccine

More new technology progress...we'll wait and see if it is viable...
maybe the emerging crisis will really push new manufacturing techniques forward.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - A new genetic technique developed by US and Japanese scientists could help drugs firms produce a vaccine for the deadly strain of bird flu more quickly, researchers said in a specialized magazine.

The improved "reverse genetics" technique makes the disarmed viruses that are the seed stock for producing large quantities of flu vaccine, said the study's co-author, Yoshihiro Kawaoka of the University of Wisconsin.

It could assist in the rapid manufacture of a vaccine for the virulent H5N1 strain of avian flu, which has killed more than 60 people in Asia since late 2003.

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