Spring/Summer 2012 Aesculapian Magazine - University of Georgia ...
Spring/Summer 2012 Aesculapian Magazine - University of Georgia ...
Spring/Summer 2012 Aesculapian Magazine - University of Georgia ...
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Quinn. Because <strong>of</strong> this, he says, there is an abundance <strong>of</strong><br />
vaccine “flavors” — modifications <strong>of</strong> BCG, adenoviral or<br />
DNA-based vaccines — and everyone is trying to find the<br />
right combination <strong>of</strong> factors to invoke a protective immune<br />
response.<br />
“The immunology [<strong>of</strong> tuberculosis] is really<br />
interesting,” says Estes. “It’s a slow-growing organism, it goes<br />
into latency and becomes inactive. It can also become drug<br />
resistant.”<br />
All <strong>of</strong> those factors make tuberculosis a complex and<br />
worrisome disease to work with. Quinn and Estes have a<br />
half a dozen vaccine candidates between them, in addition<br />
to their efforts to determine the best animal models to use in<br />
overall tuberculosis vaccine development.<br />
By focusing on these complex models and their<br />
applicability to humans, UGA will serve as a conduit for all<br />
kinds <strong>of</strong> other tuberculosis research, says Quinn. “By doing<br />
the animal modeling, we think we can fill a crucial hole in<br />
testing before human trials,” he says.<br />
Dr. Fred Quinn in his lab.<br />
M. tuberculosis bacteria (red)<br />
inside human lung cells. Internal<br />
structural fibers (green) highlight<br />
the shapes <strong>of</strong> the cells.<br />
Image courtesy <strong>of</strong> Fred Quinn<br />
Photo by Laura Smith