Overview
- A peer-reviewed Science paper published February 5 reports that DNA-origami vaccine particles outperformed protein-based virus-like particles in mice engineered with human antibody genes.
- Nearly 60% of germinal-center B cells targeted the HIV antigen with the DNA platform, compared with about 20% using a protein scaffold.
- The approach generated about eightfold more precursor B cells capable of maturing into broadly neutralizing antibody lineages and roughly 10 times more cells targeting a vulnerable HIV site.
- Off-target responses dropped substantially, yielding a reported 25-fold better HIV-specific-to-off-target cell ratio and producing detectable rare precursors within two weeks.
- Researchers from Scripps Research and MIT describe the DNA scaffold as immunologically silent and are now testing particle geometries and long-term safety, with potential applications beyond HIV.