Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Gold and Helium Combine for Needle-Free Injections

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the not-necessarily-pain-free dept.

Mr. Jaggers writes "U.K. biotech outfit, PowderMed Ltd., has developed a new method to deliver vaccine using an injector powered by concentrated helium gas. They enclose fragments of virus DNA in tiny gold particles, and use the injector to introduce particles into the body subdermally. Evidently, this has been in the works for some time, but is now ready for human clinical tests. Oh, and this is supposed to be used experimentally to target the H5N1 avian flu, which is also cool, I suppose."

5 of 74 comments (clear)

  1. Maybe I'm to cynical by Lord+Kano · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Should we test this on vaccines that we know the side effect for?

    I mean, we know what the side effects of the polio vaccination are so maybe that's a better trial for this. It would be truly awful if we created a SuperFlu by playing around with this.

    LK

    --
    "Hi. This is my friend, Jack Shit, and you don't know him." - Lord Kano
    1. Re:Maybe I'm to cynical by eln · · Score: 2, Insightful

      As others have mentioned, this is not particularly new tech. I'd imagine linking it to the avian flu is just a way to get more exposure, and therefore more grant money, by exploiting the health scare of the moment.

  2. Re:Gold? by CRCulver · · Score: 2, Insightful

    The amount of gold we're talking about probably isn't any more than what's in a bottle of Goldschlager, and that only costs a few bucks.

  3. More practitioners by andrewman327 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I am an EMT but I am not allowed to perform IVs in the field. Only paramedics are allowed to do that (more training). I am licensed to perform intramuscular injections, however (think EpiPen) and I would be allowed to use one of these. The point? If there were ever a need for rapid vacinations, more people would be able to administer using this technology.

    --
    Information wants a fueled airplane waiting at the hangar and no one gets hurt.
  4. Re:Hell yes - the military uses something like thi by tomhudson · · Score: 2, Insightful

    ... and if he hadn't posted thw windscreen part, he would have had a lot of people going.

    hint for the next time - magnets work better.