Ionizing Radiation Technologies for Vaccine Development - A Mini Review

Sohini S Bhatia; Suresh D Pillai

doi:10.3389/fimmu.2022.845514

Ionizing Radiation Technologies for Vaccine Development - A Mini Review

Front Immunol. 2022 Feb 11:13:845514. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2022.845514. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Sohini S Bhatia¹, Suresh D Pillai^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ National Center for Electron Beam Research, an International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Collaborating Center for Electron Beam Technology, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, United States.
² Department of Food Science and Technology, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, United States.

Abstract

Given the current pandemic the world is struggling with, there is an urgent need to continually improve vaccine technologies. Ionizing radiation technology has a long history in the development of vaccines, dating back to the mid-20^th century. Ionizing radiation technology is a highly versatile technology that has a variety of commercial applications around the world. This brief review summarizes the core technology, the overall effects of ionizing radiation on bacterial cells and reviews vaccine development efforts using ionizing technologies, namely gamma radiation, electron beam, and X-rays.

Keywords: electron beam; gamma irradiation; ionizing radiation; killed vaccines; vaccines.

Publication types

Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.
Review

MeSH terms

Gamma Rays
Radiation, Ionizing*
Technology
Vaccine Development*