Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania are working on a new mRNA vaccine to treat bird flu. According to the university, researchers have already made some achievements in the development of this drug that is used to treat the disease in humans, wild animals and livestock.

Although the risk of bird flu is currently considerably low, it continues to be a problem for farmers and public health workers. The incidence is low, but it can develop in poultry or in other species. Therefore, the development of a vaccine at the University of Pennsylvania is important for science.

The type of technology chosen for the development of this vaccine is mRNA, which has been favored since the COVID-19 pandemic for its speed and flexibility. They are so called because the drug molecules work with messenger RNA, made by virus protein.

"mRNA technology allows us to be much more agile in vaccine development; we can start creating [una] mRNA vaccine within hours of sequencing a new viral strain with pandemic potential," said Scott Hensley, Professor of Microbiology at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania in a statement. "During previous flu pandemics, such as the 2009 H1N1 pandemic, vaccines were difficult to manufacture and were not available until after the initial pandemic waves subsided."

So far, researchers have tested the vaccine on rodents. The results show that those vaccinated have high levels of antibodies after one year. The vaccine also appeared to reduce symptoms in those infected. All vaccinated animals survived H5N1 infection, while unvaccinated animals did not.