In the fight against malaria PROFESSOR PETER SEEBERGER has developed a new sugar-based vaccine that is extremely cheap to produce, an achievemant that in 2007 earned him the Korber European Science Award.
Peter Seeberger describes himselt as ambitious : “I’m definitely achievement-oriented," he says. Yet the lanky six-footer doesn't look grimly determined at all. Rather the opposite - his manner is convivial and he talks in an easy, relaxed way, "American-style" in the best sense of the word.
The reality impressively bears out what he says. In 2007 Peter Seeberger's future-oriented approach to his research earned him the Korber European Science Award after he succeeded in developing an effective vaccine againts malaria for which there had been no known cure. Taken early enough, exiting drugs do kill the parasites and halt the fever phases, but in Africa only an affluent few can afford them. For the particularly susceptible underfives, the disease transmitted the saliva of the anopheles mosquito is often fatal. Estimates say that more than two million children die of malaria every year.
In the course of his research work Peter had begun to suspect that sugar molecules rather than proteins could hold the key to success. Following up that hunch, he had already started prototyping a radically new type of sugar synthesizer based on his own design. This is a machine capable of using just a few standard building blocks to synthesize practically any number of sugar chains. This way, even the complex ramified chains that are so important in developing vaccines can be produced at low cost.
Being able to make these complex sugar chains cheaply meant we would soon be able to save over two million young lives in a single year,"says Peter, recalling his moment of personal triumph. Each malaria vaccination only requires a few millionths of a gramme. "So with about four kilos a year you can get every child in Africa vaccinated,"says Peter.
All tests performed so far have been successfull, showing that the sugar-based vaccine is able to keep the malaria parasites in check despite their high mutation rate. But although human vaccination tests are scheduled to begin this year, the vaccine will not become generally available until 2013 at the earliest - that time will be needed to complete all clinical tests. But, Seeberger will be putting those years to good use. He and others have set up a foundation to provide capital for projects like manufacturing cheap mosquito nets in Africa. "Because preventing infection, "says the scientist, "is still the best ways to protect people against malaria."
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