Human Genome Research: Is It Now Possible for Scientists to Scale Up and Lead Vaccine Studies?

Celebrating Pratia DNA Week, it is important to us to raise awareness of the most recent scientific discoveries in Human DNA and the human genome. In addition – 2022 marks the 200th anniversary of Gregor Mendel’s birth – the person who created the foundations of leading principles in genetic inheritance. 

Until recently, there were many unknowns about the human genome, and thankfully to the persistent and hard work of the scantiest, now we are capable of saying that the missing gaps are revealed.  

The purpose of this article is to introduce you to the latest substantial findings and innovations in the field of human DNA and the entire human genome. What is more – why are genomic discoveries so essential and their usage in Clinical Trials, more particularly in Trials investigating Vaccines. Clinical studies allow researchers to have the proper environment to explore and understand how human genes function. The latest research on the Human Genome does not simply open new prospects – it creates paths for innovative treatment, prevention and diagnosis of the Patients.  

When the Human Genome Project was initially started in 1990, it was very difficult for scientists to fill the missing gaps in human DNA and completely understand repetitive regions in the genome. This was because the sequencing technologies back then were limited to reading only about 500 nucleotides at a time. Therefore, these short fragments had to overlap one another to recreate the entire sequence.  

This method undoubtedly turned out to be insufficient and time-consuming and leaving many question marks behind.  

Then, in May 2021, the Telomere-to-Telomere Consortium announced that all remaining gaps were finally filled. The work of the International Consortium of scientists improved the sequencing technology and consequently made it possible to read longer sequences of nucleotides. That is how long-read sequences made it achievable to assemble large repetitive regions and complete a human genome for the first time.  

The Telomere-to-Telomere Consortium presents a complete 3.055 billion based pair sequence of a human genome T2T-CHM13, which includes entire assemblies for all chromosomes, excluding Y, introduced updated in the so-far applied references and announced about 200 million base pairs of sequences containing 1956 gene predictions. The completed regions include all centromeric satellite arrays, recent segmental duplications, and the short arms of all five acrocentric chromosomes. 

Having the technological barrier removed, it is now possible for scientists to enlarge and lead more comprehensive Vaccine studies. In addition, the opportunity to conduct Preclinical and Clinical Trials investigating the genomic variations across the entire human genome gives high expectations for new, improved Vaccines for different diseases. 

Last few years, as the coronavirus pandemic started, scientists had to catch up really quickly, finding treatments for the coronavirus infections. Furthermore, not only to discover what actually works on Patients with the virus but to ensure future prevention and high accessibility for the population. And here, the development of next-generation vaccines took place. Scientists are working on successfully replacing mRNA Vaccines and are now developing new generation DNA Vaccines. The technological improvement in the last decade gives the opportunity to replace the most commonly applied coronavirus RNA Vaccines with new generation DNA Vaccines. This is possible because of the outstanding advance in human DNA and genome research. As a result, the developed technologies might help reduce manufacturing costs and simplify the storage of Vaccines. Thus, DNA Vaccines will be distributed around the world a lot easier, and as a result, a higher number of people will receive immunisation.  

DNA Vaccines are researched in other therapeutic areas as well. Clinical Trials are to be conducted even for Vaccines for diseases such as Lyme disease, HIV and malaria.  

Another important genome-editing tool used in Vaccine Clinical Trials is CRISPR (Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeat). CRISPR sequences were initially discovered in the E. coli genome in 1987. However, in 2012 scientists found that it is possible to edit parts of the genome by removing, adding, or altering sections of the DNA sequences using this unique technology. Researchers are using CRISPR to correct gene mutations that might, at some point, lead to disease. Moreover, not only that scientists can do that, but CRISPR is a lot easier and faster to use and the most precise gene-editing tool that gives numerous options for customisation. Last but not least, expenses over the usage of the CRISPR genome tool are significantly lower compared to all the currently existing methods. 

Having the advantages of CRISPR, many Clinical Trials have been conducted in the past few years. Including diseases such as diabetes and HIV/AIDS.  

Investigators plan to start research on a Vaccine designed to prevent infection by Leishmania major, using the CRISPR technique. Showing great results in previous Trials using CRISPR, the scientists have high expectations for this technique to contribute to more affordable, with fewer side effects and easier for application Vaccines.  

CRISPR technique is more often to be used, and without a doubt, it highly contributes to the development of new treatment and prevention methods. For example, researchers plan Trials on blood disorders, inherited eye diseases, infectious diseases, inflammatory diseases, and protein-folding disorders in the next few years. However, just as in many other areas, there is more to be investigated for the usage of this technique.  

Scientists are excited to see what more is about to come in 2022 in the human genome and DNA research field. Along with the persistent investigations of the researchers are the constant improvements of all gene technologies applied in Clinical Trials.  

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