Prick instead of castration: scientists sterilized animals with a single injection of DNA vaccine
In 2014, 2.7 million cats and dogs were euthanized in US kennels. To control reproduction, the ovaries or testicles are usually removed - these operations are expensive, they require anesthesia and veterinarian time, therefore there are so many stray animals in the cities.
Biologists from Caltech in Pasadena are working on a cheap and fast sterilization method. They tested a DNA vaccine in mice, forcing the animal's muscle tissue to produce antibodies to block gonadotropic hormones, whose function is to regulate the functioning of the sex glands.
A separate type of breeding control involves the use of the animal’s own immune system. The introduction of exogenous reproductive proteins causes the body to produce antibodies against its own sex hormones and proteins. For immune-contraceptives, such targets as the shiny zone of the egg are used - the egg covering, which the sperm binds during fertilization, and the reproductive hormones testosterone and estrogen through the suppression of the hormone secreting gonadotropin. Such vaccines need to be repeated every few years.
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The Bruce Hay team (Bruce Hay) is working on a vaccine that affects the animal's DNA and causes muscle tissue to produce antibodies for a long time — up to ten years. Muscles begin to produce gonadotropin, that is, they use one of two classic approaches to controlling reproduction using the immune system. Scientists introduced a vaccine packed into an inactive virus to mice of both sexes, and two months later they reported on the results. All mice were completely infertile . A team of scientists suggests that the same method can be used to produce antibodies against the shiny zone of the egg. In this case, the sperm cannot fertilize the egg, because it does not reach it.
“It took a two-month break to allow the muscles to start producing enough antibodies. In the future, we will try to use other systems to avoid such a delay, ”explains Bruce Hay.
Scientists say that the effect of their vaccine on hormones does not change the behavior of the animal. If the DNA vaccine acts on cats and dogs as well as on mice, then in the future the development can be used to create long-acting contraceptives and for people.
Biologists from Caltech in Pasadena are working on a cheap and fast sterilization method. They tested a DNA vaccine in mice, forcing the animal's muscle tissue to produce antibodies to block gonadotropic hormones, whose function is to regulate the functioning of the sex glands.
A separate type of breeding control involves the use of the animal’s own immune system. The introduction of exogenous reproductive proteins causes the body to produce antibodies against its own sex hormones and proteins. For immune-contraceptives, such targets as the shiny zone of the egg are used - the egg covering, which the sperm binds during fertilization, and the reproductive hormones testosterone and estrogen through the suppression of the hormone secreting gonadotropin. Such vaccines need to be repeated every few years.
')
The Bruce Hay team (Bruce Hay) is working on a vaccine that affects the animal's DNA and causes muscle tissue to produce antibodies for a long time — up to ten years. Muscles begin to produce gonadotropin, that is, they use one of two classic approaches to controlling reproduction using the immune system. Scientists introduced a vaccine packed into an inactive virus to mice of both sexes, and two months later they reported on the results. All mice were completely infertile . A team of scientists suggests that the same method can be used to produce antibodies against the shiny zone of the egg. In this case, the sperm cannot fertilize the egg, because it does not reach it.
“It took a two-month break to allow the muscles to start producing enough antibodies. In the future, we will try to use other systems to avoid such a delay, ”explains Bruce Hay.
Scientists say that the effect of their vaccine on hormones does not change the behavior of the animal. If the DNA vaccine acts on cats and dogs as well as on mice, then in the future the development can be used to create long-acting contraceptives and for people.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/366587/
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