<p> Munching on bacteria could be a good way to stimulate your immune system: Biologist Simon Cutting of the Royal Holloway University of London has transformed bacterial spores into an edible vaccine. He and his collaborators genetically altered the common bacterium <em>Bacillus subtilis</em> so that it produced harmless fragments of the toxin produced by tetanus. Then his team starved the bacterium so that it turned into a spore—a desiccated packet tough enough to survive a trip through the digestive tract and into the bloodstream. Most of the mice that inhaled or ate the modified spores were then able to survive a lethal dose of tetanus. </p><div class="vert-display-toggle collapsible relative flex flex-col items-center "><div class="vert-unit mt-4 mb-3 top-20"><div ad-type="mobile-desktop" class="ad-wrapper vert min-h-boombox flex items-start justify-center" data-ad-mapping="inline" data-ad-slot="Discover/inline-ad" id="div-inline-ad-0"></div></div><span aria-label="Advertisement" class="text-ad mt-1 text-[11px] uppercase">Advertisement</span></div><figure class="fr-image-container fr-full"><img srcset="https://cdn.discovermagazine.com/assets/image/19331/rd_vaccine-s.webp 480w, https://cdn.discovermagazine.com/assets/image/19331/rd_vaccine-m.webp 660w" sizes="(max-width: 480px) 480px, 660px" src="https://cdn.discovermagazine.com/assets/image/19331/rd_vaccine-s.jpg" title="rd_vaccine.jpg" loading="lazy" data-id="19331"><figcaption class="fr-figcaption"><p class="fr-caption"></p></figcaption></figure><p><strong>Engineered bacterial spores could be eaten or inhaled as a vaccine.</strong>Photograph courtesy of Simon Cutting/Royal Holloway University of London</p>

August 2003

The August 2003 issue of Discover Magazine

Can We Rocket to Another Star?

Discover how an edible vaccine using Bacillus subtilis could stimulate the immune system against tetanus.

Health

Here, Eat This Vaccine

Article

News

Zara Herskovits

Science

Munching on bacteria could be a good way to stimulate your immune system: Biologist Simon Cutting of the Royal Holloway University of London has transformed bacterial spores into an edible vaccine. He and his collaborators genetically altered the common bacterium Bacillus subtilis so that it produced harmless fragments of the toxin produced by tetanus. Then his team starved the bacterium so that it turned into a spore—a desiccated packet tough enough to survive a trip through the digestive tract and into the bloodstream. Most of the mice that inhaled or ate the modified spores were then able to survive a lethal dose of tetanus. Engineered bacterial spores could be eaten or inhaled as a vaccine.Photograph courtesy of Simon Cutting/Royal Holloway University of London

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