Scientists Develop Mobile Printing Device for COVID-19 Vaccine
2023-04-27
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1Researchers say they have developed a small printing device that can produce vaccine patches for COVID-19 and other diseases.
2Since the device is moveable, or mobile, it could be easily deployed to areas of the world that face difficulties receiving and storing vaccines, the scientists say.
3Researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) led the development of the printer.
4While the developers say it will likely take years to become widely available, some experts are calling the technology "exciting."
5Creators of the device recently reported their development results in a study in the publication Nature Biotechnology.
6The device prints 2-centimeter-wide patches that each contain hundreds of tiny needles that administer vaccine material when pressed against the skin.
7The team says such patches offer major improvements over vaccine shots given in the arm.
8Users can easily self-administer the vaccines and they are mostly painless.
9The patches could appeal to people resistant to traditional vaccines.
10They can also be stored at room temperature for long periods of time.
11The popular mRNA COVID-19 vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna need to be kept cold in refrigerators.
12This has made it hard to get them to parts of the world that lack the ability to keep the medicine cold, especially developing countries.
13Some of those nations criticized the unequal sharing of vaccine shots during the COVID-19 pandemic.
14The researchers said the new printer was tested with the Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines.
15But the goal of the international development team is for the device to be used for other vaccines as well.
16Robert Langer is the co-founder of Moderna and one of the study's writers.
17He told the French press agency AFP he hoped the printer could be used for "the next COVID, or whatever crisis" happens.
18Ana Jaklenec is a researcher at MIT and another co-writer of the study.
19She said in a statement that the devices could someday establish "on-demand vaccine production."
20Jaklenec added, "If, for example, there was an Ebola outbreak in a particular region, one could ship a few of these printers there and vaccinate the people..."
21Microneedle patch vaccines are already under development for COVID-19 and a series of other diseases, including polio, measles and rubella.
22But the patches have long struggled to expand because producing them is a costly, labor-intensive process that often involves large machines.
23The researchers developing the new process said they shrank the process down by using smaller equipment to create the patches.
24Currently, the team said the printer can produce 100 patches in 48 hours.
25But researchers say experiments have shown that with improvements, the printer could print thousands a day.
26"And you can have more than one printer," Langer added.
27Joseph DeSimone is a chemist at California's Stanford University who was not involved in the study.
28He said the work "is particularly exciting as it realizes the ability to produce vaccines on demand."
29DeSimone has invented his own versions of microneedle patches.
30He said if the printing process can be widely deployed, it can help bring "widespread access to RNA vaccines."
31Antoine Flahault directs the Institute of Global Health at the University of Geneva in Switzerland.
32He told AFP that production and access to vaccines could be "transformed through such a printer."
33This, Flahault added, could become a real "breakthrough."
34Flahault noted, however, that the success of the method will first require government approvals and mass production.
35And that could take many years.
36I'm Bryan Lynn.
1Researchers say they have developed a small printing device that can produce vaccine patches for COVID-19 and other diseases. 2Since the device is moveable, or mobile, it could be easily deployed to areas of the world that face difficulties receiving and storing vaccines, the scientists say. 3Researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) led the development of the printer. 4While the developers say it will likely take years to become widely available, some experts are calling the technology "exciting." 5Creators of the device recently reported their development results in a study in the publication Nature Biotechnology. 6The device prints 2-centimeter-wide patches that each contain hundreds of tiny needles that administer vaccine material when pressed against the skin. 7The team says such patches offer major improvements over vaccine shots given in the arm. Users can easily self-administer the vaccines and they are mostly painless. The patches could appeal to people resistant to traditional vaccines. They can also be stored at room temperature for long periods of time. 8The popular mRNA COVID-19 vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna need to be kept cold in refrigerators. This has made it hard to get them to parts of the world that lack the ability to keep the medicine cold, especially developing countries. Some of those nations criticized the unequal sharing of vaccine shots during the COVID-19 pandemic. 9The researchers said the new printer was tested with the Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines. But the goal of the international development team is for the device to be used for other vaccines as well. 10Robert Langer is the co-founder of Moderna and one of the study's writers. He told the French press agency AFP he hoped the printer could be used for "the next COVID, or whatever crisis" happens. 11Ana Jaklenec is a researcher at MIT and another co-writer of the study. She said in a statement that the devices could someday establish "on-demand vaccine production." 12Jaklenec added, "If, for example, there was an Ebola outbreak in a particular region, one could ship a few of these printers there and vaccinate the people..." 13Microneedle patch vaccines are already under development for COVID-19 and a series of other diseases, including polio, measles and rubella. But the patches have long struggled to expand because producing them is a costly, labor-intensive process that often involves large machines. 14The researchers developing the new process said they shrank the process down by using smaller equipment to create the patches. 15Currently, the team said the printer can produce 100 patches in 48 hours. But researchers say experiments have shown that with improvements, the printer could print thousands a day. "And you can have more than one printer," Langer added. 16Joseph DeSimone is a chemist at California's Stanford University who was not involved in the study. He said the work "is particularly exciting as it realizes the ability to produce vaccines on demand." 17DeSimone has invented his own versions of microneedle patches. He said if the printing process can be widely deployed, it can help bring "widespread access to RNA vaccines." 18Antoine Flahault directs the Institute of Global Health at the University of Geneva in Switzerland. He told AFP that production and access to vaccines could be "transformed through such a printer." 19This, Flahault added, could become a real "breakthrough." Flahault noted, however, that the success of the method will first require government approvals and mass production. And that could take many years. 20I'm Bryan Lynn. 21Bryan Lynn wrote this story for VOA Learning English, based on reports from Agence France-Presse and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 22____________________________________________________ 23Words in This Story 24patch - n. a piece of material used to cover a hole in clothes or other material 25needle - n. the thin, sharp metal part of a piece of medical equipment used to put medicine in the body 26region - n. a particular area in a country or the world 27access - n. permission to enter or use something 28transform - v. to change something completely, usually to improve it 29breakthrough - n. an important discovery 30What do you think of this story? We want to hear from you. We have a new comment system. Here is how it works: 31Each time you return to comment on the Learning English site, you can use your account and see your comments and replies to them. Our comment policy is here.