Caterpillar grows 'safe' flu vaccine.
A flu vaccine grown in caterpillar cells instead of the usual risky and uncertain method based on chicken eggs is not only safe but effective in people, US researchers reported.
They said their findings suggest a possible short-cut to making flu vaccines, focusing on a single protein in the flu virus.
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Now, flu vaccines are reformulated every year to match the three most common strains of circulating flu virus.
The virus must be taken from people, purified, and grown in fertilized chicken eggs.
The process takes months and can easily go wrong.
Cell-culture methods can slice one or two months off the production process, Dr Treanor said.