It would be nice to just be automatically vaccinated for everything just by hanging out.
Yes. There are virus vector vaccines already in existence: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viral_vector_vaccine
For example, adenovirus vector vaccines were created for COVID-19: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_vaccine#Adenovirus_vector_vaccines
Those are non-replicating though.
Live attenuated vaccines also exist – which can replicate – but those work by using a weakened/modified version of the original harmful live virus the vaccine is intended to protect against: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attenuated_vaccine
Oral polio vaccine is a well-known example.
That’s what you call a viral vector. Apparently the Sputnik V vaccine for COVID used this approach.
Edit: Sorry, wait, do you mean like designing a viral vector-based vaccine and spraying it into the air to vaccinate everyone around? That seems like it’d run afoul of some kind of ethics things.
I mean, for example, engineering a rhinovirus that spreads normally, but is able to inoculate hosts against zika.
Got it. So then yes, I’d say it’s possible from a technical standpoint. But you really ought not to do it.
There are oncolytic viral therapies, where viruses are modified to kill cancer cells. So, sure probably.
That’s how “I am legend” started.
Most early vaccines were less dangerous viruses related to more dangerous ones and which provided cross-immunity once the immune system had learned it.
Then there’s been plenty of vaccines with dead virus particles, as well as modified live viruses (dangerous viruses which was weakened, neutralized, or sterilized, or even mild viruses equipped with recognizable but harmless proteins from dangerous viruses) to more safely expose you directly to the pathogen.
Then mRNA and protein subunits and some other types drops the full virus part and provides methods to expose you to only small pieces
It’s generally speaking risky to try to create custom infectious viruses. A significant factor is that triggering the mechanisms for mass production of virus particles in the body can be enough to trigger harmful reactions (immune dysregulation, cell death, etc). Stuff like this is why even viruses you think are harmless still kills people every flu season
This a good thought, but I think that’s how you get the T virus.
Kind of. It’s called inoculation. The best example is if you caught cow pox you became immune, or nearly so at least to small pox which was deadly
Even if you were to create a novel virus to achieve that goal something nasty would eventually evolve to mimic it and we’d have no defense.
Probably
So you want to engineer a living, evolving, highly contagious virus that contains enough of a dangerous virus to train your immune system to be resistant to that dangerous disease?
Do you not see how bad an idea that is?
No, that’s why I asked. Hopefully someone can enlighten us.
I’ll enlighten you, It’s a bad idea. Engineering intentionally contagious things is far too likely to go wrong.
Laughter is contagious. Surely other good things can be contagious, too.
Except viruses aren’t living, and we already use them for vaccines.
This was close to the plot of the 1973 science fiction story “By Any Other Name” by Spider Robinson, later expanded to the novel “Telempath”. The story won a Hugo award but the virus scheme didn’t work out so great.
https://www.projectrho.com/public_html/rocket/apocalypse.php#smelly2
