GlaxoSmithKline signs smoking vaccine licensing agreement with Nabi -- DailyFinance
I saw this today and wondered what you all thought about it?
I saw this today and wondered what you all thought about it?
The vaccine is designed to stimulate the immune system to produce antibodies that bind to the nicotine molecules. Once bound together, they are too large to cross the blood-brain barrier. In this way, the nicotine is blocked from reaching the receptors in the brain that cause the highly-addictive pleasure sensation experienced by smokers and users of nicotine products. When nicotine is prevented from supplying them the sensation they crave, smokers have an easier time kicking the habit.
Mr. Stick, it really is a vaccine, that's what makes it so scary. It also works best if you take in nicotine- because that's what causes your body to create antibodies against it. THEORETICALLY (meaning i don't agree with the following- but i bet that someone is thinking about it) you could vaccinate a child, and the vaccine would begin to work only if they started smoking at some point in their lives- they wouldn't get pleasure from smoking so would never get hooked. Course, if they ate tomatoes or potatoes that could also trigger antibody production. Other things could too- since there's no data that I could find that showed that they've tested the specificity- it doesn't look like they have any good information about whether the antibodies could bind to and block some other molecule that might be really important in normal functioning.
Yep, fast tracked clinical trials for something that has potentially wide-ranging side effects, and banning something that doesn't have quite the same potential for permanent side effects.
Mr. Stick, it really is a vaccine, that's what makes it so scary. It also works best if you take in nicotine- because that's what causes your body to create antibodies against it. THEORETICALLY (meaning i don't agree with the following- but i bet that someone is thinking about it) you could vaccinate a child, and the vaccine would begin to work only if they started smoking at some point in their lives- they wouldn't get pleasure from smoking so would never get hooked. Course, if they ate tomatoes or potatoes that could also trigger antibody production. Other things could too- since there's no data that I could find that showed that they've tested the specificity- it doesn't look like they have any good information about whether the antibodies could bind to and block some other molecule that might be really important in normal functioning.
Yep, fast tracked clinical trials for something that has potentially wide-ranging side effects, and banning something that doesn't have quite the same potential for permanent side effects.
I'll go with a fancy quote - "The trouble with always trying to preserve the health of the body is that it is so difficult to do without destroying the health of the mind." G.K. Chesterton.