New technologies for vaccine development

Vaccines offer protection against infectious diseases, but the successes from the years of development have been mixed. Some diseases have been effectively controlled or eradicated through vaccination, whereas treatments for a number of diseases, especially the reemerging diseases, currently do not exist. Improved understanding of pathogen variability as well as of the diversity of the human immune system, plus technological advances in genetic and molecular biology provide better insights in the host-pathogen interaction and new avenues for vaccine development. In this article we discuss the latest trends in vaccine research with focus on epitope-based DNA vaccines and trafficking components for efficient vaccine delivery. These approaches are promising in dealing with host and pathogen diversity as well as with diversity within human populations. (C) 2004 Wiley-Liss, Inc.