What Is a Subunit Vaccine?
A subunit vaccine is a vaccine that contains isolated proteins from a virus, but lacks viral nucleic acid. These vaccines expose the body to antigens so it can learn to recognize them without exposing the body to the risk of viral replication and subsequent infection. Several influenza vaccines are available in the form of subunit vaccines and numerous drug companies are working on applying the technology to the development of other types of vaccines as well. The primary advantage of using a subunit vaccine is that it is very safe, even in people with compromised immune systems. To make subunit vaccines, pharmaceutical companies strip away everything but the proteins associated with specific and unique antigens. With the use of genetic engineering, organisms can be manipulated so they will express these proteins in large amounts for vaccine production. The subunit vaccine is not virulent because it does not contain the genetic material from the virus, only the proteins on the exterior
