Can Vaccines be Delivered in a Pint of Beer?

If you’ve ever felt a rush of fear when getting a flu shot or donating blood, you’re not alone. A fear of needles is one of the most common phobias, and it’s known as Trypanophobia. Between 17-52% of adults report experiencing some hesitation or anxiety around needles. Imagine if people with this fear didn’t have to think twice about taking a flu shot, and could just drink it instead.

Chris Buck, a researcher working on polyomavirus for 15 years, took a somewhat unconventional approach. After more than a decade spent researching an injectable virus with a team of scientists, he decided it might be better to drink it. Buck didn’t choose drops or a candy – he chose to deliver the vaccine as beer. Polyomavirus is linked to cancers and affects people with organ transplants. Developing a vaccine is definitely a priority.

Edible vaccines aren’t useful just for people with trypanophobia. Think about how much needs to work out for you to get a vaccine. A hospital needs to be accessible, and affordable. A doctor, nurse, or other medical professional needs to be available to provide the vaccine. You need a needle, syringe, sterile gauze and everything else. Vaccines that come in a glass are cheaper, and more convenient. Imagine a future where a vaccine doesn’t mean a scary hospital, but instead a corner store or even a pub.

Are there many edible vaccines?

Although a beer vaccine is pretty ground breaking, edible vaccines aren’t entirely new. Polio was one of the scariest diseases of the 20th Century. Getting polio could mean anything from a mild illness to weakness, paralysis, or even death. Before vaccines, the virus struck in recurring epidemics paralyzing or killing thousands of people worldwide each year. Children were hit hardest, giving rise to its grim nickname, “infantile paralysis,” though adults were affected too.

The oral polio vaccine was a game changer, and the most popular “edible” vaccine. Polio naturally targets cells in the gut. The vaccine then tackles the troublemaker right right where the virus tries to set up shop.

This edible vaccine was a revolution for developing countries. Access to nurses, doctors and hospitals can be scarce. A simple drop on the tongue that can be delivered anywhere from a village hall to a small clinic meant the vaccine became accessible to everyone. Now, polio is almost eradicated, demonstrating just how powerful an edible vaccine can be.

How was this study done?

Chris Buck used brewer’s yeast to make the polyomavirus vaccine. He engineered the yeast to make the same proteins as the virus, without using the virus itself. This clever approach makes the vaccine super safe. After he and his brother drank the homemade brew, their immune systems kicked in, mounting a fight against polyomavirus. Researchers tested this yeast vaccine on rats and monkeys too.

The problem is, Buck’s research isn’t exactly… traditional. A homemade brew isn’t the same as a clinical trial. Vaccines undergo multi-phase clinical testing in large, diverse groups to confirm safety and effectiveness. Self-experimentation and home brewing don’t meet those standards.

“We can’t draw conclusions based on testing this on two people,” said virologist and researcher Michael Imperiale to Science News, referring to Buck and his brother.

The experiment’s novelty lies in using yeast in a food or drink to deliver vaccine proteins instead of traditional injections. While it might one day make vaccines more accessible (beer is universally beloved, after all), the method sidesteps standard scientific rigor. At the same time, the researcher’s motivation was noble.

“The bureaucracy is inhibiting the science, and that’s unacceptable to me,” Chris Buck told Science News. “One week of people dying from not knowing about this is not trivial.”