Animal Cells
Adventitious Agents (Stray Virus)
Adventitious agents are defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) as microorganisms that may have been unintentionally introduced into the manufacturing process of a biological medicinal product: these include bacteria, fungi, mycoplasma/spiroplasma, mycobacteria, rickettsia, protozoa, parasites, transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (TSE) agents and viruses. Adventitious agents could be inadvertently introduced... READ MORE
Animal Cells
Animal cells are used to manufacture vaccines. Animals have been used in the production of vaccines since cow farms were established in the last 1800s to harvest cowpox virus from the infected underbelly of calves. With the evolution of microbiology, it was determined that viruses could only propagate (replicated) in the... READ MORE
Avian Contaminants
Avian contaminants are viruses from chickens and birds, and particles of egg proteins that are found in vaccines. September 30, 2019 – Clinical trials with GMO-containing vaccines in Europe: Status and regulatory framework “The possibility to genetically modify micro-organisms to bring immunogenic material (antigens/epitopes) to the human (or animal) immune system to provoke an... READ MORE
Bovine Serum & Serum Contaminants
Bovine extracts are cow-derived products used in vaccine manufacture. Cow products used include Amino acids Glycerol, Detergents, Gelatin, Enzymes, Blood. Cow tallow derivatives used in vaccine manufacture include glycerol. Gelatin and some amino acids come from cow bones. Cow skeletal muscle is used to prepare certain complex vaccine media. Many difficult to grow microorganisms required the addition of serum from blood... READ MORE
Egg Protein
September 2018-19 – AAP recommendations for flu shots with eggs: The number of doses of influenza vaccine depends on a child’s age and vaccine history. Children 6 months through 8 years of age need two doses when it is the first time they are being vaccinated against influenza. Children 9... READ MORE
HeLa Cells
HeLa cells are the oldest and most commonly used human cell line used in making human research. Henrietta Lacks died in 1951 of an aggressive adenocarcinoma of the cervix. A tissue biopsy obtained for diagnostic evaluation yielded additional tissue for Dr. George O. Gey’s tissue culture laboratory at Johns Hopkins University. The cells, called... READ MORE
Insect Cells Baculovirus
Influenza vaccines have been manufactured from eggs to manufacture since the 1940s. Insect cell-derived influenza vaccines are a new alternative to egg-derived vaccines. Three different approaches to using insect cell-derived influenza vaccines have been established that could contribute to future influenza vaccine supply and development. [Traces of these cells end up in the final vaccine... READ MORE
MDCK Cells (Dog)
MDCK cells are a line of canine (dog) epithelial cells that grow readily in culture and form confluent monolayers with relatively low permeability (varies between clones). Often used as a general model for epithelial cells. (Author: John Lackie for Dictionary of Cell and Molecular Biology – Online.) Madin-Darby canine kidney (MDCK)... READ MORE
PER.C6 Cell Line
The heart of the technology is the PER.C6 human cell line. This is a continuously dividing set of cells derived from a single human retina cell, immortalized using recombinant DNA technology. Like other continuous cell lines, PER.C6 cells can replicate indefinitely—but that is where the comparison ends. PER.C6 Technology... READ MORE
Vero Cells
Vero cells are a cell line which is widely used to make vaccines. The cell line was derived from kidney epithelial cells of the African Green Monkey. The cell line was established in 1962 by Japanese scientists. Vero cells are susceptible to a broad range of viruses so they are used... READ MORE