With COVID-19 showing no signs of stopping, people across the world are now relying on vaccines to save them from the novel coronavirus. And even though the world has got its hands on a few approved vaccines, there are several still in development.?
And one vaccine developer believes that pythons could be the key to making a more effective vaccine against COVID-19.
Reported first by Daily Mail, This is according to python hunter Dustin Crum and researcher, entrepreneur Daryl Thompson with the Global Research and Discovery Group of Winter Haven. They are of the belief that squalene, derived from invasive Burmese pythons can stimulate a stronger immune response when infused with a vaccine.
To the uninitiated, squalene is an oil-like substance that is extracted from fish oil, particularly shark liver. However, recently, activists have been against the farming of squalene from sharks. However, another creature that generates squalene are the Burmese pythons.
According to Crum, a ten-foot snake can make squalene for 3,500 vaccine doses. The source for the pythons? The Everglades in Florida where these pythons are wreaking havoc on the wildlife in the area.?
Thompson¡¯s post in Winter haven revealed that the research for use of squalene extracted from pythons is being fast-tracked in the US. They reveal that they¡¯d present their discovery through Operation Warp Speed to the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority.?
Researchers claim that they¡¯ll study the metabolic effects in order to determine a new way to make squalene. They can develop it from oils or even fats like cholesterol.
Squalene was first introduced in 1997 when 10 milligrams of it was added to create an influenza vaccine. Since then, over 22 million doses of Chiron¡¯s influenza vaccine have been administered safely,?as per WHO¡¯s claims.?
What¡¯s surprising is that even though the World Health Organisation allows the use of squalene in vaccines/medicines, the Food and Drug Administration doesn¡¯t have this in the list of ingredients for the mRNA vaccines developed by Pfizer and Moderna. Pfizer¡¯s spokesperson has also confirmed that there is no human or animal products in their vaccines indicating the absence of squalene.?