Genetics took care of it - smoking will not bring you pleasure anymore
You are not able to throw cigarette? According to research results of which were published last week, probably someday vaccine that blocks nicotine access to brain center that responds to it will help you.
Most of methods used against smoking are not effective and they don't save from nicotine dependence - 70-80 % of smokers who take special preparations to quit smoking, take cigarette again. Scientists explain this with imperfection of existing treating methods - they allow slightly reducing nicotine ability to reach appropriate brain centers.
That is why some scientists are trying to find another approach for solving this problem and elaborate vaccine. Vaccine will work in the following way: person gets this vaccine in form of injection after what in the blood start generating anti-bodies - molecules that will be able to clean blood of nicotine before it reaches the brain. Vaccine will help smokers who want to get rid of this habit and also those who is afraid to become smoking addictive in future.
Scientists have tried to create such vaccine in the past as well, but they appeared to be not effective enough. Authors of new research consider that the reason of failures could be the fact that previous vaccines haven't provided elaboration of enough quantity of anti-bodies that would be able to block all nicotine in the blood.
In new report that was published in Science Translational Medicine magazine was made attempt to solve the problem with the help of genetic engineering - in the body is implanted new gene that will have to perform clearly determined function.
Scientists from New York Weill Cornell Medical College have tested first the gene that generates nicotine anti-bodies on mice. Gene was introduced in animals' liver after what antibodies began to generate in it. Generated anti-bodies began to connect with nicotine, blocking it and preventing its' penetration into the brain where it would take effect specific to it, i.e. would have cause sensation of pleasure and addiction.
Thanks to such vaccine effect scientists consider that it could be injected once and it will have effect during entire life, ensuring generation of new antibodies in the liver.
New vaccine appeared to be effective: when mice where intravenously injected with nicotine, level of nicotine in the blood of the animals who were injected with vaccine has reduced by 47 times as compared with mice that were not vaccinated.
As of yet, results of this work are considered preliminary and according to scientists' opinion, this technology is not ready for treating people. Vaccine was tested only on mice.