Has developed a Salmonella-based oral vaccine for livestock that can free animals from the virulent strain of Salmonella that causes food-poisoning in humans. His vaccine has received FDA approval for swine and poultry and is on the market. Curtiss also has obtained patents for the use of transgenic plants as edible vaccines. Washington University investigators hope to use this technique to protect against infection by bacterial, viral, fungal, and parasitic pathogens.
Campus Box 1137 One Brookings Drive St. Louis, MO 63130
Education:
Ph.D. in Biology at University of Chicago
Additional Background: Research conducted over more than 20 years by Curtiss has focused on understanding microbial pathogens that cause disease and how they affect the immune system. He has used genetic engineering techniques to develop vaccines that help an individual induce immune responses against the foreign antigens. Since the 1970s, Curtiss and his research group have sought to define the biochemical bases and genetic controls by which bacterial pathogens cause tooth decay, gastroenteritis, typhoid fever, leprosy, pneumonia and septicemia (blood poisoning). In 1997, Curtiss and Guy Cardineau, a scientist with Mycogen Corporation of San Diego, were granted three United States patents on technology they co-invented for using transgenic (or genetically engineered) plants as edible vaccines. The concept was to endow plants with the genetic ability to synthesize proteins or other antigens normally present on the surface of various disease agents. Upon ingestion of the plant material, an animal or human would recognize the pathogen antigens as foreign and mount an immune response that would protect against infection.
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