The Center for Disease Control identifies it as the most reported bacterial STD in the U.S., but chlamydia may be on the brink of extinction.
Michael N. Starnbach, an associate professor at Harvard Medical School, is collaborating with a team of researchers at the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) in Brisbane, Australia to study the immune system’s response to chlamydia. They hope this research will ultimately result in the creation of a vaccine.
“I would hope that we might be able to get to the first phase...of a vaccine trial within the next three to five years,” says QUT professor and fellow researcher Peter Timms.
The team is working on developing genetically engineered mice whose T-cells are tailored to fight off chlamydia in order to monitor their response to the infection. So far, researchers at QUT have pinpointed several proteins that could be used in a chlamydia vaccine.
Timms hopes to begin testing the vaccine on koalas this month. According to Timms, over half of Australia’s koalas are infected with chlamydia. Guinea pig trials, with actual guinea pigs, will hopefully follow in 2008.
“The idea is to be able to model the immune system and then test some vaccines that the Australians have underway to see if they can actually protect in other models,” Starnbach says.
Dubbed the “Silent Killer,” chlamydia often has no visible symptoms, but can cause serious reproductive problems in women. Starnbach believes the vaccine, once developed, would be most effective if administered to girls before they become sexually active.
One Harvard student tried to find connections between his homeland and the recent scientific advancement. “When I think of Australia, I don’t immediately think of chlamydia,” says Sydney native Alexander M. Wheen ’11. “But it is down under.” Well, Mr. Wheen, let us hope your down under can keep ours chlamydia-free.
