DNA vaccination in aquaculture — Expert judgments of impacts on environment and fish health

DNA Vaccines: Regulatory Considerations and Safety Aspects

“…These include the induction of autoimmune responses, e.g. antibodies to mammalian or fish DNA (Gillund et al, 2008). In addition since the DNA backbone of a DNA vaccine is a plasmid of bacterial origin it may also have intrinsic immunostimulatory activity.…”

“…A study in Norway on potential adverse effects by DNA vaccines In a study by Gillund et al (2008) Norwegian scientists within academia and industry and representatives from governmental authorities was asked about potential adverse consequences from DNA vaccination.…”

“…Unwanted sideeffects include the development of autoimmunity, host cell genome integration, injection site inflammation, antibiotic resistance due the presence of antibiotic resistance genes within the construct, and tissue destruction due to cytotoxic responses Evensen and Leong, 2013;Gillund et al, 2008;Myhr and Dalmo, 2005;Pereiro et al, 2014). Environmental safety concerns includes the potential of vaccine shedding to the environment and spread via predatory animals (Gillund et al, 2008;Lorenzen and LaPatra, 2005). In terms of human safety, although with a low probability, there is potential adverse effects caused by self-injection by vaccinators.…”

Approaches for delaying sexual maturation in salmon and their possible ecological and ethical implications

“…Aquaculture has developed rapidly over the last decades in order to meet the growing demand for marine foods, a demand that cannot be met by increased harvest of wild stocks as they already are under stress from commercial fisheries , Gillund et al, 2008, Bostock, 2011. Many species, ranging from sea urchins to salmon, are now farmed effectively at a large scale.…”

New Developments in Biotechnology and IPR in Aquaculture – Are They Sustainable?

“…There is a need for research with focus on the stability of the vectors and of the DNA construct, and if there are any unintended immunological impacts, the biological effect of the vaccine after injection (e.g. persistence, distribution, expression and integration) (Gillund et al, 2008a(Gillund et al, , 2008b. For GM vaccines it is important to investigate potential recombination with relatives and spread in the environment by vectors (Myhr & Traavik, 2011).…”