British scientists have developed a vaccination that is designed to remove all addictive properties of nicotine. Specifically, the pleasure your body associates with smoking would no longer be generated when you smoke a cigarette.
While human trials for the vaccine have yet to begin, tests on mice have proven to be successful. After a single dose, mice were found to be immune to nicotine addiction for their entire lifespan.
The vaccine contains a harmless virus, which is engineered to generate anti-nicotine antibodies upon administration. The virus works by selectively affecting cells in the liver.
Because the vaccine works by turning liver cells into antibody generators, it is expected to cost far less than prior vaccines, which required antibodies to be administered directly. Because older vaccines have required numerous administrations of these antibodies, they were believed to be less effective and more costly.
If human trials are successful, scientists believe that the vaccine could be administered to children, who have never tried a cigarette. This should prevent any recipients of the vaccine from ever deriving pleasure from smoking.
To read more about the vaccine, please visit Sky News.