Lemme give you a shot in the mouth!
This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science.
Imagine a painless AND needle-free method to give vaccines. How about through the mouth! Gum cells can absorb vaccines, but what’s the best delivery method?
Rohan Ingrole and team from Texas Tech took inspiration from dentists.
They coated dental floss to deliver small, potent doses of various vaccines! The test subjects? Mice, as usual! The researchers got up in between the mice’s tiny teeth.
They found the floss delivery incredibly effective, with immunity comparable to nasal vaccines. The mice were fully vaxxed AND minty fresh!
Me? I’ll wait til they put it in lollipop form.
Reference: Ingrole, R.S.J., Shakya, A.K., Joshi, G. et al. Floss-based vaccination targets the gingival sulcus for mucosal and systemic immunization. Nat. Biomed. Eng (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41551-025-01451-3.