ZyCoV-D: World’s first DNA-based Vaccine

Why in news ? Indian pharmaceutical company Zydus Cadila is soon going to apply Central Drugs Regulator (DGCI) for emergency approval of the corona vaccine ZyCoV-D. If approved, it will be the world’s first DNA-based vaccine. With this, the number of vaccines available in the country will increase to 4. So far, Serum Institute’s Covishield, Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin and Russia’s Sputnik-V are being used in India. How does this vaccine work? ZyCoV-D is a DNA-plasmid vaccine. This vaccine uses genetic material to increase the immunity of the body. Just as Pfizer and Moderna’s vaccines in many countries including the US....Read More