Researchers Work on Cocaine Vaccine

[AuroEdge]

HOUSTON (AP) — Two Baylor College of Medicine researchers in Houston are working on a cocaine vaccine they hope will become the first-ever medication to treat people hooked on the drug. "For people who have a desire to stop using, the vaccine should be very useful," said Dr. Tom Kosten, a psychiatry professor who is being assisted in the research by his wife, Therese, a psychologist and neuroscientist. "At some point, most users will give in to temptation and relapse, but those for whom the vaccine is effective won't get high and will lose interest."

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5h4s0 ... QD8TTC2N80

[butters]

I read about this the other day. I guess it would be useful in keeping an addict from relapsing, but I don't think it will take long for them to make a new strain of cocaine; kind of like how the flu strain changes all the time.

[Ex-Cyber]

I read about this the other day. I guess it would be useful in keeping an addict from relapsing, but I don't think it will take long for them to make a new strain of cocaine; kind of like how the flu strain changes all the time.

I see what you're saying, but I don't think it's that easy. Cocaine is basically just a molecule; it's nowhere near as big and complex as a virus (which is a big part of why this vaccine is interesting), so there's much less "junk" to rearrange into a different form. Even if someone did come up with an alternative form of cocaine, it would be necessary to synthesize it, either by directly controlling the chemical reactions or by somehow genetically modifying coca, neither of which seems to be cheap or easy.

[Strapping Scherzo]

Yeah, a different "strain" of cocaine makes no sense. Either it's cocaine or it isn't. Interesting though. I wonder if this can be done with just about anything.

[AuroEdge]

Yeah, a different "strain" of cocaine makes no sense. Either it's cocaine or it isn't. Interesting though. I wonder if this can be done with just about anything.

Unfortunately no. What I didn't know was that the immune system could react so quickly. I don't know how long cocaine takes to affect your body and I suppose the method of putting it in yourself probably matters too but it can't take more than a minute or so.

[Strapping Scherzo]

Yeah, a different "strain" of cocaine makes no sense. Either it's cocaine or it isn't. Interesting though. I wonder if this can be done with just about anything.

Unfortunately no. What I didn't know was that the immune system could react so quickly. I don't know how long cocaine takes to affect your body and I suppose the method of putting it in yourself probably matters too but it can't take more than a minute or so.

Yeah. Along those lines, our immune system attacks bacteria and viruses that hardly amount to much of a measurable amount. Coke is ingested in comparitively large quantities. Even with special antibodies that bind to coke, I doubt the immune system will be able to stop enough of it for you not to feel something. So if a person who has been immunized relapses, he will do insane amounts of coke to get a decent high.

[butters]

Yeah, a different "strain" of cocaine makes no sense. Either it's cocaine or it isn't. Interesting though. I wonder if this can be done with just about anything.

Unfortunately no. What I didn't know was that the immune system could react so quickly. I don't know how long cocaine takes to affect your body and I suppose the method of putting it in yourself probably matters too but it can't take more than a minute or so.

Yeah. Along those lines, our immune system attacks bacteria and viruses that hardly amount to much of a measurable amount. Coke is ingested in comparitively large quantities. Even with special antibodies that bind to coke, I doubt the immune system will be able to stop enough of it for you not to feel something. So if a person who has been immunized relapses, he will do insane amounts of coke to get a decent high.

Hmm, then what about ridding it from the body? I'd imagine a huge amount of cocaine would be hard on the kidneys.

[Zealous zerotype]

Yeah, a different "strain" of cocaine makes no sense. Either it's cocaine or it isn't. Interesting though. I wonder if this can be done with just about anything.

Unfortunately no. What I didn't know was that the immune system could react so quickly. I don't know how long cocaine takes to affect your body and I suppose the method of putting it in yourself probably matters too but it can't take more than a minute or so.

Yeah. Along those lines, our immune system attacks bacteria and viruses that hardly amount to much of a measurable amount. Coke is ingested in comparitively large quantities. Even with special antibodies that bind to coke, I doubt the immune system will be able to stop enough of it for you not to feel something. So if a person who has been immunized relapses, he will do insane amounts of coke to get a decent high.

Hmm, then what about ridding it from the body? I'd imagine a huge amount of cocaine would be hard on the kidneys.

Cocaine is a very toxic drug, even more so when drinking (combines with alcohol to form another drug, the name escapes me at the moment) that is even more toxic than the former two alone. So, yes; it is a very harmful substance on the body.

[Ex-Cyber]

Actually, wouldn't the immune response cause some similar symptoms to an infection, such as fever and fatigue?