tim's journal

Where does the flu vaccine come from anyway?

In this case, truth is stranger than fiction. Each year, at around springtime, nearly a hundred million fertilized eggs are injected with the viruses of choice. The shells are cracked, the embryos infected and the egg resealed. After about four to five months of growth, the viruses are "harvested, and then killed through chemical means". According to Karen Hopkin, someday manufacturers hope to swtich to stainless-steel culture vats filled with cells derived from humans. Clinical trials will begin this fall.

Source: ScienCentral.