Biology (Mader), 10th Edition

Chapter 33: Lymph Transport and Immunity

Constructing Vaccines

What do all vaccines have in common? The purpose of all vaccines is to trigger an immune response without causing a disease. Vertebrate immune systems have the ability to produce specific immune responses to specific antigens. Antigens are structures on the surface of a pathogen that the immune system can recognize. Once the immune system has been exposed to a pathogen and created an immune response to the pathogen, it can be said to have developed immunity to that pathogen. For the rest of the life of the organism the immune system can quickly produce antibodies in response to the antigens of the pathogen. For this reason, individuals that survive an infection from a disease are often immune to further infections. The goal of a vaccine is to provide the individual with the advantages of exposure without the detrimental effects of actually getting sick.

View the animation below, then complete the quiz to test your knowledge of the concept.



1.

Which of the following statements is NOT true of the hepatitis B vaccine?
A)it is a recombinant vaccine
B)it is a form of subunit vaccine
C)it consists of an internal protein from the virus
D)it is produced in a host yeast cell
E)all of the above statements are true
2.

The vaccine used to prevent measles consists of live measles viruses. This type of vaccine is most likely
A)a killed vaccine.
B)an attenuated vaccine.
C)subunit vaccine.
D)recombinant vaccine.
E)conjugated vaccine.
3.

A subunit vaccine is composed of
A)microorganisms that have been killed by heat.
B)microorganisms that have been killed by chemicals.
C)microorganisms that have been weakened by radiation.
D)microorganisms that are attenuated.
E)purified parts of a microorganism.
4.

Vaccines made from attenuated microorganisms are better at boosting the immune response than vaccines made from inactivated microorganisms.
A)True
B)False
5.

Vaccines present antibodies from a pathogen to stimulate immunity.
A)True
B)False
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