Disclosed herein are compositions and methods related to mutant viruses, and in particular, mutant influenza viruses. The mutant viruses disclosed herein include a mutant BM2 sequence, and are useful in immunogenic compositions, e.g., as vaccines. Also disclosed herein are methods, compositions and cells for propagating the viral mutants, and methods, devices and compositions related to vaccination.

An object is to develop technology for viral inactivation. As means for resolution, viruses are inactivated by irradiating various articles with microwaves.

The present invention provides a vector engineered virus designed to favor and infect cancers and their surrounding cells. This technique mitigates cancer's ability to evade the body's immune system by calling attention to the cells that are cancerous beginning with their earliest stage of development by infecting those cells with a vector engineered virus specifically designed to target tumors in formation. This invention teaches a system and method for identifying, tagging, targeting, and destroying cancer cells while preserving healthy tissue. Developing cancers have two primary traits/biomarkers in common; one being a higher than normal heat signature from elevated metabolic activity; with the second being an acidic or lower than normal pH factor resulting from the hypoxic micro environment resulting from the depletion of available oxygen. Simply stated, all or most cancers cancers have a heat signature greater than that of normal healthy cells and a pH factor lower than seen around normal healthy cells.

Disclosed are immunogenic compositions and methods for their use in the formulation and administration of therapeutic and prophylactic pharmaceutical agents. In particular, the invention provides immunogenic compositions and methods for preventing, treating, and/or ameliorating the symptoms of one or more microbial infections, including, for example, influenza.

The present invention includes a live attenuated virus and methods of making the same comprising an isolated virus comprising a viral genome that expresses one or more viral antigens; and one or more exogenous species-specific microRNAs inserted into the viral genome and expressed thereby, wherein the species-specific microRNAs are ubiquitously expressed in a viral target species cell but not in a viral propagation cell.

The present invention provides a novel influenza virus wherein both the NS and the PB1 gene segments are modified and wherein the PB1-F2 open reading frame is modified by introduction of at least one stop codon. Specifically, the influenza virus is lacking functional NS1 and PB1-F2 proteins. Additionally, a vaccine formulation comprising the modified influenza virus is provided and its use for prevention of influenza vaccination.

The present invention teaches a system and method for identifying, targeting and destroying cancer cells without harming healthy tissue. This invention uses a vector engineered virus to selectively seek out cells that are both hotter than normal with a pH factor that is lower than normal thereby identifying cells that are cancerous regardless of location. Cancer succeeds for two reasons: i) rapid growth and ii) failure of the body's immune system to recognize the aberrant cells. This novel approach of using a dual vectored virus creates a dominant preference for locating and attaching to cancer cells, eliminating the need for chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and most major surgeries.

Disclosed are viruses, and vaccines comprised of and made from such viruses, that include a heterologous nucleic acid segment encoding α-1,3-galactosyltransferase (α-1,3-GT) such that the nucleic acid segment expresses α-1,3-GT when the virus infects a host cell. Such viruses produce proteins having α-1,3-galactose. The presence of α-1,3-galactose on proteins of infected cells can powerfully stimulate the immune response of the host against the viral proteins of the virus, thus enhancing the effect of the virus as a vaccine. Also disclosed are vaccines that include and/or are produced by such viruses. Also disclosed are methods of making and using such viruses and vaccines, such as administering to a subject in need thereof a vaccine as disclosed and such as making a vaccine that includes one or more viral proteins expressed by a virus as disclosed.

Disclosed herein are compositions and methods related to mutant viruses, and in particular, mutant influenza viruses. The mutant viruses disclosed herein include a mutant BM2 sequence, and are useful in immunogenic compositions, e.g., as vaccines. Also disclosed herein are methods, compositions and cells for propagating the viral mutants, and methods, devices and compositions related to vaccination.

The invention relates to composite antigens comprising a peptide with contiguous amino acid sequence derived from a plurality of antigenic epitopes of one or more pathogens that induces an immune response in a mammal that is protective against infection by the one or more pathogens. In addition, the invention relates to vaccines comprising composite antigens and to method for treating and preventing an infection.