People might tolerate a needle if it means getting a life-saving vaccine — but odds are, swallowing a pill sounds better. “People can say they don't care about shots and whatnot,” says Harvinder Singh Gill, a immunoengineering scientist at Texas Tech University. “But if given the option, I'm sure everyone will say, hey, why would I take a shot if I can eat the vaccine, right?”
The potentially universal appeal of an edible vaccine has a small number of researchers like Gill pursuing the option. Teams of scientists are designing pods and stickers that would free people from skin pricks. An oral vaccine would eliminate the anxieties people have about needle injections and would let people enjoy the benefits of a primed immune system from the comfort of their own couch: Just bring the pill home with you and take as directed. As dreamy as that future sounds, edible vaccines will only become a reality if researchers outsmart the corrosive, defensive and destructive environment called our digestive tract.
