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Module 6: Technologies
Quick questions on HPV vaccine and Ian Frazer: HSC Investigating Science Module 6
10short Q&A pairs drawn directly from our worked dot-point answer. For full context and worked exam questions, read the parent dot-point page.
What is the cancer-virus link?Show answer
Cervical cancer is the fourth most common cancer in women globally. By the 1980s it was known that nearly all cervical cancers were associated with infection by certain types of human papillomavirus (HPV), a discovery for which Harald zur Hausen received the 2008 Nobel Prize in Medicine.
What is why a vaccine was hard?Show answer
The standard methods for producing vaccines were not available for HPV.
What is the virus-like particle breakthrough?Show answer
In 1991 at the University of Queensland's Diamantina Institute, Ian Frazer and his postdoctoral fellow Jian Zhou had a key insight. The HPV outer shell (capsid) is made of just two proteins, L1 and L2. They used recombinant DNA techniques to insert the L1 gene into yeast cells. The yeast produced large quantities of L1 protein, which spontaneously self-assembled into hollow virus-like particles (VLPs).
What is commercial development?Show answer
Merck and Co. licensed the patent in the late 1990s. After clinical trials demonstrating over 95 per cent protection against types 16 and 18, Gardasil (quadrivalent, against types 6, 11, 16, 18) was approved by the US FDA in June 2006. GlaxoSmithKline's Cervarix (bivalent, against types 16 and 18) followed in 2007.
What is australian rollout?Show answer
Australia was the first country to fund free HPV vaccination at population scale.
What is population health impact?Show answer
Quantified outcomes in Australia (2007 to 2025):
What is global context?Show answer
WHO's Global Strategy to eliminate cervical cancer (2020) sets a 90 per cent vaccination coverage target by age 15. Lower- and middle-income countries lag in coverage, often due to vaccine cost and supply, which is being addressed by Gavi and the WHO.
What is crediting Ian Frazer alone?Show answer
Jian Zhou co-led the VLP work and was the structural biologist who designed the L1 expression strategy.
What is confusing virus-like particles with attenuated vaccines?Show answer
VLPs contain no DNA and are not weakened virus. They are protein shells assembled in yeast.
What is ignoring the Australian first?Show answer
The 2007 NIP rollout was a world first and is the main reason the population data is so strong. :::