P N Rangarajan is Associate Professor at the Department of Biochemistry, Indian Institute ofScience, Bangalore. His research interests include: eukaryotic gene expression and infectious diseases.

The year 1996 marked the 200th anniversary of the first vaccine developed against smallpox by Edward Jenner. In the now-famous 1796 experiment, Jenner scratched the arm of eight-year-old James Phipps, infecting the boy with cowpox pus taken from a milkmaid carrying the virus. Two months later, he scratched James again, this time with small pox virus. The rest is history: James Phipps did not come down with small pox. Since then, the pioneering work of Louis Pasteur, Albert Sabin and Jonas Salk has led to the development of vaccines against diseases such as rabies, polio, etc. The last century witnessed rapid advances in vaccine development and several new or improved vaccines have been introduced. It is estimated that of the 30 years added to average human life span in the 20th century, 10-15 years have resulted from vaccination. Vaccination essentially results in the induction of an immune response capable of protecting the host against the disease when it encounters a virulent form of the specific pathogen. Put simply, a vaccine is a non-disease causing mimic of an infectious agent. Successful vaccination protects both individuals and populations. Individuals are protected against the development of disease; populations are protected against the spread of the disease-causing agent.

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Address for Correspondence
P N Rangarajan
Department of Biochemistry
Indian Institute of Science
Bangalore 560 012, India.