Our Changing World: Training our immune systems

While tuberculosis is not a major health issue in New Zealand, worldwide it remains the leading infectious disease killer.   The vaccine against tuberculosis, called BCG, was first developed in France more than 100 years ago using a strain of bacteria that lost its disease-causing ability. Scientists refer to this as a live attenuated vaccine.   On Our Changing World, the Malaghan Institute’s Dr Kerry Hilligan explains to Claire Concannon how this old vaccine is teaching researchers new tricks.