[The future of vaccines: recombinant DNA vaccines]

Classical approaches to the development of vaccines have provided mankind with a number of safe and effective vaccines (think of the world-wide eradication of smallpox). Nevertheless, some obstacles e.g. the production of a safe Hepatitis B vaccine, could not be taken by classical techniques. In several cases, recombinant-DNA technology provided an elegant solution, though in other cases, this technique also failed. The present paper presents a brief review of the role of recombinant-DNA technology in the current development of vaccines.