How are vaccines made?

How are vaccines made?

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According to the M-M-RVAXPRO Product Information the rubella virus  is produced in WI-38 human diploid lung fibroblasts.

 

WI-38 human diploid lung fibroblasts are in fact the lung cells of a human foetus that was aborted when it was 16 weeks old.

 

So in layman’s terms, the so called living but attenuated/weakened rubella virus, Wistar RA 27/3, is added to these lung cells and allowed to multiply.

 

The rubella viruses that are produced are then collected and used in the in the MMR (Measles, Mumps, Rubella) vaccine.


Well that is the theory…

The reality is a whole lot different. But to understand how the rubella vaccine in the MMR (Measles, Mumps, Rubella) - M-M-RvaxPro vaccine is actually made we need to know a little about virology and how virologists make “things”.


This article examines how the rubella  as well as the measles  and mumps vaccines  were first made some 60 years ago and are now being mass-produced.

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Some important references and links from this article


How are cell strains/cell lines made?


- Video: Primary Cell culture and cell line/Cell culture basics, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9BvTFowr0rI&t=131s (consulted 6 Nov 2024)
- Video: Sub-culturing cells/Cell culture basics, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oo36pvP0TrI (consulted 9 Nov 2024)
- Video: Animal cell culture media, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UV7T9JsxdXA  (consulted 9 Dec 2024


L. Hayflick et al., “The Serial Cultivation of Human Diploid Cell Strains,” Experimental Cell Research, Vol 25v(1961), pp 585-621. https://cogforlife.org/wp-content/uploads/Hayflick1961ExpCell.pdf


Leonard Hayflick describes how he made the WI-38 cell line also called cell strain in 1962
M. Wadman., “Medical research: Cell Division,” Nature, Vol 498 (27 June 2013), pp. 422-426. https://www.nature.com/articles/498422a (not consulted, paid link) https://www.researchgate.net/publication/242333147_Medical_research_Cell_division (consulted 12 Jan 2025)


How the alleged “rubella virus” was allegedly “isolated” by Stanley Plotkin in 1965

S. Plotkin et al., “Studies of immunization with living rubella virus. Trials in children with a strain cultured from an aborted fetus,” American Journal of Diseases of Children, Volume (1965) 110, pp 381-389. Published online by Semanticscholar: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Studies-of-immunization-with-living-rubella-virus.-Plotkin-Cornfeld/0c65acb5c182860c0c80263e37fdf1c6e40d48b1 or
Children of God for Life: https://cogforlife.org/AmJDisChildPlotkinRubellaVirus.pdf 

S. Plotkin et al., “Attenuation of RA 27/3 Rubella Virus in WI-38 Human Diploid Cells,” American Journal of Diseases of Children, Vol 118 (1969), pp 178-179. https://cogforlife.org/AmJDisChildRA273inWI-38.pdf (consulted 7 Jan 2025)

Website European Medicines Agency EMA, M-M-R Vaxpro epar scientific discussion, page 5, https://www.ema.europa.eu/en/documents/scientific-discussion/m-m-rvaxpro-epar-scientific-discussion_en.pdf, published 2006, (consulted 27 November 2024)

How the alleged “rubella virus” is mass produced today in 2025

Website European Medicines Agency EMA, M-M-R Vaxpro epar scientific discussion, page 6, 
https://www.ema.europa.eu/en/documents/scientific-discussion/m-m-rvaxpro-epar-scientific-discussion_en.pdf, published 2006, (consulted 27 November 2024)



How virologists could isolate alleged viruses if they wanted to

There is a group of microorganisms that are as small as alleged viruses that have been isolated and studied by microbiologists. These are called bacteriophages and they eat bacteria. Dr. Sabrina Green and  Dr. Dustin Edwards explain how this is done.




How Jonas Salk mass produced his polio vaccine in the mid-1950s with monkey kidneys


N. Goldblum et al., “Production of formalinized poliomyelitis vaccine (Salk-type) on a semi-industrial scale”, Bulletin World Health Organisation, Vol 17(1957), pp 1001–1023. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2537626/?page=14 (consulted 18 May 2025)


Infantile Paralysis Polio Development of Poliomyelitis Vaccine 50664

published 29 Dec 2016 by Periscope Film LLC archive.
A Film from the mid-1950s by the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis, founded by US President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1938, to promote Salk’s newly-developed poliomyelitis vaccine.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vghbJh7105g&t=289s (consulted 18 May 2025)



Definition of Words Used in Microbiology and Virology


Step 1. Obtaining the required cells to make a "cell-line" also called a "cell strain"

to isolate: another word for dissect or cut out cells from of a living animal or human.

an explant : tissue or organ from an organism. (e.g. fresh blood, kidney cells, snot)

primary cells: cells directly obtained from a living organism.


Step 2. Preparation of cells for cultivation

to mince/fragment: sometimes tissues are minced up or fragmented into small pieces in order to create a cell suspension.

trypsin: is an enzyme used to break down the natural tissue connecting cells in order to create a cell suspension. Once the connecting tissue has been broken down trypsin must be removed because it is toxic and will stop or slow cell growth. Trypsin is usually removed by centrifuging the cell suspension, removing the supernatant fluid (top fluid) and washing (rinsing) the remaining cells with PBS (salt solution).

cell disassociation: the process of breaking down the natural tissue connecting cells. This is usually done with the use of trypsin. Sometimes this is done by mincing the organs or the collected tissues and adding PBS (salt solution).
cell suspension: is a solution where the cells are growing as individual cells floating about in the solution rather than growing as tissue as they do naturally in the body. confluent cells: cells growing naturally on top of each other in tissue form.
supernatant: the top fluid after the cell suspension has been centrifuged.
cell pellet: the cells at the bottom of the test tube after the cell suspension has been centrifuged. (This is washed (rinsed) with PBS salt solution to remove the trypsin.)

Phosphate Buffer Saline (PBS) / Buffer (salt solution): is used to wash (rinse) the cell pellet after the cells have been disassociated with trypsin. It is also sometimes used to maintain the PH of the cell culture at 7 (neutral).


Step 3. Let the cells grow/multiply
‘cell culture medium’ also know a growth medium (GM) : liquid food for cells

Most microbiologists and virologists use what is called Eagle’s Medium as the cell culture medium to grow/cultivate cell cultures.

Eagle’s Medium is a cell culture medium developed by Harry Eagle and first published in Science Magazine in 1959. It is based on six salts, glucose as well as thirteen essential amino acids, and eight vitamins.

The growth medium used is supplimented with calf serum which is the blood of cow fetuses which are killed and their blood drained to grow cell cultures. The blood of cow fetuses contains special growth hormones that are necessary to keep the cells multiplying in artificial settings.


The growth medium also contains highly toxic antibiotics e.g. penicillin and streptomycin. This is added to stop bacteria growing in the culture.


Cytopathogenic Agents: another word for virus

Propagate: another word for culturing or growing.


Step 4. Subcultivating/passaging the cells
subcultivate/passage: dividing a cell suspension into two or more ‘subcultures’.
Subcultivation is usually done after cells in a cell culture have become “confluent”” and are no longer growing. Trypsin is usually used to break the natural tissue connecting the cells so that they can be divided into two or more ‘subcultures’.

Videos used in this article


Leonard Hayflick the maker of the WI-38 cell line / strain explains "cell-culture"

Interview with Leonard Hayflick in July 2011 (part 50) : How to isolate your own cells (Interviewer Christopher Sykes)

Hayflick explains in his own words the use of trypsin to disassociate the cells in a cell culture. He also describes how they use serum meaning the blood from calves and other animals to “feed” the cells in the cell cultures and keep them alive.

https://www.webofstories.com/play/leonard.hayflick/50
(consulted 7 Jan 2025)

Interview with Leonard Hayflick in July 2011 (part 51) : Cell division (Interviewer Christopher Sykes)


Hayflick explains the process of disassociating cells using trypsin and subcultivating or passaging of cells-cultures.




https://www.webofstories.com/play/leonard.hayflick/51
(consulted 29 Jan 2025)

How cell strains/cell lines are made (part 1)

From 6.35 minuites into the video the author gives an example of how to make a cell line/cell strain from the hippocampal brain cells of a mouse embryo.


He explains how trypsin is used to create a "cell suspension". Then he explains how it is removed as it is toxic for cell growth.


- Video: Primary Cell culture and cell line/Cell culture basics, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9BvTFowr0rI&t=131s (consulted 6 Nov 2024)

How cell strains/cell lines are made (part 2)

In this video the author describes how to subculture a cell cultures also called a cell strain. This is also know as passaging.


subcultivate/passage: dividing a cell suspension into two or more ‘subcultures’.


Subcultivation is usually done after cells in a cell culture have become “confluent” and are no longer growing.


Trypsin is usually used to break the natural tissue connecting the cells so that they can be divided into two or more ‘subcultures’.


Virologists claim that by doing this they attenuate (weaken) the alleged viruses they say are in the cell culture also called cell strain.


- Video: Sub-culturing cells/Cell culture basics, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oo36pvP0TrI (consulted 9 Nov 2024)

How virologists could isolate alleged viruses if they wanted to

There is a group of microorganisms that are as small as alleged viruses that have been isolated and studied by microbiologists for decades.


These are called bacteriophages  and they eat bacteria.


Bacteriophages are microorganisms that can be isolated directly from excrement (poo), sewage water or soil.


If virologists really wanted to isolate viruses they could use exactly the same methods.


Here is how you can do this.


Virus Isolation Course by Dr. Dustin Edwards Ph.D.
  https://dustinedwards.info/virus-isolation/ click on 'Direct Isolation'. Or visit https://vimeo.com/220849524 (consulted 12 Dec 2024)