British scientists have made a breakthrough which allows vaccines to be stored for years without refrigeration, it emerged today.The development could revolutionise public health programmes in the Third World, where vital vaccines frequently have to be thrown away because they have not been kept cold enough.The new technology uses a natural process seen in living organisms like the desert-dwelling resurrection plant, which dries up completely in drought conditions only to burst into life when rain arrives.Dr Bruce Roser, of Cambridge Biostability, today said that clinical trials of the procedure on humans could be started within three years.He explained how the resurrection plant survives over long periods in the absence of liquid thanks to a sugar which becomes as hard as glass when dry.
