A new Covid vaccine that uses circular strands of DNA to prime the immune system against the SARS virus has been approved for use in India, reports Nature.

Close to a dozen DNA vaccines against Covid-19 are in clinical trials globally, and at least as many again are in earlier stages of development, says Nature. DNA vaccines are also being developed for many other diseases.

“If DNA vaccines prove to be successful, this is really the future of vaccinology” because they are easy to manufacture, says Shahid Jameel, a virologist at Ashoka University in Sonipat, India.

According to researchers, the problem in the past with DNA vaccines is that they need to make it all the way to the cell nucleus to be effective. To solve this problem ZyCoV-D is deposited under the skin, as opposed to deep in muscle tissue.