A tattoo is more than just piercing your body — the art form can be tomorrow’s
vaccines. Researchers in
Germany have carried out a study and found that the rapidly vibrating tattoo
needle could be a useful way of delivering vaccines, instead of insoluble ink,
under the skin.

"The greater
damage to the body caused by the tattoo needle may explain the better immune
response," the ‘BBC News’ portal quoted lead researcher Dr Martin Mueller as
saying.

The researchers have
found that in tests undertaken with mice, tattoos were found to be much more
effective in provoking a response from the immune system.

In fact, in studies with mice,
tattooing a vaccine produced 16 times more antibodies than a simple injection
into muscle tissue. The level of antibodies indicates the strength of the immune
system’s response.

According
to the researchers, tattoos could be a useful way of delivering therapeutic
vaccines in humans, including for some cancers — such vaccines often fail to
produce the expected immune response when injected.

Tattoos have played a part in
human culture for thousands of years.

Just over 100 years ago, the
practice became more widely available with the invention of the electric tattoo
machine in the United States. The same basic instrument is still in use to
create tattoos today.

However,
the scientists say that the tattoo needles would never be suitable for
preventative vaccines, such as measles, in children as the pain would be too
great.

But there may well be a
role for the technique in the routine vaccination of animals.

Okay, we’re not talking freak surgery like what this guy has.

Via Times of India