The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announced backing for 78 science projects on Tuesday, including a vaccine triggered by human sweat and a laser vaccine.
The $34 billion Bill & Melinda Gates fund invests in scientific projects that are aimed at improving global health. Each of the 78 projects will receive a $100,000 grant for further study from the foundation.
The foundation’s Grand Challenges Explorations scheme awarded the grants as part of its five year, $100 million initiative to promote innovation in global health.
"We are convinced that some of these ideas will lead to innovations and eventually solutions that will save lives," Tachi Yamada, of the Gates Foundation’s global health program, said in a statement, according to Reuters.
The winners are from 18 countries and were culled from universities, research institutes and non-profit organizations.
The sweat vaccine is from a group of German scientists who will use their grant to develop nanoparticles that can penetrate the skin through hair follicles. The nanoparticles will release vaccines by bursting upon contact with human sweat.
Another project receiving funding is an imaging system that seeks to destroy parasites through a novel targeted laser vaccine.
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, since opening in 1994, has given out over $21 billion in grants to fund world health.