The Gary Null Blog

October 14, 2011
by Norma Erickson, President

2 September 2011, SANE Vax Inc. posted a letter sent to Dr. Margaret Hamburg, FDA Commissioner, on their website to inform her that recombinant (genetically modified) HPV DNA firmly attached to the aluminum adjuvant had been discovered in Merck’s quadrivalent HPV vaccine, Gardasil™.

In what appears to be a worldwide coordinated response, SANE Vax Inc. and other advocacy groups have received the following replies:

• 22 September 2011, the European Medicines Agency, via Dr. Abadie said, “The presence of recombinant DNA fragments does not represent a case of contamination and is not considered to be a risk to vaccine recipients. All medicinal products manufactured using recombinant technology may contain small fragments of residual DNA.”
• 23 September 2011, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said, “We have determined that Gardasil is not contaminated with HPV DNA and remains safe and effective….Gardasil does contain recombinant HPV L1 specific DNA fragments. This is expected, since DNA encoding the HPV L1 gene is used in the vaccine manufacturing process to produce the virus-like particles. The presence of these expected DNA fragments, which are inevitable in vaccine production, is not a risk to vaccine recipients, is not harmful, and this DNA is not a contaminant.”
• 28 September 2011, MedSafe in New Zealand, via email to a local vaccine safety advocate said, “Gardasil is manufactured using recombinant DNA technology so any finding of residual DNA fragments in the vaccine is expected and does not represent contamination.”
• 7 October 2011, the Queensland Immunisation Program in Australia, via email to an Australian advocate, said, “Gardasil is manufactured using recombinant DNA technology so any finding of residual DNA fragments in the vaccine is expected and does not represent contamination.”