DNA vaccines

1. A method of inducing an immune response against an antigen in a host, said method comprising:

carrying out a process for production of linear double stranded deoxyribonucleic (DNA)

covalently closed at both ends by hairpin loops, comprising:

(a) amplifying a DNA template comprising at least one protelomerase target sequence to produce a product comprising multiple protelomerase target sequences; and

(b) producing linear double stranded DNA covalently closed at both ends by hairpin loops by contacting the product comprising multiple protelomerase target sequences produced in (a) with at least one protelomerase under suitable conditions,

wherein steps (a) and (b) occur in an in vitro cell-free environment, wherein said DNA template encodes said antigen, and

administering the resulting closed linear DNA encoding said antigen to said host in such a way that said antigen is expressed in said host and induces an immune response against said antigen.

2. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein said antigen is for the treatment or prevention of conditions selected from any one of cancer, allergies, toxicity or infection by a pathogen.

3. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein said antigen is a tumour antigen.

4. A method as claimed in claim 3 wherein said tumour antigen is selected from any one of: members of the MAGE family, NY-ESO-I and SSX-2, differentiation antigens, mutated self-antigens, viral tumour antigens, MART-I, Melan-A, p97, beta-HCG, GaINAc, MAGE-1, MAGE-2, MAGE-4, MAGE-12, MUC1, MUC2, MUC3, MUC4, MUC18, CEA, DDC, HA, EpCam, melanoma antigen gp75, Hker 8, high molecular weight melanoma antigen, K19, Tyrl, Tyr2, members of the pMel 17 gene family, c-Met, PSM, PSMA, prostate secretary protein, alpha-fetoprotein, CA 125, CA 19.9, TAG-72, E6 and/or E7 from oncogenic HPV types, tyrosinase, gplOO, PSA, Her-2, CEA, BRCA-I and BRCA-2 antigen.

5. A method as claimed in claim 2 wherein the antigen is for treatment or prevention of conditions related to infection by a pathogen, wherein said pathogen is selected from one of the following:

viruses including Human Papilloma Viruses (HPV), HIV, HSV2/HSV1, Influenza virus (types A, B and C), Polio virus, RSV virus, Rhinoviruses, Rotaviruses, Hepatitis A virus, Norwalk Virus Group, Enteroviruses, Astroviruses, Measles virus, Parainfluenza virus, Mumps virus, Varicella-Zoster virus, Cytomegalovirus, Epstein-Barr virus, Adenoviruses, Rubella virus, Human T-cell Lymphoma type I virus (HTLV-I), Hepatitis B virus (HBV), Hepatitis C virus (HCV), Hepatitis D virus, Pox virus, Marburg and Ebola;

bacteria including Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Chlamydia, Neisseria gonorrhoeae, Shigella, Salmonella, Vibrio cholerae, Treponema pallidum, Pseudomonas, Bordetella pertussis, Brucella, Frandscella tularensis, Helicobacter pylori, Leptospira interrogans, Legionella pneumophila, Yersinia pestis, Streptococcus (types A and B), Pneumococcus, Meningococcus, Haemophilus influenza (type b), Toxoplasma gondii, Campylobacteriosis, Moraxella catarrhalis, Donovanosis , and Actinomycosis;

fungal pathogens including Candidiasis and Aspergillosis; and

parasitic pathogens including Taenia , Flukes, Roundworms, Amoebiasis, Giardiasis, Cryptosporidium, Schistosoma, Pneumocystis carinii, Trichomoniasis and Trichinosis.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein said antigen is from a member of the adenoviridae, herpesviridae, papovaviridae, poxviridae, parvoviridae, reoviridae, coronaviridae, flaviviridae, picornaviridae, togaviridae, filoviridae, paramyxoviridae, rhabdoviridae, bunyaviridae, orthomyxoviridae, retroviridae and hepadnaviridae.