Vaccination is a major line of defense against infectious diseases. However, with many current vaccines production methods can be both time-consuming and expensive. These characteristics, together with the low number of vaccine manufacturers and the occurrence of region-specific diseases, prevent the ready availability of vaccines worldwide. These shortcomings particularly affect developing countries and present real vaccine supply concerns in the event of a global pandemic. DNA-based vaccines are now emerging as a potential alternative that could provide broader access to vaccination around the world. Although this technology is still in its initial research and development stages, production, processing and distribution of these kinds of vaccines could be greatly simplified since DNA is in essence a simple-to-handle molecule. With the proper methodologies and protocols, health care efforts around the world could enormously benefit from this technology ensuring better life-quality standards in less developed regions. (c) 2013 Society of Chemical Industry