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Messenger-RNA Vaccines

 

Conventionally vaccine contain a tiny-weakened part of the disease-causing pathogen just enough to teach our body to build the specific antibody so that in case of any real encounter with that pathogen, body is equipped to defeat it. mRNA vaccines on the other hand are quite different from any other vaccines, instead of live or dead pathogen, mRNA vaccine introduces molecules of synthetic RNA into immune cells where the vaccine functions as mRNA, causing the cells to build foreign protein that would normally be produced by a pathogen (such as a virus). These protein molecules stimulate an adaptive immune response which teaches the body to identify and destroy the corresponding pathogen.

 


Advantages:

·       Safety: As mRNA is a non-infectious, non-integrating platform, there is no potential risk of infection or insertional mutagenesis. Additionally, mRNA is degraded by normal cellular processes, and its in vivo half-life can be regulated through the use of various modifications and delivery methods.

·       Efficacy: Various modifications make mRNA more stable and highly translatable. Efficient in vivo delivery can be achieved by formulating mRNA into carrier molecules, allowing rapid uptake and expression in the cytoplasm. mRNA vaccines can be administered repeatedly.

·       Production: mRNA vaccines have the potential for rapid, inexpensive, and scalable manufacturing, mainly owing to the high yields of in vitro transcription reactions.

Side-effects and risks:

·       For those susceptible to an autoimmune response may have an adverse reaction to RNA vaccines. The mRNA strands in the vaccine may result an unintended immune reaction causing the body to believe itself to be sick. To minimize this, mRNA sequences in mRNA vaccines are designed to mimic those produced by host cells.

·       Because mRNA is fragile, some vaccines must be kept at very low temperatures to avoid degrading and thus giving little effective immunity to the recipient.

 

Fight against COVID-19:

After focusing on mRNA for her entire courier, the 66-year-old Katalin Kariko is now celebrated as one of the heroes of Covid-19 vaccine development. Her work, in collaboration with Dr Drew Weissman of the University of Pennsylvania, laid the foundation for the stunningly successful vaccines made by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna. It is yet to discover why the novel mRNA COVID-19 vaccines have shown efficiency of 90 to 95 percent when the prior mRNA drug trials on pathogens other than COVID-19 were not so promising and had to be abandoned in the early phases of trials. 


 

Working of mRNA COVID-19 vaccines:

COVID-19 mRNA vaccines instruct our cells to make a harmless piece of what is called the “spike protein” --- protein found on the surface of the COVID-19 virus.

Step 1. vaccine is given in the upper arm muscle. The muscle cells use the instruction in the vaccine to make the protein piece. After the protein piece is made, the cell breaks down the instructions and gets rid of them.

Step 2. The cell displays the protein piece on its surface. Once our immune system recognizes that the protein belongs to a foreign party, it begins building an immune response and making antibodies, mimicking the course of action in case of a natural infection against COVID-19.

Step 3. After Vaccination, our body is now equipped to fight and protect itself against future infection, without having to risk the serious consequences of getting sick with COVID-19.

Future Scope:

Messenger RNA is claimed to have an incredible future. Researchers believe there is scope to develop drugs to deal with HIV, herpes, infant respiratory virus, and malaria, as well as possibly producing a universal flu vaccine.

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