Understanding mRNA COVID-19 Vaccines

[rcuthbert]

"                                                        What You Need to Know

• mRNA vaccines are a new type of vaccine to protect against infectious diseases.
• MRNA vaccines teach our cells how to make a protein—or even just a piece of a protein—that triggers an immune response inside our bodies.
• The benefit of mRNA vaccines, like all vaccines, is those vaccinated gain protection without ever having to risk the serious consequences of getting sick with COVID-19."

 

 

 

 

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/different-vaccines/mrna.html

[mfd101]

Thanks. A helpful attachment.

[John435]

Is teach the right word? Human cells don’t learn how to make spike proteins, they just use the mRNA blueprints and then destroy them, like the mRNA made naturally by cells every day. 

[Sheryl]

8 hours ago, John435 said:

Is teach the right word? Human cells don’t learn how to make spike proteins, they just use the mRNA blueprints and then destroy them, like the mRNA made naturally by cells every day. 

"Instruct" would be the best term.

[up-country_sinclair]

I'm definitely not an anti-vaxxer and beyond ready to get my shots, but these mRNA vaccines do cause me some worry.  Because the technology is so new and the pandemic compelled its immediate use, there's no way of knowing what the long term consequences (if any) might be.  

If I had a choice (and at this point I don't), I'd go for the J&J.

[Sheryl]

The technology is not as new as some assume.It has been worked on for some 15 years (30 if one counts back to the very first research i nanimals) , and previously used to develop vaccines against SARs (the first SARs) which  got as far as pre-clinical  trials.

 

It has also been used to develop cancer immunotherapies, with over 20 clinical trials going on for several years now.

 

The speed with which it could be done owes everything to all this prior work.

 

It is also the nature of mRNA vaccines to be quick and easy to develop, this is one of their big advantages, and also means that it will be possible to pretty quickly turn out booster versions effective against new variant.

 

There is no reason to expect some sort of very long term consequence compared to other vaccine technologies. People worried about this often do not understand how these vaccines work. The do not enter the cell nucleus. They do not alter DNA. They have no effect on a person's genetic make up. There is no more reason to expect a long term consequence than from a conventional vaccine.

[cdemundo]

8 hours ago, John435 said:

Is teach the right word? Human cells don’t learn how to make spike proteins, they just use the mRNA blueprints and then destroy them, like the mRNA made naturally by cells every day. 

I kind of wonder about "teach" as well. 

I think your brief description is better  "they just use the mRNA blueprints and then destroy them".

It is astounding the degree to which things are "dumbed down" in explanations meant for the general public.