Following the Modern and Pfizer
The success of mRNA vaccines against COVID-19 will be applied in the fight against cancer, hepatitis and herpes
Svetlana Maslova, Hi-tech+
Scientists are already working on more than thirty mRNA vaccines - against HIV, influenza, cancer, hepatitis, Dengue fever, herpes, tuberculosis, malaria and other diseases. Some of them are already undergoing clinical trials. This is due to the flexibility of mRNA technology, which easily adapts to counteract any particular disease.
Although Moderna and Pfizer- BioNTech vaccines were developed on this principle, many people learned about mRNA technology only because of the COVID-19 pandemic — the history of creating such vaccines began more than thirty years ago thanks to the experiments of doctor and scientist John Wolf from the University of Wisconsin, writes Scientific American.
In the case of COVID-19, when injected into the body, mRNA vaccines carry instructions for cells to produce analogues of SARS-CoV-2 spike proteins so that the immune system recognizes them as foreign and triggers an immune response - the production of antibodies.
Meanwhile, mRNA can be designed not only to create antigens for vaccines, but also to encode antibodies, cytokines and other proteins associated with the immune system. The versatility of mRNA creates a huge space for the development of technology against various diseases.
Ozlem Tyurechi, Chief Physician of BioNTech, comments on the current situation with mRNA vaccines: "We have spent years researching them. Now we have a set of tools and modules to create mRNAs with the functions that we will need for a specific purpose." These tools can control how much protein is produced, which cells express it, and whether mRNA creates precise activation or suppression of the immune system, he added.
The mRNA creation process starts with a computer to reproduce the desired sequence. The in vitro transcription reaction is then used to create a DNA matrix that can synthesize the desired mRNA. For this reason, cell cultures or animal material are not required to create vaccines, and the production process basically remains unchanged, regardless of the mRNA sequence.
And although there is not yet a platform for every disease, the advantage of mRNA is that scientists can quickly test new hypotheses.
For example, the results of the BioNTech vaccine against melanoma were previously presented — some patients experienced complete long-term remission at the last stage.
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