Scientists Taking Lessons From mRNA Technology Used For COVID Vaccines
Researchers are looking at ways
messenger RNA technology from COVID-19 vaccines can be used to fight other
illnesses and diseases.
COVID-19 proved that mRNA vaccines
can work and now researchers are applying the technology to other diseases.
More than half of all Americans are
fully vaccinated against COVID-19 — many with a messenger RNA vaccine developed
by Pfizer or Moderna.
Though the COVID vaccines are new,
research on mRNA and mRNA-based vaccines has been happening for decades.
Dr. Scott Joy is an internal
medicine specialist and says this technology can be applied to more than just
COVID.
"It's interesting to look at
the data from the late 90s," Joy said. "When the mRNA vaccines were
being studied, the issue was not behind the basic science of why an mRNA
vaccine would be effective. It was really about how you create a vehicle to get
it into the cell to allow it to do what it needs to do, and that's what the
last 20 years have really been about."
Dr. Michael Greenberg is the vice
president of Sanofi Pasteur North America — a company that has been developing
vaccines for decades.
"We're dedicating hundreds of
employees — both in the U.S. and in Europe — to working on mRNA as one of the
foundations for new vaccines," Greenberg said. "mRNA vaccines have
been some of the ones that have gotten a lot of attention the past couple years
because of their success, which has really shown during the COVID-19
pandemic."
Messenger RNA can be used to
prevent illness in multiple ways. Dr. Gunjan Arora is part of a team at the
Yale School of Medicine working on an mRNA vaccine for Lyme disease — a
tick-borne illness caused by a specific bacteria.
The vaccine would essentially
target antigens found in tick saliva, preventing it form feeding on people and
reducing transmission.
Researchers say the advancement of
mRNA COVID vaccines shows a lot of potential for mRNA use.
"Acceptability of any new
technology requires a breakthrough, a validation process, which I think
COVID-19 has done in this case," Arora said.
출처: Newsy