Comment by ffwd | Hacker News Reader

Comment by ffwd | Hacker News Reader

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I know nothing about this so excuse any potential ignorance:

They say: >COVID-19 mRNA vaccines give instructions for our cells to make a harmless piece of what is called the “spike protein.” The spike protein is found on the surface of the virus that causes COVID-19.

So from what I understand the vaccine itself does not contain the spike protein but is simply RNA that is injected into the cell and then the cell goes through its usual process to translates* the RNA to amino acids which then gets churned into protein (the spike protein)?

My first question is how did they make the RNA? Is it the exact same RNA as in the coronavirus or is it artificially generated by them? Does it do the exact same thing that the RNA in coronavirus does and is the spike protein the exact same spike protein found on the surface of the coronavirus or is it different (even if subtly so?)

Can anything go wrong at any point in this process (can the body misuse the RNA, or the spike protein, or anything else) and if so what?

*edited

I believe that they manufactured the rna without access to the virus, just the genome.

I am not qualified to answer whether the spike protein is identical to the one in the virus, but from what I understand it is very close. The protein just doesn't have the virus attached. It's like having a factory manufacturing car door handles but no cars.

Things could go wrong, mostly because some folks may have allergic reactions, autoimmune flare ups, or the increased immune response can cause side effects like Bell's palsy. That said, mRNA breaks down quickly on its own, and the spike proteins will be cleaned up quickly. The odds of a serious complication are very, very, very, very low from the studies performed so far. (Expect some flu like symptoms, however, as your body fights the cells with the modified RNA.)

I'm a total layperson here, just synthesizing what I've read.

I'll add a point, because otherwise your answer was excellent:

This mechanism was once explored as a means of performing gene therapy in human beings (a couple of decades past). It was abandoned because of its utter failure to produce lasting genetic effects.

That's a big plus here: we have a well-explored platform for having the cells transiently produce a protein we want the immune system exposed to, but which we already know is useless at producing lasting effects. The only lasting effect here will be in the memory of the immune system, not in the cells affected by the shot.

That's super interesting! Do you have any links to these previous efforts or terms I could drop into Google to find them?

Not particularly - I last read about them when I was a bio undergrad, and they weren't brand new then. The key words I'd use in google scholar are 'adenovirus vector mRNA', but be sure to restrict the timeline to pre-2020.

you have the concept, the rna is a synthetic one manufactures by directing the translation of mRNA in vitro[lab glass].

if not enough is known about the spike protien it is possible, but not greatly probable that an undesireable biochemical process can be initiated but not likely.

if you know how the protien acts biochemically it may also be possible to guarantee a synthetic that is an antigen , but does not induce adverse pathology

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