Why mRNA vaccines could revolutionise medicine

spectator.co.uk

9 points·atlacatl_sv··5 comments

Very interesting explanation: ioNTech/Pfizer & Moderna vaccine both use revolutionary approach applicable to any future vaccines. Sequence a virus & type harmless part into mRNA, doctored so not immuno-rejected. mRNA does the rest for you. Potentially works for any virus you like https://twitter.com/RichardDawkins/status/134289088214862643...

Yes, and the formulation took 48 hours after covid was sequenced. This should be the last pandemic ever assuming brutally out of date regulatory bodies catch up.

We'll see how well this comment ages.

The slow approval process is because side effects can take a long time to show up. I very much hope there aren't any but we've been there before.

I'm optimistic for mRNA technology, but I wouldn't be shocked at all if we discover we are playing with fire. And the consequences may be completely outside of our reality; for example we might be putting selective pressure on pathogens in unanticipated ways, the mRNA may interact with other viruses, or mistakes in manufacture may harm people.

There's a hell of a lot more to safety than "We engineered a new thing and it worked for a few months", and as an engineer I have heard this line before and seen it play out exactly as you would expect.

Is this going to be a relatively quick fix for herpes simplex variants and HIV?

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