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Comment by ping_pong | Hacker News Reader

I have taken the Moderna vaccine. So I'm obviously not an anti-vaxxer.

However, it does concern me to a great deal about all of this, and it reflects my previous worries. My biggest concern is that from the article, these mRNA strands appear to have not only degraded but formed into new "species". What if the mRNA causes the body to produce prions that leads to something like Mad Cow Disease? The fact that Moderna isn't saying anything is very disconcerting.

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in this case "species" is in the context of Molecular species.

suppose we grabbed a molecule and then cut it in half, do this many times so you have a collection of first halfs, and second halfs. Each of these is a species of ribonucleic acid. It may sound sinister but its just tech jargon.

It's not molecular species. The full quote is: "truncated and modified mRNA species present in the finished product". It's specifically truncated and modified mRNA species.

if you are accustomed to reading or in any way communicating with a biochemist, or molecular biologist you will know, that what you have said is not in context of the professsion.

i know what was written, however that makes sensationalist and alarmist connotations when the meaning of species is defined by popular conceptions

you are wrong, this submission is speaking about molecular species.

also the prion concern is not valid, prions are a specific protien sequence and do not arise out of mRNA sequences of determined function.

All the mRNA you speak of .... is wrapped in fat that is really, really small.

Would you not be more worried about all that lipid nanoparticle in your body?

No, I'm more concerned about the randomness of those degraded mRNA strands somehow degrading into instructions that cause harm. We know for a fact that prions exist that cause denaturing of nerve cells and brain cells. They are basically proteins that are misfolded that somehow cause a chain reaction of misfolding other proteins. Is there the possibility that just randomly the degraded mRNA will produce the wrong protein strands and cause people to experience the equivalent of Mad Cow Disease? It certainly sounds like it's possible, but I'm not sure if it's probable. But with them being so tight lipped about it besides pooh-poohing the idea, it really doesn't bring me much confidence.

Just trying to help you. Degraded rna is not translated.

"They" are so even more "tight lipped" about the nanoparticle wrappers that you do not even question it.

Your body is designed to encounter viral RNA.

How is your body designed to deal with a boatload of nano-sized lipids?

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