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https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/02/02/1087536/the-next-generation-of-mrna-vaccines-is-on-its-way/>
"Welcome back to
The Checkup! Today I want to talk about … mRNA vaccines.
I can hear the collective groan from here, but wait—hear me out! I know you’ve
heard a lot about mRNA vaccines, but Japan recently approved a new one for
covid. And this one is pretty exciting. Just like the mRNA vaccines you know
and love, it delivers the instructions for making the virus’s spike protein.
But here’s what makes it novel: it also tells the body how to make more mRNA.
Essentially, it provides instructions for making more instructions. It’s
self-amplifying.
I’ll wait while your head explodes.
Self-amplifying RNA vaccines (saRNA) offer a couple of important advantages
over conventional mRNA vaccines, at least in theory. Because saRNA vaccines
come with a built-in photocopier, the dose can be much lower. One team of
researchers tested both an mRNA vaccine and an saRNA vaccine in mice and found
that they could achieve equivalent levels of protection against influenza with
just 1/64th the dose. Second, it’s possible that saRNA vaccines will induce a
more durable immune response because the RNA keeps copying itself and sticks
around longer. While mRNA might last a day or two, self-amplifying RNA can
persist for a month.
Lest you think that this is just a tweaked version of conventional mRNA, It’s
not. “saRNA is a totally different beast,” Anna Blakney, a bioengineer at the
University of British Columbia, told
Nature. (Blakney was one of our 35
Innovators Under 35 in 2023.)
What makes it a different beast? Conventional mRNA vaccines consist of
messenger RNA that carries the genetic code for covid’s spike protein. Once
that mRNA enters the body, it gets translated into proteins by the same
cellular machinery that translates our own messenger RNA.
Self-amplifying mRNA vaccines contain a gene that encodes the spike protein as
well as viral genes that code for replicase, the enzyme that serves as a
photocopier. So one self-amplifying mRNA molecule can produce many more. The
idea of a vaccine that copies itself in the body might sound a little, well,
unnerving. But there are a few things I should make clear. Although the genes
that give these vaccines the ability to self-amplify come from viruses, they
don’t encode the information needed to make the virus itself. So saRNA vaccines
can’t produce new viruses. And just like mRNA, saRNA degrades quickly in the
body. It lasts longer than mRNA, but it doesn’t amplify forever."
Via Violet Blue’s
Pandemic Roundup: February 8, 2024
https://www.patreon.com/posts/pandemic-roundup-98087707
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
