MEDICINE

Vaccines – will mRNA render other forms of vaccine obsolete? 💉

Over the past 3 years, vaccination has been at the forefront of public knowledge due to the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown flashbacks. Vaccination exploits the body’s memory system to safely induce an immune response, conferring protection against a specific infection/disease. It is an incredibly effective method of preventing disease, but is it now possible that ‘older’ forms of vaccine will become obsolete?

Modern vaccination has grown from Edward Jenner’s 1798 smallpox vaccine, but all use the same general principle: weakened antigenic material from the pathogen is injected to evoke a memory B and T cell response. The most recent advancement in this area is the use of mRNA vaccines (Pfizer ringing a bell for anyone?). Instead of live or killed pathogenic material (as commonly used in the past), mRNA vaccines introduce the body to the genetic instructions which trick it into making the viral material itself. This results in an immune response. The Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine specifically encodes for an area of the spike protein on the surface of the Covid-19 virus. It is delivered (injected) inside a lipid nanoparticle which prevents breakdown of the unstable mRNA.

💡 Things to consider

• Safety: Many currently used vaccines are of the killed/inactivated type (e.g. influenza, rabies). This means that the pathogenic material is first inactivated before being injected. Therefore, it is unable to replicate and spread inside the body. However, issues have arisen in the past involving incomplete inactivation of the pathogen (see the 1955 Cutter incident, involving the Salk polio vaccine). mRNA vaccines would avoid this potential problem as they do not contain whole pathogen. Does this make mRNA vaccines much safer than other commonly used types or are there other safety concerns to consider?

• Specificity: As mentioned above, the Pfizer vaccine contains the mRNA for a specific area of the Covid-19 virus. This means that the vaccine only triggers a response to the virus’ spike protein (an area which allows the virus to invade our cells). The immune system has been ‘pre-warned’ of the way that the Covid-19 virus infects and spreads. As a result, the specificity of the response is much greater than if a whole pathogen was injected. Consider whether this idea could be translated to and used in vaccines for other common infections which often evade an immune response (e.g. influenza, tuberculosis, malaria).

  

• Production time: Most vaccines are grown via repeated passages in a foreign host (e.g. chicken eggs). This means that the process of generating a ‘traditional’ vaccine is long and complex, sometimes taking more than 10 years. However, mRNA vaccines are made from DNA templates via a biochemical process in the lab. This is a much more rapid process, taking as little as a week to generate an experimental batch of mRNA vaccines. Emerging pathogens require a vaccine as quick as possible, so this is an important factor to consider. Scientists are even beginning mRNA vaccine development for Disease X...

🔎 Find out more

• A Brief History of Vaccination (WHO)

• mRNA Technology: What It Is and How It Works (Pfizer)

• Cutter Laboratories (Wikipedia)

• Why Don’t We Have Vaccines Against Everything? (New York Times)

🍒 The cherry on top

• 🍋 France’s (citrus) colonisation of Algeria: Austin R. Cooper argues that the citrus cultivation industry in colonial Algeria played a significant role in refining French imperial mechanisms, while also serving as a platform for France to express and shape various ethno-religious stereotypes and biases towards the colonial population. Great if you’re into History or French.

• ✈️ Planes running on Plants: Airlines have already flown planes fuelled with biofuel-petroleum mixes, and more are coming. Learn about biofuels in the aviation industry in this article if you’re into Biochemistry, Business, or Economics.

• 💤 Dream Science: Why an earth do we dream? If you have ever woken up from a strange dream and wondered what on earth was going on in your brain, this video is perfect for you. An especially interesting watch if you are interested in Psychology or Neuroscience.

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