Can mRNA in COVID Vaccine Be Integrated in Our DNA?
mRNAs were touted as safer options compared with DNA vaccines. Reason- mRNAs will not influence our genetic material or integrate in our genome, unlike DNA vaccines, which potentially can. New studies suggest that this is not the case. The notion that viral mRNAs are innocuous and will not modulate our genetic material is being proved wrong on several fronts.
COVID-19 pandemic catapulted the field of mRNA technology to the forefront. RNA-based therapeutics such as the antisense oligos, RNA interference (RNAi), micro-RNA (miRNA) and messenger RNA (mRNA) have all been tested in clinical trials with little success in the past. mRNA-based vaccines have been tried in clinical trials for viruses such as Zika, HIV-1, Rabies, and Influenza. Moderna’s Zika (NCT03014089) and influenza (NCT03076385) mRNA vaccine trials did not progress beyond Phase II and Phase I, respectively.
Viruses do what they normally do- integrate in our DNA to evade our immune system
We have known for a long time that a number of viruses after successfully being taken up by the host cells, evade the immune system and go dormant. To do so, they become integrated into the hosts’ genome/DNA. For example, despite being exposed to HIV virus in sufficient quantity, the individual rarely…