I put this out with the caveat that I am no medical expert and don’t profess to be. My degrees are in mathematics, philosophy and finance, not biotechnology. I also look for feedback to where/how my understanding is incorrect on any of this without political debate. I have done my research out of curiosity through the last year and wonder if I am directionally correct. I post this because all of the rhetoric about mRNA targeting being new technology.
A vaccine is created to place a foreign body into a subject to cause an immune response. Traditionally, this is a weakened form of the actual virus that the body can then detect, and learn to fight.
RNA and mRNA is a building block of cells. The vaccine technology focusing on mRNA is to create a synthetic replication of a piece of the virus, not the entire virus. In this cases the protein strain that is the makeup of the spike protein that the virus uses to attach itself to healthy cells. The vaccine introduces a foreign body, which a healthy immune system detects and learns to fight. Traditionally, weakened virus. New technology, a synthetic replication of a piece of the virus.
In both cases, the goal is that when the virus naturally is introduced to the body, the immune system recognizes the foreign body and fights the intrusion.
Using mRNA technology to create a vaccine is an innovation but is not a recreation of the wheel. Maybe more akin to adding ball bearings. The main premise of a vaccine is that a foreign body is introduced and the immune system learns to fight it, with the healthy immune system being the primary component of a vaccination.
A vaccine is created to place a foreign body into a subject to cause an immune response. Traditionally, this is a weakened form of the actual virus that the body can then detect, and learn to fight.
RNA and mRNA is a building block of cells. The vaccine technology focusing on mRNA is to create a synthetic replication of a piece of the virus, not the entire virus. In this cases the protein strain that is the makeup of the spike protein that the virus uses to attach itself to healthy cells. The vaccine introduces a foreign body, which a healthy immune system detects and learns to fight. Traditionally, weakened virus. New technology, a synthetic replication of a piece of the virus.
In both cases, the goal is that when the virus naturally is introduced to the body, the immune system recognizes the foreign body and fights the intrusion.
Using mRNA technology to create a vaccine is an innovation but is not a recreation of the wheel. Maybe more akin to adding ball bearings. The main premise of a vaccine is that a foreign body is introduced and the immune system learns to fight it, with the healthy immune system being the primary component of a vaccination.
