Cancer cells and coronavirus infections are completely different. Thanks to mRNA (or messenger RNA) technology, however, there may eventually be a lot of similarities in how modern medicine fights them.
“Remember, people were expecting that a successful COVID-19 vaccine using mRNA would provide protective immunity to about 50% of patients,” said Dr. Herbert Kim Lyerly, George Barth Geller Distinguished Professor of Immunology at Duke University School of Medicine. “But the first two mRNA vaccines provided over 90% protection, which is a remarkable achievement.”
Most vaccines work by delivering either a dead or inactive version of a pathogen, or a protein from that pathogen, into the body. Immune system cells in the body recognize these key proteins in the vaccine and prime the entire system to respond quicker if it later encounters the pathogen for real. mRNA vaccines are fundamentally different from most vaccines. mRNA, which stands for messenger RNA, works with your DNA. The genes in DNA encode protein molecules, the “workhorses” of the cell, carrying out all the functions needed for life. But to encode these proteins, DNA needs a messenger. Enter mRNA, which reads the DNA and acts as a template to form proteins.
Editor’s Note: Should university researchers look into the root causes of cancer, the disease could be avoided all together. What about the industrial pollutants, toxic heavy metals and nuclear fall out from weapons testing polluting the soil and waters? Mono-agriculture? — mmd