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mRNA
- Messenger RNA (abbreviated mRNA) is a type of single-stranded RNA involved in protein synthesis.
- Ribonucleic acid (abbreviated RNA) is a nucleic acid present in all living cells that has structural similarities to DNA.
RNA has three main roles in the cell:
- It carries the instructions from the DNA in the nucleus to the ribosomes where proteins are made in the cytoplasm of the cell.
- RNA picks up specific amino acids from the cytoplasm of the cell and delivers them to the ribosomes where protein synthesis takes place.
- It makes up around 50% of the structure of the ribosomes.
- The role of mRNA is to carry protein information from the DNA in a cell’s nucleus to the cell’s cytoplasm (watery interior).
- At this point, the protein-making machinery reads the mRNA sequence and translates each three-base codon into its corresponding amino acid in a growing protein chain.
mRNA Vaccine
Background
- Traditionally, vaccines have depended on introducing dead or weakened viruses into the human body, so it can develop antibodies against them.
- Thus, when the actual virus infects someone, their body is prepared to fight it.
- As technology evolved, instead of the whole virus, just a part of the viral genetic code, began to be introduced through vaccines.
- But the large-scale development of such vaccines requires cell culture (growing of cells under controlled conditions) and takes time.
Challenge during Covid-19 pandemic
- During the Covid-19 outbreak, time was of the essence in finding a weapon against the deadly and fast-spreading virus.
- This is where mRNA technology proved crucial.
mRNA vaccine
- Instead of putting an inactivated virus in the body to activate an immune response, vaccines using this technology use messenger Ribonucleic Acid, or mRNA, to deliver a message to the immune system.
- Genetically engineered mRNA can instruct cells to make the protein needed to fight a particular virus.
- Basically, the mRNA vaccines carry the genetic code for the proteins that make up the non-lethal but key parts of a virus.
- Since RNA is already present in cells, this method does away with the need for cell culture.
mRNA Covid-19 Vaccine
- The COVID-19 vaccines used the codes for the spike protein used by Sars-CoV-2 to enter the body.
- Once injected, the vaccine uses the body’s own protein manufacturing centre to produce these viral proteins.
- The immune system then responds by creating antibodies against the viral protein and learns to fight the actual infection.