Het succes van mRNA-therapieën tegen Covid zou de ontwikkelingstijd van vaccins in de toekomst drastisch kunnen verkorten.

For many, Covid vaccines are a beacon of hope. But the revolutionary power of one particular group of therapies may go far beyond fighting the current pandemic.

By successfully using the body’s own cells as protein factories to combat the virus, mRNA-based treatments have given a clear demonstration of how the technology could both speed up the development of vaccines in future and be used to treat other diseases - even cancer.

Scientists first discovered how DNA regulates life in our cells six decades ago, identifying the special messenger RNA (mRNA) molecules that translate genetic information into instructions for producing the proteins that run the body’s complex biological processes.

Since then, biologists have been trying to find ways to hijack that process. The aim has been to develop an alternative to traditional vaccine development methods, which involve introducing a weakened or dead virus into the body to trigger an immune response. 

Lees meer op onze partnersite mega.online