mRNA vaccines are not just about COVID and threatened bans risks the future of cancer care!
Demystifying messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines and debunking the myths
Vaccine development have had a huge impact on our health and longevity. In the last 50 years its estimated they have saved over 150 million lives. Vaccine design has changed enormously since the early days of Jenner and Pasteur; becoming increasingly more sophisticated as our understanding of immunology and infections has become more advanced. However, the pace of scientific development does not necessarily equate to wider public understanding. This mismatch can lead to confusion and even vaccine hesitancy among the public. Vaccine hesitancy and confusion about vaccines can be further fuelled by misinformation (misunderstanding) and disinformation (deliberate spreading of incorrect information). This issue of mis-and dis-information has been especially acute and severe with regards to the “messenger RNA” (mRNA) vaccines. This is perhaps because this type of vaccine uses a technology that will be unfamiliar for many people, despite having been in use for decades. To this end, we at Independent SAGE have put together a document that hopes to address common queries, demystify the technology as well as debunking common myths.
What is an mRNA vaccine?
First of all I just want to clarify what mRNA is - in simple terms mRNA is a recipe for how to make a specific protein. It is a fundamental component of all life on our planet which conveys the information (DNA) from our genes to enable us to make the specific proteins we need to survive. As such, mRNA vaccines contain the genetic “recipe” corresponding to part of the pathogen or disease they target.
What does this mean in practice? When the mRNA vaccine is administered, cells at the site of injection take up the mRNA and follow the instructions to make the target protein-this is exactly what happens when cells get infected with a pathogen. Our immune cells can detect the change in the cell and then react accordingly to start mounting a protective immune response. However, UNLIKE a pathogen the vaccine mRNA instructions to make the protein are temporary. The mRNA from the vaccine is short-lived, like all mRNA is. We have special enzymes that recognise and chop up mRNA- these enzymes are called RNAses.
Were mRNA vaccines that were used during the peak of the pandemic new technology?
Whilst mRNA vaccines may have seemed like the new kid on the block when the mRNA vaccines for COVID were rolled out in 2020 in fact that was not the case at all! The SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccines for COVID were made possible by years of research and clinical development into mRNA vaccine technology as well as research into SARS and MERS (diseases caused by coronaviruses related to SARS-CoV-2).
The first human clinical trial for an mRNA vaccine was against rabies virus and took place in 2013. A trial for an influenza vaccine followed in 2015. Multiple other vaccines targeting other infections and cancers were in human clinical trials before the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic. All had shown promising results and no major safety concerns. Given how flexible mRNA vaccine technology is, it was inevitable it would be investigated and of interest to address the desperate need for a global COVID-19 vaccine. In fact, compared to more traditional vaccine approaches tested (such as whole, inactivated virus), the mRNA vaccines by far outperformed the other vaccines that were used in 2020/21. This was true both for lab measurements of immunity and for real-world efficacy, i.e. stopping the majority of people developing severe COVID-19 or dying.
Why are mRNA vaccines under threat?
There has been a lot of misinformation and disinformation about vaccines and especially mRNA vaccines. This has become particularly politicised in the United States. For example, Joseph Ladapo, Florida’s surgeon general, has been an outspoken critic of vaccines. In January 2024, he called for a halt in the distribution and use of mRNA Covid boosters claiming that the vaccines could integrate into our genome. This is NOT TRUE nor is it even remotely possible. The mRNA delivered by the vaccine cannot enter the cell nucleus, where your DNA is stored, and will in fact degrade naturally within our cells within a few hours. The vaccines have NONE of the machinery that is needed to even incorporate into DNA. Ladapo has also suggested the vaccines cause cancer despite there being NO scientific evidence linking the vaccines to cancer. In fact, his misleading claims about mRNA vaccines have been regularly debunked. His actions led him to be shown to violate his university’s rules against careless, irregular, or contentious research practices. However, his is not the only prominent voice making spurious claims about mRNA vaccines.
Several (predominantly Republican) states in the US are now considering bills to limit or ban the use of messenger RNA vaccines. Bills introduced in Texas propose to ban the administration, manufacture or sale of mRNA vaccines there. Legislation in Kentucky would prevent the use of mRNA vaccines in kids under the age of 18 and in Idaho a Republican state senator has proposed a 10-year moratorium on mRNA vaccine administration. Whilst several of these state measures are unlikely to pass into law, the rampant disinformation that is being spread is extremely concerning.
Changes in law are not the only way that access to mRNA vaccines in the States may be curbed. The new head of the NIH Bhattacharya said he would support pulling the regulatory authorization for the marketing of the Covid mRNA vaccines in a post on X in June 2024. Furthermore, the lead for health policy in the US - Robert Kennedy Jr is a known long-standing vaccine sceptic who has previously criticized the mRNA COVID-19 vaccines. Since the new administration has come into power it is notable that contracts with Moderna for mRNA vaccines are being reviewed (for a range of conditions), grants researching the technology paused whilst the NIH re-assesses them and scientists warned to avoid submitting research using mRNA vaccine technology.
Why does it matter if research and access to mRNA vaccines is reduced?
mRNA vaccines have several advantages over other vaccine platforms including their flexibility in the targets they are developed to. This means that the list of applications for mRNA vaccines are growing and include not just infectious disease but also cancers. This not to say other vaccine platforms are not important- they very much are and there is a place for a variety of vaccine platform types especially in the context of infectious disease.
However for cancer, mRNA vaccines have the potential to change the landscape for treatment of some types of cancer that been so resistant to standard immunotherapies such as pancreatic cancer. The fact that the mRNA vaccine platform is so flexible means that it can be tailored to enable the development of personalised cancer vaccines. These vaccines train the immune system to recognise and attack a patient’s own cancer cells, thereby helping to prevent the disease from coming back. Here the goal is to use mRNA vaccines to teach the immune system to fight cancer by targeting proteins called “neoantigens”, which are unique to a person’s cancer cells. This has the potential to revolutionise cancer care, especially with cancers that are difficult to target with targeted chemotherapies, radiotherapy, or immunotherapy. Trials for several cancer vaccines are well under way. Measures that hinder research and or access to mRNA vaccines therefore has grave implications for the future of cancer treatment - something that perhaps is not being made clear by those attacking the vaccines.
We believe it’s important and timely to provide some clarity about mRNA vaccines. To this end, we have assembled some reliable information about how vaccines work and specifically what mRNA vaccines are. We hope that this will help people to understand these products better and so make informed decisions about vaccination. Whether you choose to receive a vaccine, or to access one for your children, is a personal choice, but we want to make it easier for that decision to be an informed one.
Thank you so much for this easy to understand piece on vaccines. It is certainly a worrying time particularly with the new administration in the USA and also here with the spread of antivax views. This is something I just can’t understand! I am in my late seventies and I remember my grandmother talking to me about the loss of children. She was born in 1881 and had 7 surviving children. She never talked too much about her loss but since looking at Ancestry Uk I know she lost some children who were registered as did her mother who was born in 1863. Not many vaccines were initially available when I was a child but I know my parents were desperate to take advantage of vaccines and always encouraged me with respect to my children. Your explanation with respect to vaccines and particularly the mRNA has been hugely helpful and while I’m definitely a non scientist I feel confident to talk to family members if I have to. I am concerned for the continued development of vaccines, which are a game changer all round, if these leaders stop the R and D required the future of everyone and in particular children is of real concern. More funding and support for scientists are definitely needed. Thank you again for your hard work. Just a question, do you have any further updates on the nasal vaccines you have talked about?