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mRNA vaccines - not just for Covid-19

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  • mRNA vaccines - not just for Covid-19

    Keying of this article:

    https://www.cnn.com/2021/06/01/healt...ure/index.html


    Source: above

    This approach that led to remarkably safe and effective vaccines against a new virus is also showing promise against old enemies such as HIV, and infections that threaten babies and young children, such as respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and metapneumovirus. It's being tested as a treatment for cancers, including melanoma and brain tumors. It might offer a new way to treat autoimmune diseases. And it's also being checked out as a possible alternative to gene therapy for intractable conditions such as sickle cell disease.

    © Copyright Original Source



    It looks like there is potential here for things like Ebola, auto-immune disease (e.g. MS), even tickborne diseases (a shot that induces an immune response to the tick bit forcing it to release before it can transmit a disease).

    This is the very same technology that gave us the covid-19 vaccines so quickly and that makes them so effective.

    I'm hopeful.
    My brethren, do not hold your faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ with an attitude of personal favoritism. James 2:1

    If anyone thinks himself to be religious, and yet does not  bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this man’s religion is worthless James 1:26

    This you know, my beloved brethren. But everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger; James 1:19

  • #2
    It sounds pretty awesome. Basically you can keep reusing the same vaccine over and over and just swap out the mRNA payload with proteins from whatever disease you want to create an immune response against. I think it means we can create new vaccines even faster in the future. Plug n Play vaccines.

    I have also heard that they think that the current vaccine might even be effective against other coronaviruses such as the common cold and the flu.

    Curing the common cold would be amazing.

    Comment


    • #3
      Originally posted by Sparko View Post
      I have also heard that they think that the current vaccine might even be effective against other coronaviruses such as the common cold and the flu.

      Curing the common cold would be amazing.
      Won't be effective against the flu, since that's a very different virus. Some coronaviruses cause common cold symptoms, but so do lots of unrelated viruses. So, sorry to be a downer, but you're not looking at major side benefits.


      All that said, the technology really could be revolutionary. Designing a new vaccine is a matter of hours. Once you've got a manufacturing pipeline and experience in place, producing large enough quantities is fast. It's really got the potential to rapidly accelerate vaccine testing and development, which does have a lot of implications for getting vaccines for diseases that have so far resisted these efforts.

      The real question is whether the excellent protection seen in the coronavirus case is typical of that provided by RNA-based vaccines in general. If so, then a lot of the diseases where vaccines have been tried but the performance was marginal - HIV and malaria being two of the big ones - might get enough of a boost to be viable. It'll probably take a while to really understand what's going on with immunity there, and whether the boost in performance is real.
      "Any sufficiently advanced stupidity is indistinguishable from trolling."

      Comment


      • #4
        Originally posted by TheLurch View Post
        Won't be effective against the flu, since that's a very different virus. Some coronaviruses cause common cold symptoms, but so do lots of unrelated viruses. So, sorry to be a downer, but you're not looking at major side benefits.


        All that said, the technology really could be revolutionary. Designing a new vaccine is a matter of hours. Once you've got a manufacturing pipeline and experience in place, producing large enough quantities is fast. It's really got the potential to rapidly accelerate vaccine testing and development, which does have a lot of implications for getting vaccines for diseases that have so far resisted these efforts.

        The real question is whether the excellent protection seen in the coronavirus case is typical of that provided by RNA-based vaccines in general. If so, then a lot of the diseases where vaccines have been tried but the performance was marginal - HIV and malaria being two of the big ones - might get enough of a boost to be viable. It'll probably take a while to really understand what's going on with immunity there, and whether the boost in performance is real.
        Probably depends on whether the disease can be stopped by antibodies, which seems to be what the mRNA vaccines function is: produce proteins to trick the body into producing antibodies against the virus. Malaria is not a virus, but a parasite. We do have effective treatments against it. I believe the HCQ drug everyone was talking about for COVID is what they use to treat and prevent Malaria.

        Comment


        • #5
          Originally posted by Sparko View Post

          Probably depends on whether the disease can be stopped by antibodies, which seems to be what the mRNA vaccines function is: produce proteins to trick the body into producing antibodies against the virus. Malaria is not a virus, but a parasite. We do have effective treatments against it. I believe the HCQ drug everyone was talking about for COVID is what they use to treat and prevent Malaria.
          The RNA-based vaccines should work to produce both antibodies and a T-cell response.

          It's possible to raise an immune response against malaria using a vaccine; a small trial of one recently showed 75% protection.

          Unfortunately, there's widespread drug resistantancn against chloroquine derivatives. Artemisinin is now the standard therapy, but there have been reports of strains that resist that appearing in Southeast Asia. So, a vaccine would be a very welcome development right about now.
          "Any sufficiently advanced stupidity is indistinguishable from trolling."

          Comment

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