The second one probably will be too: Modernas vaccine is up for consideration this week.
To answer the most common questions: no, it doesnt change your DNA.
No, its not an unproven technology (its actuallybeen in the works for decades).
The mRNA is destroyed shortly after the injection, but the antibodies stick around.
They can then recognize the real virus if we ever encounter it in the wild.
Want the longer, more detailed version?
It includes instructions for everything a cell might have to do.
(Its sort of like if DNA were a collection of reference books in a library.
The notebook paper is RNA.)
We are constantly making mRNAs and using these mRNAs to make proteins.
(There aremany other RNAs in the world, but lets not get too off track.)
A virus is made of proteins, sometimes encased in a lipid (fatty) envelope.
The proteins themselves make up thespiky ball shapeof the coronavirus.
The red nubs on that iconic illustration youve seen are the spike proteins, but more about them later.
There are28 other proteinsthat form the rest of the virus.
And inside that spiky ball?
There is a single, long strand of RNA.
Weve been tricked; we just made a bunch of virus parts.
But an mRNA vaccine does things differently.
The other 28 proteins are absent.
So we wont accidentally make any viruses.
The immune response may include soreness, fever, or fatigue.
The mRNA from the vaccine quickly disappears
The mRNA from the vaccine doesnt stick around.
Just as our cells are always making mRNAs, they are also constantly destroying them.
mRNA is a temporary messenger, used and trashed within seconds of being made.
Its a different bang out of molecule, in a different part of the cell.
Why mRNA vaccines?
Several types of vaccines are being tested for COVID.
But mRNA vaccines work particularly well in this situation because they can be made so fast.
The flu vaccine has famouslybeen grown in chicken eggs, for example.
mRNA vaccines are quicker because you dont need any kind of cells to manufacture them.
