{"id":27398,"date":"2025-05-08T09:00:43","date_gmt":"2025-05-08T09:00:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/medexperts.pro\/?p=27398"},"modified":"2025-05-08T09:25:09","modified_gmt":"2025-05-08T09:25:09","slug":"what-to-know-about-mrna-vaccines","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/?p=27398","title":{"rendered":"What to Know About mRNA Vaccines"},"content":{"rendered":"<div><\/div>\n<p id=\"article-summary\" class=\"css-79rysd e1wiw3jv0\">Does it alter your DNA? Is the technology safe? And other questions, answered.<\/p>\n<section class=\"meteredContent css-1r7ky0e\">\n<div class=\"css-s99gbd StoryBodyCompanionColumn\" data-testid=\"companionColumn-0\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., has repeatedly questioned the safety of mRNA vaccines against Covid-19. Scientists with funding from the National Institutes of Health were advised to <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/kffhealthnews.org\/news\/article\/nih-grants-mrna-vaccines-trump-administration-hhs-rfk\/\" title rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">scrub their grants<\/a> of any reference to mRNA. Around the country, state legislatures are considering bills to ban or limit such vaccines, with one describing them as <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.revisor.mn.gov\/bills\/text.php?number=HF3219&amp;type=bill&amp;version=0&amp;session=ls94&amp;session_year=2025&amp;session_number=0\" title rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">weapons of mass destruction<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">While mRNA, or messenger RNA, has received widespread attention in recent years, scientists first discovered it in 1961. They have been studying it and exploring its promise in preventing infectious diseases and treating cancer and rare diseases ever since.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"css-1u37br4 eoo0vm40\" id=\"link-4a26a09d\">What is mRNA?<\/h2>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">A large molecule found in all of our cells, mRNA is used to make every protein that our DNA directs our bodies to build. It does so by carrying information from DNA in the nucleus out to a cell\u2019s protein-making machinery. A single mRNA molecule can be used to make many copies of a protein, but it is naturally programmed to die eventually, said Jeff Coller, a professor of RNA biology and therapeutics at Johns Hopkins University and a co-founder of an RNA therapeutics company.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"css-1u37br4 eoo0vm40\" id=\"link-165c27fa\">How do mRNA vaccines work?<\/h2>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Right now, there are three FDA-approved vaccines available that use mRNA, two for Covid-19 and one for R.S.V., or respiratory syncytial virus, in older adults. These vaccines consist of strands of mRNA that code for specific viral proteins.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"Dropzone-1\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"css-s99gbd StoryBodyCompanionColumn\" data-testid=\"companionColumn-1\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Say you get a Covid-19 vaccine. The strands of mRNA, packaged into tiny fat particles, go into your muscle and immune cells, said Robert Alexander Wesselhoeft, director of RNA therapeutics at the Gene and Cell Therapy Institute at Mass General Brigham. Protein factories in the cells then take instructions from the mRNA and manufacture a protein like the one found on the surface of a Covid-19 virus. Your body recognizes that protein as foreign, and mounts an immune response.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Most of the mRNA will be gone within a few days, but the body retains a \u201cmemory&#8221; of it in the form of antibodies, Dr. Coller said. As with other types of vaccines, immunity wanes both over time and as a virus evolves into new variants.<\/p>\n<div class=\"css-kbghgg\">\n<div class=\"css-121kum4\">\n<div class=\"css-171quhb\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"css-asuuk5\">\n<div class=\"css-7axq9l\" data-testid=\"optimistic-truncator-noscript\">\n<div data-testid=\"optimistic-truncator-noscript-message\" class=\"css-6yo1no\">\n<p class=\"css-3kpklk\">We are having trouble retrieving the article content.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-3kpklk\">Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"css-1dv1kvn\" id=\"optimistic-truncator-a11y\">\n<hr \/>\n<p>Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/myaccount.nytimes.com\/auth\/login?response_type=cookie&amp;client_id=vi&amp;redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2025%2F05%2F08%2Fwell%2Fmrna-vaccines-safety.html&amp;asset=opttrunc\">log into<\/a>\u00a0your Times account, or\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/subscription?campaignId=89WYR&amp;redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2025%2F05%2F08%2Fwell%2Fmrna-vaccines-safety.html\">subscribe<\/a>\u00a0for all of The Times.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"css-1g71tqy\">\n<div data-testid=\"optimistic-truncator-message\" class=\"css-6yo1no\">\n<p class=\"css-3kpklk\">Thank you for your patience while we verify access.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-3kpklk\">Already a subscriber?\u00a0<a data-testid=\"log-in-link\" class=\"css-z5ryv4\" href=\"https:\/\/myaccount.nytimes.com\/auth\/login?response_type=cookie&amp;client_id=vi&amp;redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2025%2F05%2F08%2Fwell%2Fmrna-vaccines-safety.html&amp;asset=opttrunc\">Log in<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-3kpklk\">Want all of The Times?\u00a0<a data-testid=\"subscribe-link\" class=\"css-z5ryv4\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/subscription?campaignId=89WYR&amp;redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2025%2F05%2F08%2Fwell%2Fmrna-vaccines-safety.html\">Subscribe<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Does it alter your DNA? Is the technology safe? And other questions, answered.Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., has repeatedly questioned the safety of mRNA vaccines against Covid-19. Scientists with funding from the National Institutes of Health were advised to scrub their grants of any reference to mRNA. Around the country, state legislatures are considering bills to ban or limit such vaccines, with one describing them as weapons of mass destruction.While mRNA, or messenger RNA, has received widespread attention in recent years, scientists first discovered it in 1961. They have been studying it and exploring its promise in preventing infectious diseases and treating cancer and rare diseases ever since.What is mRNA?A large molecule found in all of our cells, mRNA is used to make every protein that our DNA directs our bodies to build. It does so by carrying information from DNA in the nucleus out to a cell\u2019s protein-making machinery. A single mRNA molecule can be used to make many copies of a protein, but it is naturally programmed to die eventually, said Jeff Coller, a professor of RNA biology and therapeutics at Johns Hopkins University and a co-founder of an RNA therapeutics company.How do mRNA vaccines work?Right now, there are three FDA-approved vaccines available that use mRNA, two for Covid-19 and one for R.S.V., or respiratory syncytial virus, in older adults. These vaccines consist of strands of mRNA that code for specific viral proteins.Say you get a Covid-19 vaccine. The strands of mRNA, packaged into tiny fat particles, go into your muscle and immune cells, said Robert Alexander Wesselhoeft, director of RNA therapeutics at the Gene and Cell Therapy Institute at Mass General Brigham. Protein factories in the cells then take instructions from the mRNA and manufacture a protein like the one found on the surface of a Covid-19 virus. Your body recognizes that protein as foreign, and mounts an immune response.Most of the mRNA will be gone within a few days, but the body retains a \u201cmemory&#8221; of it in the form of antibodies, Dr. Coller said. As with other types of vaccines, immunity wanes both over time and as a virus evolves into new variants.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and\u00a0log into\u00a0your Times account, or\u00a0subscribe\u00a0for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber?\u00a0Log in.Want all of The Times?\u00a0Subscribe.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":27400,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27398","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lifestyle"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27398","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=27398"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27398\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27401,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27398\/revisions\/27401"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/27400"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=27398"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=27398"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=27398"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}