Viruses hijack host protein production. This harms cells by using up resources needed to make other proteins. If an mRNA vaccine induces production of a specific antigen, could it also use up cellular resources needed to produce other antigens and if not, what is the mechanism preventing it?
Hello miriam
I think cellular processes need some stable mRNAs but not all. Other important thing is the balance between antiviral antigen and immunity response. All kind of cell would stop the antigen production. What happens with an excessive circulating antigen and its effect on the organism.
The organism will be transgenic in short, long time or ¿?
Best regards
Self-Amplifying constructs of mRNA vaccine could result in overproduction of a protein. None of the COVID-19 vaccines based on mRNA use self-Amplifying mRNA construct. I think Pfizer started their clinical trial with self-Amplifying mRNA construct, but they changed the construct to non-replicating mRNA early in the trial. We still have to wait for long term side effects of mRNA based vaccines, as there is no track record with this technology. Usually most of the side effects occur within 3 months of the last dose.
Thank you Drs. Chávez and Gupta for responding to my question. From what I've read elsewhere, reverse transcriptases are too specific to transcribe the vaccine mRNA into DNA that may become inserted and replicated. Also, free mRNA in the cytoplasm cannot enter the nucleus, and though less clear to me, cannot enter the mitochondria either. However, I am wondering how all of the unique variations of reverse transcriptase arose in the first place. Are substitutions possible in the area of reverse transcriptases that bind to specific mRNAs, and/or can the vaccine mRNA induce its own complement in that region to bind to? Has this been studied? Also, influenza and possibly some other viruses can disguise their nucleic acid fragments to get them into the nucleus. Can they also grab up free mRNA and get it into the nucleus as well? Also, could naturally occuring plasmids in a cell or in the bloodstream, pick up free mRNA and get it into the mitochondria to either be replicated there or to enter the nucleus from the mitochondria? Maybe this seems farfetched, and any successful mutation has a minute chance of survival. Yet every individual's and species' unique genetic character is the result of surviving mutations.
Miriam Kritzer Van Zant
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