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My understanding is that we're unable to created effective vaccines against RNA viruses as RNA replication doesn't have the built-in "checksum" mechanism that D
by clarents 9y ago
My understanding is that we're unable to created effective vaccines against RNA viruses as RNA replication doesn't have the built-in "checksum" mechanism that DNA has. When DNA replicates, because the two strands of the helix are essentially mirror images of each other, it is easier to create an exact copy without mutations. RNA, not having this property, allows for more mutations during replication. This increased mutation rate is what causes the viruses to change so quickly and what makes the vaccines we create quickly useless against the changed virus.
- dnautics 9y agoFlu, polio, and measles are rna viruses which are regularly vaccinated against.
- clarents 9y agoWow, you're right, I guess that kind of kills my theory. I knew that flu was which explained why there's a new vaccine every year and it's often not effective against the current strain. But I had thought that polio and measles were DNA viruses.
- Fomite 9y agoYou are partially right. Some RNA viruses are hard to vaccinate against because of their mutation rate, but it's not the sole arbiter of whether or not it's doable. There are other issues, like the existence (and lack thereof) of highly conserved antigenic targets.