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“Reprogramming” actually has a specific meaning in genetics, and it’s not editing of DNA, it’s the editing of (transient, i.e. epigenetic) DNA modifications. It
by klmr 6y ago
“Reprogramming” actually has a specific meaning in genetics, and it’s not editing of DNA, it’s the editing of (transient, i.e. epigenetic) DNA modifications. It’s definitely true that this is not what RNA vaccines are doing.
But I guess the parent comment was using “reprogramming our bodies into vaccine factories” as a hand-waving description rather than a technically precise term. And that description is then roughly correct: with RNA vaccines, it is correct to say that our bodies are being triggered to produce the actual “vaccine” themselves; namely (at least in one type of RNA vaccine), the body’s cells are translating the injected mRNA to produce antigens, which is what a conventional vaccine contains, and which, in turn, produces an immune response.
- hashtagmarkup 6y agoAs a hand-waving technical pedantic, you are literally correct. But, "literally" actually has a specific meaning in english, and it's not always to be literal.