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The mRNA vaccines do also transmit the shape, as the encoded viral protein does get expressed in the cells. And the shape does get recognized by the immune syst
by fabian2k 6y ago
The mRNA vaccines do also transmit the shape, as the encoded viral protein does get expressed in the cells. And the shape does get recognized by the immune system when that protein is secreted from the cell. But there is also a shape-independent mechanism that works on the sequence alone. The proteins in a cell are also chopped into tiny pieces and presentend on the surface. That part could not distinguish between different folded versions of the same protein like with prions.
- vlovich123 6y agoI think I was misunderstood a bit. I wasn't proposing that mRNA in its current state (or even solely by itself) would somehow be able to cure prion diseases. I was thinking more that research into biotech generally improves our knowledge. I don't know biology at all but I figured some evolution of technologies associated with CRISPR + mRNA + other things would be useful as a team in solving prion diseases. So maybe mRNA can become efficient enough that it's used to train the immune system to target the misfolded proteins themselves to try to limit damage while the treatment is ongoing. Futuristic now certainly, but is it definitely 100% impossible ever even as our knowledge & tech improves? Or maybe mRNA can exploit something in the prion process we don't yet understand. Maybe CRISPR could be part of the overall treatment therapy as you inoculate more of the body from whatever is propagating the bad code through your body which could be a time-consuming process (think vaccine at the genetic level - you potentially need to get it to every cell in the body). Obviously this is all sci-fi stuff & some of it impossible & out there. I still like to imagine sci-fi is useful as potential roadmaps to brainstorm how we might solve impossible problems - even if we miss, we'll land somewhere useful.