3 ms·

Related: Here's a article from late last year describing and explaining the source code of Pfizer vaccine: https://berthub.eu/articles/posts/reverse-engineerin

by yrral 6y ago

Related: Here's a article from late last year describing and explaining the source code of Pfizer vaccine: https://berthub.eu/articles/posts/reverse-engineering-source-code-of-the-biontech-pfizer-vaccine/ https://berthub.eu/articles/posts/reverse-engineering-source... It's a very interesting read and I hope the author makes another post explaining the differences of the two mrna vaccines.

throwawaysea 6y ago
From that link: > The injection contains volatile genetic material that describes the famous SARS-CoV-2 ‘Spike’ protein. Through clever chemical means, the vaccine manages to get this genetic material into some of our cells. > These then dutifully start producing SARS-CoV-2 Spike proteins in large enough quantities that our immune system springs into action. Confronted with Spike proteins, and (importantly) tell-tale signs that cells have been taken over, our immune system develops a powerful response against multiple aspects of the Spike protein AND the production process. What happens to the "volatile genetic material" at the end of this? Does it just linger in the body indefinitely? Or does it somehow get destroyed (and what does that mean)? From my reading of the above excerpt, it's the produced spike proteins that get destroyed but not the original genetic material that's injected. The reason I'm asking is to understand how the vaccine designers determine if there are any long-term effects of having this artificial material inside your body. They couldn't have tested it over a long time frame given how quickly all this moved.
- fabian2k 6y ago
  The mRNA is stable for a few hours or so, it is both chemically unstable in solution under the conditions in a cell and also actively degraded by various mechanisms.
- outworlder 6y ago
  > The reason I'm asking is to understand how the vaccine designers determine if there are any long-term effects of having this artificial material inside your body The properties of mRNA are well known and have been for decades. Your cells are constantly producing more from the nucleus. It degrades, even more so when it gets transcribed. That's the beauty of this, it's self-limiting. The only 'artificial' thing about it is the special base that's added to avoid detection by the immune system. Everything else is the exact same compounds present in your cells.
  - throwawaysea 6y ago
    What happens once it degrades? Does it eventually get decomposed into constituent molecules? Or removed from your body somehow? And what happens to that base?
- atleta 6y ago
  Read the article, it answers your question in detail: > The very end of mRNA is polyadenylated. This is a fancy way of saying it ends on a lot of AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA. Even mRNA has had enough of 2020 it appears. > mRNA can be reused many times, but as this happens, it also loses some of the A’s at the end. Once the A’s run out, the mRNA is no longer functional and gets discarded. In this way, the ‘poly-A’ tail is protection from degradation. Also, your cells continuously make mRNAs, depending on what proteins they need to synthesize. And those (have to) get discarded too. And also this is what happens to the actual viral RNA when the virus attacks you for real.
  - throwawaysea 6y ago
    Can you explain what "discarded" means there? Does the body somehow flush it out?
    - atleta 6y ago
      My understanding was that it gets cut into pieces (probably nucleotides in the end) and then reused. I've done a quick google search and it seems that there are multiple mechanisms: http://www.eb.tuebingen.mpg.de/remco-sprangers/mrna-degradation.html http://www.eb.tuebingen.mpg.de/remco-sprangers/mrna-degradat... and also https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messenger_RNA#Degradation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messenger_RNA#Degradation But the main idea is that it degrades with use until it becomes unusable and actively gets destroyed.
- alexobenauer 6y ago
  It is worth noting that the studies are still ongoing. The Phase 3 trials are two years.

by yrral 6y ago

throwawaysea 6y ago

From that link: > The injection contains volatile genetic material that describes the famous SARS-CoV-2 ‘Spike’ protein. Through clever chemical means, the vaccine manages to get this genetic material into some of our cells. > These then dutifully start producing SARS-CoV-2 Spike proteins in large enough quantities that our immune system springs into action. Confronted with Spike proteins, and (importantly) tell-tale signs that cells have been taken over, our immune system develops a powerful response against multiple aspects of the Spike protein AND the production process. What happens to the "volatile genetic material" at the end of this? Does it just linger in the body indefinitely? Or does it somehow get destroyed (and what does that mean)? From my reading of the above excerpt, it's the produced spike proteins that get destroyed but not the original genetic material that's injected. The reason I'm asking is to understand how the vaccine designers determine if there are any long-term effects of having this artificial material inside your body. They couldn't have tested it over a long time frame given how quickly all this moved.

fabian2k 6y ago
The mRNA is stable for a few hours or so, it is both chemically unstable in solution under the conditions in a cell and also actively degraded by various mechanisms.
outworlder 6y ago
> The reason I'm asking is to understand how the vaccine designers determine if there are any long-term effects of having this artificial material inside your body The properties of mRNA are well known and have been for decades. Your cells are constantly producing more from the nucleus. It degrades, even more so when it gets transcribed. That's the beauty of this, it's self-limiting. The only 'artificial' thing about it is the special base that's added to avoid detection by the immune system. Everything else is the exact same compounds present in your cells.
- throwawaysea 6y ago
  What happens once it degrades? Does it eventually get decomposed into constituent molecules? Or removed from your body somehow? And what happens to that base?
atleta 6y ago
Read the article, it answers your question in detail: > The very end of mRNA is polyadenylated. This is a fancy way of saying it ends on a lot of AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA. Even mRNA has had enough of 2020 it appears. > mRNA can be reused many times, but as this happens, it also loses some of the A’s at the end. Once the A’s run out, the mRNA is no longer functional and gets discarded. In this way, the ‘poly-A’ tail is protection from degradation. Also, your cells continuously make mRNAs, depending on what proteins they need to synthesize. And those (have to) get discarded too. And also this is what happens to the actual viral RNA when the virus attacks you for real.
- throwawaysea 6y ago
  Can you explain what "discarded" means there? Does the body somehow flush it out?
  - atleta 6y ago
    My understanding was that it gets cut into pieces (probably nucleotides in the end) and then reused. I've done a quick google search and it seems that there are multiple mechanisms: http://www.eb.tuebingen.mpg.de/remco-sprangers/mrna-degradation.html http://www.eb.tuebingen.mpg.de/remco-sprangers/mrna-degradat... and also https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messenger_RNA#Degradation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messenger_RNA#Degradation But the main idea is that it degrades with use until it becomes unusable and actively gets destroyed.
alexobenauer 6y ago
It is worth noting that the studies are still ongoing. The Phase 3 trials are two years.