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Are there any online resources where I could learn more about what mRNA treatments could theoretically cure? Take Hashimoto's disease for example, a disease wh
by mvanaltvorst 5y ago
Are there any online resources where I could learn more about what mRNA treatments could theoretically cure? Take Hashimoto's disease for example, a disease where your thyroid gland slowly gets destroyed by your immune system. If I understand correctly, mRNA could stop your thyroid gland from getting destroyed in the first place, but it cannot regenerate the thyroid gland if it has already been destroyed. Is that correct?
- henron 5y agoMy mental model is that in the next decade or so mRNA treatments could be effective if a disease can be treated through the expression of a small number of proteins. These proteins could either have a direct function or stimulate an immune response. I think your example works.
- mvanaltvorst 5y agoWhat kind of proteins are important when you're looking at the immune system? Is there a protein that can attach to thyroid gland cells and signals to the body that it isn't a threat? Or is there some sort of memory of the immune system with non-threat cells, that mRNA could overwrite? I'm not a biologist, I'd love to read more about these specific inner workings without dissecting a whole undergraduate biology book.